Walls of Rubble

Our growing beds are mostly raised a few feet from the pathways, making it easier to maintain em- less stooping, easier to add compost and mulch, easier to harvest. The fact that we don't walk on the soil keeps it from getting compacted, too. There're a lot of ways to raise garden beds- our first raised bed was built of log cabin style stacked 2 X 4s with the spaces woven in with long crocosmia leaves to hold the soil; then we just piled up the earth, and it was fine, except for a little erosion.... and the chickens. They love to scratch around in the beds, disrupt young plants, and strew mulch in the paths. Well. So much for piles. Now we're using found rubble for garden walls. Chunks of cement and brick and occasional stones are easy to find in an urban area; I pick em up in vacant lots, building sites, and roadsides- throw em in the trunk & carry on. Broken cement is the best; it usually has flat top & semi-flat bottom, so it's easy to stack... and looks terrific!