Common Ground - Now We Are Getting Somewhere

After the first two weekends of work, Common Ground was really starting to take shape. The beds were built, set in place, and filled with our manure/topsoil mixture. The garden sign was ordered. The plant selection had begun - and excitement was running high. As you can see in the above photo, planting was in progress - we could not wait to fill all the beds before we gave our nascent vegetable plants a new home





We had some great help in the form of neighbors David and Miles Brush.

Jon Thompson was a big help - always there to do the heavy lifting !

Once the beds are secured in place, the next step is to begin filling them with your planting mixture. As mentioned earlier, we prefer a mixture of half topsoil and half pasteurized manure - both available in bagged form. This mixture is plenty rich for your plants and helps ensure that weeds are not a problem.

After you have filled the beds beds, the next step is to decide what to plant. We recommend that you select plants that offer a "high yield to space ratio", such as peppers, tomatoes, herbs,squash,eggplant,cucumbers, and okra - however, it is YOUR garden ! Be sure to give your new plants a good watering once you plant them ! One thing you will likely notice is that your beds will require less water than a "typical" garden or plants in terra cotta pots. By using raised beds, you are able to water the plants directly, and the beds retain moisture quite well.