Slowly but surely I am moving the dump trailer load one wheel barrow at a time. I do not see a need to kill myself with this so whenever I think about it or get bored I go out and shovel a couple of wheel borrow loads into the raised beds.
Every year I have to add compost to the garden beds. Over the course of the growing seasons the older compost in the beds compresses and decays down even more leaving room at the top for more beautiful nutrient filled dirt to be applied leaving no reason to till and disturb the gardens ecosystem .
I had planned on doing a separate 30x30 garden this spring and planting nothing but sunflowers. I wanted to extract the black sunflower seed oil to use for most of my cooking needs. Further research has shown me the oil causes cancer for women, but then other web sites say they help lower the risk. Many of the sites I visited say it one way and many others say it another. I really do not want to take the risk at this point so I will stick to store brand cooking oil unless proven otherwise.
Presently I have five raised garden beds I grow in. I have enough material on hand to add one to two more and plan to do so when I get the chance. I also need to build a sun screen over at least two of the beds so if we have another summer like the last one, I can at least save some of the plants and not have to eat so many store bought canned foods.
