It's how the garden grows. Soil improvements without tilling

Soil improvement without tilling

Because I'm not inclined to rent a tiller, pay for fertilizers, or generally do more work than I think I have to, I have decided to try an idea I found that should allow the soil to improve over the winter.

This idea came straight  from:http://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2012/11/27/preparing-and-planting-the-raised-row-bed-garden/

This is a great website for organic gardeners!

So this is a photo of the start of this process. Eventually I'll be doing this across more of the covered areas. The plastic now covers all of the straw and rocks from the original pond are holding it down.  Those rocks may have been a pain to move (which I've now done at least 3 times) but so worth it in usefulness!

The local Wilco provided the large bales of straw (did you know you can fit 2 of these in a Scion?)  It made a total mess in the car but I didn't have to wait to borrow a truck.  The straw is 3-5 inches thick and hopefully by next spring it will be happy planting time!