Raised Bed #2 Is Completed. 11.24.2021

Well, this one is done. On top of the purchased top soil, I added a layer of leaves, then a layer of compost. Not a lot, but maybe enough to provide some humus and inoculum for the leaves. It will get more mixed up when it's time to plant. Then I finished emptying out the former garlic-then-bush beans raised bed that needs rehab, transferring that soil to the new bed. One nice thing, there were lots of earthworms in that soil. Of note - none of the green bean plants had rhizobium nodules. So, when I plant the late winter legume, they will need an inoculum. Anyway, then I added the soil from that former garlic / green bean bed, added a little horticultural lime, mixed it up, and smoothed it a bit. It was notable, how much easier it was to work a bed at this height. Very nice! I think the soil was not crumbly enough. It will get lots more leaf mulch and compost to help with that. It grew great crops thus year, however, so may be perfectly fine as is.

Then I gave it a blanket of Mapke leaves. They are already becoming moldy, so maybe most will break down by Spring.

The bed that will be taken apart, put back together but with a better mole barrier (I hope). There is no rest for the wicked.

I'll disassemble this the rest of the way, then probably add two layers of fencing, then reassemble the bed with wire stays for the rebars that hold the planks in place. It will take some effort, but not even 25% of the work I did on those cement block beds. After that, the final raised bed just needs cleanup, and the pathways need some thought and a bit of work. One bed already got cleaned up when I planted garlic in Sept or Oct. I have all winter long to do that. Just for my first thoughts, I like the size and height of these new beds very much. It's a good thing. I intend never again to do such a labor intensive project. Time to make the best of what I have already made.