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[Mark Stutzman <mark AT transvantage.com>]

Don, if you're doing raised beds, not sure if you even need to till.  
Just build the beds, lay the cardboard, add the new soil and 
amendments.  I guess it depends how high you're going, though.

Don Bowen wrote:
> I plan to do what I did in the last garden with some changes.  I made 
> raised beds that were 4X16, aligned E-W, with 2' separation.  The size 
> was fine, there was plenty of room in a bed and walking around was not 
> too bad.  If I were to shrink the bed at all it would be by only a few feet.
>
> The major problem was alignment, there was a N-E slope to the land, one 
> bed was at grade while the opposite corner was 24" above grade.  If I 
> were to do it again I think I would follow the contour of the land.  
> Where I am thinking of a garden location the ground is mostly flat.
>
> Next major problem was the 2' between beds.  That was not enough for 
> some vine plants and working between beds.  I would dump shredded xmas 
> trees on the paths to control weeds and that worked well.  I think the 
> next garden will have 3' between beds and 4' between the ends.
>
> I also ran water to one corner of each bed and will do the same next 
> time around.  I bought a shop sink at a garage sale and installed that 
> in one corner, very handy.  One thing I always wanted to do was to build 
> a garden shed, a small space to store stuff with a small porch along the 
> front to provide a nice place to stop and watch the rain.
>
> I think the first step will be to till up a space for the bed.  I do not 
> really know the soil there but I do know it has a lot of rocks.  Once it 
> is tilled I would like to pay out the cardboard and build beds around 
> that.  Put in some good soil, rotted sawdust, and manure to hold the 
> cardboard in place then plant some sort of cover crop.  That would be a 
> good time to build the first fence for the chicken moat and let the 
> chickens have their way with the beds.
>
> The garden shed will be a long term project.  I want to replace the well 
> shed as an early project.  I have plans to make it a garden shed for 
> mower storage and the like.  There will be an insulated box at one end 
> for the pressure tank and well head.  I want to experiment with solar 
> heating and rain catchment with this little shed.  In the box will be 
> water storage for rain collection and the south end will have a 
> collection box with one side Polycarbonite.  The idea is that the sun 
> will heat air in the collection box which in turn will heat the rain 
> water as heat storage.
>
>