If the Turkey Vulture is a sign of Spring, it also means that most things Internet go on hold for a couple of weeks. Their arrival signals an urgency for garden preparation!

I'm still running late on my garden re-design because the March winds began in January this year. It is just horrendous trying to build raised beds, tilling and moving large quantities of soil around in a 30+ mile an hour wind! Things seem to have calmed down now though and the rearrangement is beginning to take shape.

Here you see the beginning of the raised beds we are changing over to, using well aged railroad ties to build the retaining walls. The soil has been dug and tilled to a depth of about a foot and I have laid in a layer of straw. A good layer of goat manure will be added to this along with compost. Once the second row of ties has been added and anchored, the remaining 18" or so of top soil will be shoveled in to fill the bed. As you can see, there is much work to be done and we'd better get to it if we expect to be ready for the next good planting date!

As this project nears completion, I will be adding photos and notes to Gramma's Garden on the reasons for switching over to raised beds and intensive planting methods.