A late-winter and early spring project is now in the final stages.    My back yard was a gravel slope down to the street below and over the years I have hauled in concrete blocks to build three retaining walls for 3 garden levels.    Each build was a little better, using the right kind of blocks, backfilling with porous material, and providing walkways.    The second level had a ground-level garden bed, bordered by low blocks.    Soil was brought in to fill the bed.  Over the years it was amended to add compost and manure, remove roots and rocks, and I added irrigation.    This spring, I brought the bed up to the height of two Allen jumbo blocks.    Since there are only concrete steps down to the level, the blocks were carried (84 pounds each) one at a time down to the level.   I used 6 degree blocks (the same as the ones above) and fitted them without gaps, sometimes requiring some work with a masonry hammer.    The bed was framed in concrete, 50 feet long by about 5 feet wide.

The next step was to fill in bed with organic material.    This was a lengthy process.    I had a large compost heap with most materials semi-composted.    In another spot, I had a large pile of old grass sods (we removed our front lawn).   I hauled large buckets of these materials by hand.   Starting at one end, I dug trenches, piling the existing soil out of the way, then filled the trenches with old sod at the bottom, then added another layer of compost on top, and lastly I replaced the existing soil into the trench.    This brought up the trench by about 2 feet.    I continued this process, digging new trenches along the bed until the whole bed as raised up.   Then I went to Cinnamon Ridge to get load of compost which I hauled home, then brought the dirt down to the garden bed in buckets.

Surrounding the bed are blocks which I filled with soil.   Each one is like a garden pot which can be planted.    The goal is to have all herbs in the blocks surrounding the garden.    At this point I have transplanted chives, sage, oregano, and thyme, with more to come.   The herbs flower in summer and can be harvested in summer and fall, like this oregano:

 

The first level bed has been a vegetable garden, featuring the early spring planting in rows, then adding the summer crops (carrots, beets, beans, etc.) later.    Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, rhubarb, pole beans, potatoes, and squash have been planted on level 2 or 3 over the years.

The new garden bed will also have some row crops, some cage and pole crops, and also some rows of flowers, all to be decided over the planting season.