So, now that I have this raised garden bed, I’ve got to figure out how to fill it with dirt for next year. I’ve still got some time, so I think I’m going to try composting. The great thing about composting is that you can do it with any organic material. Old fruit, vegetable peels, weeds, grass clippings–even egg shells. If you’re going to try this, I’d recommend staying away from anything that might start to smell bad attract hungry animals: basically, meat.
This year, I’ve been paying a high-schooler from my local church to mow my lawn. It’s been a great timesaver. I’ve got kind of a large lawn, so I also have a lot of grass clippings. I’ve heard that grass clippings can make great compost, so that’s what I’m going to try first.
It’s pretty easy to grab these clippings with a rake. It took about 20 minutes to grab enough material to start a bottom layer in the box. I figure if I do this a few more times this year, I should be able to fill at least the bottom with enough compost so that I don’t have to spend a bunch of money filling the whole thing with top soil. As an added bonus, this nutrient-rich compost will be great for my raised bed!
After adding the grass clippings and branches from around the yard, I sprayed it down with the hose to help start the decomposition process. Maybe I’ll come back later and stir it up.
…and that’s really all there is to it. Nothing fancy. I’ll probably add some leaves to it when they really start falling this year. Even though I don’t have many trees, my yard is always full of leaves. This will be a great place to put some of them. The kids are excited about helping out with it as well.