Valentines Day

Usually I get flowers, perfume, and chocolates for Valentines day and an unexpected present or two. This year I had a request. . . I asked Emery for a raised bed for the garden. He was more than happy to do that for me, so I skipped the fancy perfume, flowers and chocolates all in favor of some organic soil, organic chicken manure and peat moss, along with a trip to Lowes for some fine cedar to build the frame. Emery and I had a great time working together on the project Sunday afternoon. The sun was warm and the sky was blue. Its garden time for us in North Texas and after 20 years of fighting weeds, we have opted to just build raised beds and skip the war on weeds. Emery made the raised bed a Cadillac, there is a top piece along the frame that will work as a bench, I will be able to sit while I work in the bed, rather than kneel on the ground. We will need many more such beds, but Rome wasn't built in a day so it may be a project that will take a few years to complete. The wood part of the bed is not expensive, about $35, but since we don't have a place to buy organic soil by the yard, buying bags of it ends up a real investment, especially since we want all the beds to be at least 12" deep, some will be 16" or more for the root vegetables.
We have a good size compost pile but still won't produce all the compost we will need for what we are planning on.
With my raw eating, we opted to have a quiet Valentines dinner at home last night. It was perfect.
I just keep thinking about how many wonderful vegetables we will be able to grow in our raised beds without fighting a loosing battle with the weeds. I feel sure Emery gave me the best Valentines day present this gal could ever ask for .