Raised Garden Beds

After a wildly unsuccessful attempt at gardening in native soil last year, we decided to give raised beds a try this year. Now, the King wasn't nearly as thrilled with the idea as I was. After all, he doesn't care much for gardening and he doesn't follow The Pioneer Woman. He really thought it was a silly idea; but being the loving husband, he decided to humor me. So, he built my beds. Now, I wanted to follow the PW plans, but he had other ideas. Since he was doing the constructing, I figured I'd best let him handle it his way.



I shot the above just before he caught me taking pictures and insisted that I stop. Princess E reported that Daddy wanted me to "vehemently stop taking pictures". I had to laugh.

Anyway, we were supposed to get our load of garden soil (blended topsoil and compost) yesterday. It rained. The folks called to see if I'd rather have them deliver it today. Sure, why not? I couldn't work in the rain anyway. So, this morning, the dump truck arrived with my 4 cubic yards of compost-y, nutrient rich soil.


The plan was for King J to build the beds, then I would take over from there. Moving the dirt from the driveway into the beds in the backyard was my job. No problem! I decided, since it is spring break, that my daughter could help me this week. Today, we were going to fill one bed. Tomorrow, another, and the last one Thursday. This way, I could go ahead and plant my lettuces Friday, since they should have been in the ground already.

So, off I go to get the shovel and wheelbarrow. Wait! I need the keys to get into the shed. I checked all the places we keep keys. Not there, or there, or there. Oh NO! So, I sent a page to King J, who is in class this week for his job. No answer. Maybe that one didn't go through, so I sent him a text message a little later. Still no answer. The phone rings. It's my Mom. I mentioned my plight to her. I had given up on hearing back from King J when someone came up my front steps. I thought King J had realized he had the keys and brought them home to me. I opened the door, and there stood my Dad. He came over with a shovel. (Thanks, Dad!)

Anyway, we retrieved the wheelbarrow from under the deck and filled one raised bed with soil. It took us an hour of scooping, rolling and dumping to fill it. But, here is one bed, filled with dirt. It will surely settle some, so we filled it all the way to the top.


Now, my forearms, shoulders and lower back ache. I used muscles that are seldom used. I am tired; but it is a good tired. I will have my garden soon enough.

On another note, I noticed my rose bushes are filling out beautifully this spring. Yeah!!!

Oh...one more thing...tomorrow, if I can't find the shed keys again, I know exactly where to find the bolt cutters! Mwah...ha...ha...ha!!