New Raised Beds and Trouble-making Goat Kids

It's spring and we're getting ready to plant the garden.

On the 'to do' list this year is a greenhouse in the garden area so we've had to move the garden for the summer.

New raised beds are a great option for the area we've chosen. We're putting up the raised beds in the 'buck pen.' We keep animals in here when we're breeding, and for the winter. It's close to the barn and we can keep an eye on the animals in the winter.

This is probably something your kids can help you do. I'm sure that if my grandsons were here this would have taken longer, but they would have been able to help hold the boards and use the screw gun.

I've had one garden box for about 8 years and it's doing great. No problems at all. These boxes are about $20 each to make.

The 8 year old box is in the back row on the left.

You'll need 5 cedar pickets and a 2" x 2" pine board. You may want a longer 2"x2" board if you're making more than one box. You'll also need some deck screws.

We bought enough wood for 8 boxes because they are fast to make.

Cut 2 of the boards in half. Cut four pieces of the 2"x2" pine board 11" long. It's ok if they are longer. Our first box has corner pieces that are longer.

We used the cedar pickets without trimming the 'dog ear' tops. Even with the dog ears, they covered the corner posts well enough that we didn't need to trim them off. Faster isn't always better, but in this case faster is better.

Deck Screws last longer when used outside.

Set the cedar picket onto the post, making sure the bottom of the post and the picket are even.

Secure with 2 screws.

Put one 2"x2" on the end of two different boards. These are the bottom of your long sides.

Have someone hold the board up while you screw in one of the pickets that was cut in half.
Screw one on each end.

We add one more row of pickets around the box because it's hot in Utah and a little more dirt helps the garden stay moist. You might not need a box that is two pickets high.
The 'dog ear' cuts on the top of the pickets are short so when they are attached to the 2"x2" no dirt leaks out.

Helpers....

There are always four-legged helpers.

I saved brown paper feedbags as liners for my garden.
You might want to save cardboard, or newspapers.
Those all work as weed barriers so we don't get grass or
weeds growing up through the good dirt we're adding to the garden boxes.

I had to cut off the ends of the paper bags. It doesn't take too long. That is a job that most kids who can use scissors can to. Kids are also great at opening up cardboard boxes.

Four-legged helpers....
The bags still smell a little bit like grain so Echo wanted a taste.

Line the bed with whatever weed barrier works best, or is easiest to get.

Then fill with dirt.
Our beds take about 2 wheelbarrows full of dirt.
My wheelbarrow hold a lot of dirt!

Our beds will be fairly close together, just enough room to get between beds and take care of them. I have to fill one bed at a time because I need to move one out of the way to get the wheelbarrow close enough to shovel the dirt into the bed.

I have some pots to hold tomatoes, too.
See the big tarp?
That will come off this weekend. It's the shelter for the animals that
stay in the pen during the winter.
It will be a great place for cucumbers and peas and beans
to grow during the summer.

I planted some seeds this week, too!
I use the handle of a plastic fork to twist open the top of the seed pot a little.
It makes it much easier to get a seed inside.

I use a permanent metallic marker to label the rows.
It's the easiest way for me to keep track of what seeds I planted in each row.
I've tried sticks with labels, but they usually fall out or get knocked out.
This is what I've been doing for the last few years, and it seems to be the best for me. 

Have you planted seeds this year? My grandkids usually help me plant the seeds, and help me pick what seeds to buy. This year is a little different while we are all trying to keep our germs to ourselves.

I also label the seed packages.
Row 2 seeds are squash, row 3 are watermelon (yay!) and row 4 are pumpkins.

It's not quite time to plant potatoes.
Last year I planted them in reusable shopping bags.
I got my idea here, but used some extra bags that I had on hand.
The crop was wonderful!
I'll be repurposing a few again this year.
I might also try growing potatoes in stacked tires.
We try new things in the garden every year. Just to experiment and see how things work.

We have the hoses and sprinklers all hooked up and ready to water the pasture.
We had to let the sprinklers run overnight when it froze again!
It looked so pretty on the fence!

Tia and Mia are growing well!
They are so friendly because they are still being bottle fed.
They love to follow me around on the farm.

One morning I forgot to hold the little bucket of goat milk.
Mia and Tia jumped into the wagon and their whole bucket of
milk was tipped over!
They were a little hungry that day because that's the milk I use in their bottles.

They love to get into other mischief, too!

Cute little trouble-makers!

I'm really glad I get to spend time outside this spring. The weather has been warm, then cold, then freezing, then warm again. But I love the sunshine and getting back to work on the farm.