Raised Beds at the Garden

In my last post where I talked all about our new community garden project, I mentioned that we set up some raised beds. I know that a lot of people are into building raised beds so I wanted get a little more detailed about it. A lot of the time, especially in cities and suburban areas, the soil needs some initial help. Instead of spending hours upon hours with shovel, pick axe, and hoes or even worse – tractors *gasp*… I like to build on top of the soil! It’s super easy, VERY fun, and a lot of the time most things that you need are local and free! Here’s a picture of the raised beds we set up –

One of them is actually an old shelf that I found sitting next the dumpster at the apartment complex we live at. I took the shelves out and the back off, then just left the frame. A lot of people keep a bottom on their raised beds to keep out moles and other unwanted friends. I like them without a bottom so it is truly connected with the earth. To me, it seems nicer that way. 🙂

Carlos dug out the grass, we set down newspaper, and then we put the shelf down on top of that and filled it. For fill dirt we used aged manure from a local lady with horses and donkeys, a real sweet gal. We also mixed in some perlite for moisture retention, which we picked up on craigslist. $10 for a bag of it that’s bigger than I am! Next time I go I will add in some composted grass and more manure… then it’s ready to sit and mature and will be ready for the spring!

Please leave comments, questions, thoughts, and ideas below! I LOVE to hear from readers! 🙂

Building a CommUNITY Garden

Starting a garden bed

I have recently been working with a group called Homegrown Missouri that I totally resonate with. The goals of the group that stand out in my heart are localizing food and localizing the community by building relationships and connections with our environment, ourselves, and eachother. Everyone has their own ideas in the group and I totally honor and respect each individual, as they do me. 🙂 It’s a beautiful thing. The group has meetings every month and in November we are having a workshop about fermented foods where members of the group will be teaching what they know. I am sharing beet kvass and Carlos, my partner / soul mate, is going to be teaching sauerkraut. Check out my last blog that features the flyer I made – https://regrowroots.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/free-fermented-foods-workshop/

I would like to share my newest endeavor that is going incredibly well and will one day become everything I dream of… a COMMUNITY GARDEN! It is located in my dear friend JoAnna’s backyard. I’m sure you will hear much more about JoAnna in future posts, as she is an amazing woman in my life. Her backyard is mostly grass with wild onions and dandelions growing here and there, as well as a pear tree, an elm, and a couple other little trees. My vision is to shift the entire yard into a food forest / community space where people can share food, potlucks, community, music, love, and growth!

Alpine Strawberries and Echinacea

We picked up some Alpine Strawberry starts from a friend and put them in the ground. I cut off the tops of them so all the energy will go to the roots and build a strong plant that will pop up in the Spring! 🙂 I also planted a bunch of echinacea Purpurea seeds that will come up in the Spring.

Huuuge backyard space!

This is the view from the deck. It is north of the house so that will be something to keep in mind. The beginning veggie patch is in the back by a big tree and an elderberry patch. Right now there are kale, cabbages, jerusalem artichokes, elephant garlic, and one lovely marigold.

Closer view of the garden beginnings

To the left of the photo are 2 raised beds that Carlos set up and we have some buckets waiting to be relocated and filled with dirt. Carlos actually dug the grass out for the raised bed. For most of our future beds, we will place down cardboard to suffocate the grass and build on top of that. That way, we will get lots of beds done before planting time in the spring!

 

 

FREE Fermented Foods Workshop

Homegrown Missouri is hosting a free heritage skills workshop in Kirbyville, Missouri. This workshop will cover fermented foods – sauerkraut, kombucha, beet kvass, and kefir. It will be the first of many skills workshops! Come and bring your friends to share the dream of local, healthy food sustainability! 🙂