In the beginning there was bare earth with grass, then there was just bare earth. Now 
there are some raised beds. This year I am trying many things new. One of which is raised beds and compost. I have some leftover lumber that was on a deck, a bunch of 2×6 and 2×8. I currently have a few beds built four foot wide by varying lengths, 4′, 6′, 8′, 12′ and 16′. I will eventually over the entire area with them. These help keep things organized.
The beds will be filled with composted cow manure if I can ever get over to the farm and load it up. With the amount of rain we have had lately its nothing but mud. Hopefully this week though I can get that done. If I can at least get a couple beds filled by the end of March I can start my direct seeds and then just fill the rest as I am able to get the compost as I am ready to transplant.
So one of the other things I have been fairly meticulous about is calendaring what I need to plant in my starter trays and when. Every two weeks I am planting about two trays of seeds. Last week of Feb and first day of march it was the big indoor planting:
- Artichoke
- Chili Peppers
- Lavendar
- Marigold
- peas
- peppers
- tomatilos
- tomatoes
- zinnia
- Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Onions
Now our last frost is usually somewhere late april to mid may. So I am hoping to be able to direct sow some seeds at the end of march beginning of april. I always have the option of row covering so we will see how that goes. I may just opt for starting everything indoors instead of direct sow as it seem to be working pretty well and give me more control and selection.
I have also been working on the garden layout plan using http://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com which I have been using now for a few years. At $25 a year its a very useful tools with lots of functionality once you get use tot he interface. As you can see the raised beds look much better and help with organization.