Covered, Smothered, and Composted

Once the beds were set, it was time for the soil.  We used a mixture of composted organic soil we found at a local landscape supply center and composted horse manure from our friends at Moonshadow Farm.  The Boys Wonder were besides themselves with excitement at getting to work in the back of daddy's truck AND play in the dirt AND use shovels without getting into trouble.  (For the record, they konked out early that night.)  They did a great job shoveling the dirt onto a tarp for easier transporting.

Our free composted manure.

Before we could put in the soil, we had to cover the dirt for pro-active weed control.  Given that the yard was not taken care of for 3-4 years prior to our moving in, there are more weeds than grass in the yard.  I don't want to give them a nice, organic soil to thrive in if I can help it.  Once Sweet Hubby leveled the beds, I laid out newspapers in the beds to provide weed control.  The newspaper will break down over time and add trace minerals to the soil.

If you find yourself low on newspaper like I did, recyclable cardboard boxes work just as well.

My helpers and I moved the soil into the frames.  We put in the composted soil first, then laid the composted manure on top of it.  As Boy Wonder #2 put it, we "smothered" the newspaper.

Taking care to put dirt in the corners first so the newspaper doesn't slide down and make gaps.

Once the composted manure was in each bed, Sweet Hubby leveled all the soil out.  It rained a couple of hours after we finished putting in the soil.  Yay for free watering!