Building the Raised Beds

I have yet to meet my established garden neighbor to the south, but I’ve checked out her methods and she has most of her veg planted in raised beds. The book How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jevons details a “double-dig” method of how to actually construct the raised beds by tilling, aerating and working compost into the soil. I started by digging a strip down about 12-inches and placing it over one the side. I then aerated the bottom of the strip and worked in a couple shovels full of horse manure (1 “scoop” for $10). Then I moved the top 12-inches from the next row on top of the manure. And so on, and so on. The aeration of the soil and addition of the manure is what actually builds the up from the earth. I’ve included a few pictures of the method and final product. It took me a full weekend to build five beds and it was utterly exhausting, but a beautiful way to spend the weekend outdoors and pretty darn rewarding once it was all done. Well, at least a third is done…