Our beds are all ready now.  We used a variety of techniques and variations to get them started.  One of the priorities was that everything be free or extremely low cost.  And our total cost for getting the garden beds ready was…. $15!  Here’s a breakdown of the budget.

• Maple Wood Chips from Cannaday Tree Service: $0
• Manure from the University Farm: $0
• Soil Test: $15
• Lots of lovingly donated hard-work hours from friends and supporters

It’s great seeing the garden coming together.

For the beds, what we eventually settled on was stripping the sod layer and throwing it into compost bins.  We then added a layer of horse manure that had been rotting with wood shreds.  For the paths, we put cardboard down, then covered it with wood chips.  Ideally, we would have used straw, but we couldn’t find a free source of straw.

The tomatoes we put in a few days ago are holding their ground against this cool weather and storms, but they’re definitely not enjoying it.  We put floating row cover over them to help out.  We did the same for the sweet potatoes and luffa, but they are liking this weather even less.