At the end of the summer, before leaving the farm, I decided to set up a little area to start growing some veggies. Although the initial idea was to make a nice wood structure, I thought it would be better to use everything I had as a starting point and if everything goes well and we decide to grow the surface we will probably get is nicer and more organzied.
I chose a pretty shady area, next to an old olive tree and some oaks, at one of the edges of the farm, where I have the compost area. This is the clear spot before I started adding what I had in mind to give it some shape.
I decided to use the old cement blocks I used the first year as the legs for the kitchen countertop while I still didn't have cabinets. I added them on the corners using them to hold old pieces of wood.
Then I added the wood boards and some cardboard.
and started filling the area with olive tree branches from some trees I prunned a few weeks before.
On top of the branches, I added plenty of oak and olive tree leaves I had around the same area.
To make it higher, I added old roof tiles I still have as we removed all the ones the tiny house had. And filled with last year horse poo I picked up from the neighbors.
A few days later I added some more horse poo making all the seeding area higher and I will finally add some soil on the top. My friend will test this winter and next spring/summer I plan to do my first seeding. We will probably add some kind of automated irrigation to be able to unattend the place for a couple of days if needed.
I will share my progress as soon as we start getting our hands dirty on the gound :)
For me, when you’re just starting out, it’s better not to spend too much on materials right away. It’s best to make use of whatever is already available. If we’re resourceful and creative with what we have, we can make what we want and save a lot of money. That’s why I really like what you did.