Hard afternoon's work...

Thick layer of paper nearly all down...
Barley Hay all in... Oh forgot the black plastic...

With plastic, now we are ready for the soil...

Soil is in and plants are in as well. Can't wait for the end result...

Over the last couple of days, Russell and I have been researching a better way to garden with our veggies in particular. We came across 'Square Foot Gardening' again and again. So we have given it a try.

Time will tell how it will turn out but is supposed to be 80% more productive then compared to the conventional way of planting in rows. That is what we had been doing and getting nowhere really...

Russell made the box and to show up the squares he drilled holes in the tops of the wood and pulled through string. Very effective I must say. Squares even looked bigger than on video footage that we had seen.

Russell oiled it with Linseed oil inside and out and reinforced the corners as well. It was old wood he was not using for making boomerangs. They broke too easily so we used it here instead.

Then Russell leveled the ground and got rid of weeds. We placed the box on top and put plenty of paper down to discourage any future weeds. Then the height of one biscuit of barley hay went on top of that. I then remembered that we had not put the black plastic between the hay and the sides of the walls. So that went in and was not as difficult after the fact after all. Then came our special blend around 15cm deep on top. It consists of 1/3 peat moss/coconut fibre, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 composted manure. Our manure was made up of chook, cow and sheep manure. There was also some Blood and Bone and Fish Meal in it also.

Then we planted out... We put in Rockmelons, Cherry Tomatoes, Marigolds, Baby Carrots, Variety of Lettuces and a Rosemary.

That well and truly filled up the first bed. We are making another one next weekend and will leave it at two for now and see how we go. I took photos of the process. Hope you enjoy them.

Cheers Damaris