We live on the side of Round Mountain, near Fayetteville, Arkansas. To say the ground is rocky would be a gross understatement. Using railroad ties, my husband assisted me in making the framework for my garden. I used concrete blocks in the front because I didn't want water to come off the hill and seep into the garden through treated wood. This way, water drains OUT of the ties and away from my vegetables.
My husband had a couple loads of good dirt delivered and I filled the framework by layers, hauling the dirt with a wheelbarrow. It was hard work and I had to do it around weather and my work schedule, but later I was glad I had built up the muscles and stamina I would need to take care of my husband.
Our grandkids tried to help, and their parents did help. They came over one day and hauled more dirt than I had been able to haul in weeks! As the outside was completed, I planted and then moved to the inside, building my framework, filling the pathways and the beds.
I filled and packed it down, then filled until I had all the raised beds full. Then I added some mulch. Finally I had the entire garden completed and planted.
This last picture was taken on June 13, 2010 - 15 days before I took my husband to the hospital that fateful morning. We brought him home on a stretcher August 6th. He was unable to roll over or sit up by himself. I put his hospital bed in front of the living room window so he could watch the garden. I used a baby monitor when I worked in the garden. I could hear him if he said anything or even if he coughed and could run back up to the house. The garden was my friend - my connection to the real world, because everything outside it that summer was surreal.
(I wrote about this experience in my book, "Another Mountain.")
Building My Vegetable Garden
