preparing a garden for the spring

I've been installing a garden in our back yard. We built a sukkah this season. It came out really well and we had a great party in and around it. See the PKO blog for more on that. Anyway, I thought it would make a great center piece around which to build a veggie garden.

I did a little research and some asking around and settled on trying the "square foot garden" approach. This really consists of raised beds filled with a very nourishing mixture of soil, compost and in my case something called Beats Peat -- a substitute for peat that is made from coconut trees that they recommended at the Phantom Gardener. It is very renewable and doesn't disturb the eco-system the way mining for peat does.

I got all the materials together which I couldn't have done with out a very generous loan of a pick-up truck. Saturday morning I built the frames, put them in place. I put a mixture of water and vinegar on the grass inside the frames, then a layer of cardboard. The photo shows a 4x4 frame made of 1x6 cedar. It is laying on a piece of cardboard that was destined for a dumpster. It turned out to be the perfect size (4x8) to fit under two side-by-side frames.

This is the sukkah with 2 - 4x4 frames on either side and a 2x8 frame across the back. I envision this cool and protected area under the sukkah that will serve as a place to work from, or lounge in or take a meal under all through the growing season.

Today I'll fill them with the growing mix. And let them sit until the spring. Actually, I will try to plant garlic and maybe some winter greens. Check back for more.