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A little extra effort to construct raised beds saves backbreaking labour for the life of the garden. We used “half-rounds”-old barn rafters hewn on one side –which we half-lapped on the ends resulting in a sturdy structure with a rustic appearance.

Our yard slopes gently to the south. We opted to create an abrupt elevation change by introducing a retaining wall with steps to the lower (shade) garden. This enabled us to extend our deck and avoid steps to or in the vegetable garden. Temporary hoarding was placed along the backside of the retaining wall so that we could “cut and fill” the transition area without the need to import soil.

Next we created a 6” deep gravel foundation for the dry-stone retaining wall and installed proper drainage and a silt shield behind the wall. (see #9 and #10).The “big O” drainage pipe runs to a pit filled with gravel near the fence. Rainwater run-off and silt are the wall’s biggest enemies when they combine with frost to slowly dismantle the carefully placed stones.

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