Tony Garner and I spent part of the morning building up one of the eleven beds in the garden before the rain ran us off. We're using a concept called lasagna gardening, or lasagna composting. The raised beds can be made with layers of any compostable material---leaves, shredded paper, manure and straw mix, imported top soil, etc. We started by hand tilling the existing beds to "fluff them up," then added a layer of shredded paper, and finally a layer of cow manure/topsoil mix. This bed is the furtherest away from the soil mix and bags of shredded paper, so the next ten beds shouldn't take quite so long to build. As it is in the bottom of the garden, bottom meaning the lowest area, we built it up higher than the other beds will require, just to ensure better drainage. We also extended both ends of the bed, which added another approximately forty square feet of area in which to plant. By the time we finish with the other ten beds we will probably have added another two hundred square feet plus of space in which to plant. All in all it was a great morning---good friends, good stories, a good workout, and an opportunity to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Just a little over two months and we'll start our seedlings indoors for next springs garden. A reminder to anyone who wanders into the garden---PLEASE do not walk on the beds! One more thing---a big thanks to Fiskar's and Heifer International who provided us with mini-grants to buy tools, deer fencing and an irrigation system.
