This week we started the 2011 gardening adventure by lining our new raised beds with plastic (just the walls) and loosening the underlying soil before we filled them up with dirt. Not just any dirt, but a combination of old leaves from last fall, compost from our kitchen, horse poop from the barn at work and top soil Uncle Tim piled up when he put in the drive way and built the berm. The little Kubota earned her keep this weekend hauling dirt.
There are literally tons of dirt in these beds. So you get an idea, its framed with 2X6's so the front of each bed is 22" 24" deep. and 12 feet long. you can see the plastic liner to good effect in this shot as well as the leaves, topsoil and some horse poop. This will allow us to get some of early spring stuff started quickly so we can maximize our garden space. Lisa also planted our onions and garlic on Saturday, filling a complete raised bed down near the blueberries. On Sunday, she planted beets so all our early spring crops are in.
Here's the finished product with three rows of potatoes planted and a couple of rows of lettuce in the bottom bed and broccoli in the lowest tiered bed. We're expecting some rain tomorrow which will be good for all the new plantings. You'll also notice some wood chips between the bottom two beds. Thanks to the NCDOT we got some fresh ground pine trees which should help with the mud that seems to live between these two beds.
We just had to give credit where credit is due. We would never have completed all that we got done without this little work horse. Here's a shot of our Kubota all covered in mud. Thank God for its 4 wheel drive, diesel engine and the hydraulic front end loader. She kept us in dirt and never missed a beat. The more we use her, the better we like all she is capable of. So, back to work tomorrow to recoup and get ready for next weekend.
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