Raised Beds, redux

So, this season, we added two more raised beds to our arsenal. I've changed the design a bit from last years model, and I think it works a lot better. These were all built from lumber from the big box home improvement place down the road, and filled with a mixture of cheap garden soil, Black Kow-brand manure and compost.

I do want to note that this is regular lumber, not the pressure treated stuff. I'm willing to forgo some longevity in order to avoid the chemicals found in pressure treated lumber. Design-wise, I skipped the hinges this year and made a track to allow the door to slide in and out. This makes access easier and simplifies the construction quite a bit. I think I can slap one of these together in less than an hour now.

And that's the take in the old bed: Chard, kale, pak choy, carrots, wando peas, beets and radishes, and a few other things. It's an incredible thing to be able to grow your own food, to take the kids out to pull a pea off the vine and eat it, right there in the garden. It reconnects us to what's real, and what's important.