The garden year begins

We are now lining off the beds, which are 3X50 feet, and raking the sheet compost/mulch out of the paths. That's about as "raised" as we get. Seems to do the job, especially after almost two decades. Paths will be lined with cardboard and a layer of straw, which along with leaves, poultry bedding and grass clippings added over the year, will be raked onto the beds again next February, if all goes as it should. I'll also cut up prunings into short bits and scatter them round the beds, especially the soft fruit perennial beds. Anything too large for the hand pruner is tossed in the general direction of the woodshed.

Gooey kitchen compost resides in the compost barrel, along with leaves and straw, until done, then waits in a bin for more specialized uses. Comfrey is laid on to the sheet mulch all year, and also added to the barrel.

Flats in the potting shed contain three-inch pots with peas, broadbeans, 2 kinds of lettuce, chard, bok choi, beets, kale, spinach. I'm realizing I will need some collards and Brussel sprouts as well, and am considering a test plot of carrots in the open ground.