Due to gophers and ground squirrels as well as heavy clay ground soil, I decided a raised bed would be best. In order to prepare the soil and make it easier to work with, I started watering the area heavily for about a week prior to my planned work day. I then borrowed my neighbors front-tined rototiller and tilled the entire area. I added gypsum and fertilizer and tilled again. Gypsum breaks up and loosens the clay and helps create better drainage but it takes a few years
for it to make a difference. I was impressed with how the soil was after tilling... it looked great! I found an old white spike that once was in a plant but was too faded to tell what it marked. Perhaps this site used to be a garden for a former owner. I also found an old can pop-top, the kind that you completely pull off the can. I haven't seen those since the 70's.
Next I dug out an area 3 feet x 6 feet and about 1 foot deep. I lined the bottom with chicken wire and started adding soil amendments over the wire. I put some well-aged chicken manure on the very bottom then layered it with ground soil, natural fertilizer, and compost and bagged soil I bought at Walter Anderson Nursery. I mixed the soil layers well with a pitch fork until it finally reached ground level. Then it was time to make a trip to Home Depot to buy materials for the raised sides.
I had originally planned on lining my bed with pressure treated wood, 2"x12". When I got to Home Depot, I had second thoughts. First of all, although they say pressure treated wood is safe there's really no guarantee the chemicals won't leach into my veggies. Second, the wood is quite expensive. I then considered using cinder blocks. I could've done this at about 1/4 the cost of using pressure treated wood but they are heavy and seemed to complicate the whole project. I finally found some 1"x12" pine boards that were cheap and easy to carry. I
bought some other stuff like screws and wood to anchor my corners and that was it.
The next day, I put together the sides for the bed. I stapled-gunned the chicken wire to the boards and then started adding more layers of ground soil, compost and natural fertilizer. I mixed it well and when it finally reached to top of the wood, I watered and let the soil settle.
Because I had also tilled an area outside of the raised bed and added a small amount of gypsum and fertilizer, I decided to plant brussel sprouts, cabbage, and beets as sort-of an experiment to see if veggies grow better in the amended soil or ground soil. There is no chicken wire in the soil so these plants could be dinner for gophers and ground squirrels.
The following photos were taken September 26, after I tilled the soil and created the raised bed.
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