I have the two 4 ft by 4 ft square raised bed containers ready with weed block on the bottom.
4 by 4 is the internal dimensions - the little squares on the outside are a bonus. I will be planting carrots and Echinacea in those.
On Box 1 I have some plastic plumbing pipe bent over like a tent with a nut and bolt in the middle.
Eventually I will put some semi-transparent plastic sheeting on there to protect the new plants from any cold weather that is still to come (and heavy rain - and scorching sun). The weather has been hot the last few days (in the 70s) but is cooling down again now... temperatures will drop close to freezing next week.
I did not know how much time it would actually take to get all these concrete blocks level. I had a spirit level and positioned each one. It was an incredibly hard job. Maybe I should have tried the 4 ft by 4 ft wooden plank method first...
I decided on concrete so that the boxes would last a long time. The Square Foot Gardening book does not recommend using treated wood as the chemicals leach into the soil - and then into your produce. So untreated wood may only last a couple of years. I guess the ground would still have had to been level...
Re-grading my whole garden took a long time. Shifting all that earth is no fun - and I still don't think it is level...
I did actually spray paint the dull looking concrete blocks with a sort of brown colour on the outside. I ran out of paint quick - so box 2 is still boring grey. I will leave the inside of the box as I don't want the paint chemicals getting into the food...
Here I am turning my compost heap. Sadly I don't think it will be ready in time. I have not got time to turn this every day - so maybe I will end up buying some. Frustrating really - but maybe it will be ready in time for Box 2 (Planting in April).
There are other preparations going on in the background - so I will post those later.
Hopefully you will see amazing results and want to try this method yourself...
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