Little beds and larger beds

Small beds in front of the house

The idea of having some little vegetable beds in front of the house has gotten going.

George has been looking after the bed on the left in the picture.   The bushy-looking plant is horseraddish, which he planted.  In the fall, the horseraddish will be dug up, and garlic will be planted.

Today, George and I added a small raised bed (4 x 8).  George built the frame, mostly of cedar, and it is pretty.

I dug down inside the frame, and added some lime and rock phosphate.   George added all the vegetable peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds that we've been saving the last three weeks.  Then, I put down a temporary weed barrier of hay sections.  We're going to use this little raised bed for the rest of the season as a compost pile, then see what we still need to add in late fall.   The goal is to have a little bed where we can grow some lettuce and spinach in the early spring, under a low tunnel, before it is possible to get into the larger in-ground beds to the side of the house.

Bed #1, looking toward other beds

I also started bed #5 today, which is one of a series to the side of the house.   In the picture above is part of bed #1.  Bed #2 can be seen beyond, and bed #3 runs along the fence at the back of the picture.    Beyond the fence, in an area of the pasture we've been mowing the last 5 years, are beds # 4 and #5.   New bed #5 is unusual in that it is only one width of the tiller wide:  6 feet by 61 feet.   Have a feeling that bed # 6 may be similar but over a bit.   I like grass paths.