Raised Beds

I had no idea what I was doing, but I put together some raised beds (with lots of help from my assistant!) Jasper is very excited about this project, and especially about planting some seeds!  I was a bit worried about my not so green thumb, and we really don't have a good place to start seeds indoors, so I bought lots of starter plants.  It really wasn't so tough, the beds are fine, and Jasper is very enthusiastic about watering and checking every day for signs of sprouts.  

I bought some 2" x 8" boards, untreated, in 8' lengths, and had them cut in half to make 4' lengths that fit nicely in my car.   (Treated wood can contain various chemicals, including arsenic. Yuck!)  I used some zinc plated L brackets and zinc plated nails, so that they wouldn't rust the first time they got wet.  And we just hammered the frames together.  I found that the local gardening center has better prices on both starter plants and organic soil than the home improvement megastores, and the plants looked healthier.  Jasper really wanted some corn, so we planted some with peas around it and squash in between.  Jasper loved my explanation that the Native Americans did this.  Beans replace nutrients in the soil that the corn takes out, and use the corn stalks as beanpoles.  And the squash vines help keep weeds down between the rows.  (I actually learned about this recently while reading about Christopher Columbus and what he found when he came to the New World.)  We'll see how it works for us! The best thing about this project so far is that it taught me not to be so afraid of attempting things I don't know how to do (well, within reason!  Amateur taxidermy, for instance... there are two words you don't want to hear together!).