Spring is Here! A Clever Way to Make A Raised Garden Bed

Where have I been the past week?  

In the country...in Greenwood, VA.

I arrived in boots and sweats and chilly weather. 

And then...overnight....spring sprung!

(I actually had to go buy shorts because it was 80 degrees!)

Check out some of the things in my Mom's yard that "came to life" this week:

Bridal wreath...forsythia....japonica......

Tulips...

Jonquils...

Azalea...

Redbud!

Hyacinths.

Here's Mom this morning, beside her flowering plum tree.......

The branches were totally bare a week ago.

And see this birdbath? 

It was my grandmother's.

 

The same one you see in this photo.

(That's my Aunt Milly and my dad in the foreground as youngsters.)

Dad died two years ago today...

...and Jackie, our sweet little dog, a month ago....

So it's been a rather rough week for my mom...

 I've been thinking how great a raised garden bed would be for her.

You know, something like this...

Filled with rich dirt........

closer to the house to water......

and easier to work because you don't have to lean so far down...

But they can get expensive...

So....it just so happened that this week, my friend Suzanne was cleaning out her store....

and she had a bookcase, similar to this one, that she needed to get rid of....

So...the gears started turning.....

She helped me bring it to Mom's in the back of her truck...

I took out the shelves, removed the back plywood, 

and just placed it on the ground & staked the corners.

Instant raised bed box!!

Suzanne and I went to Walmart and bought about 40 bags of compost, manure, topsoil and potting soil, and at the end of yesterday, Mom had her very own raised garden bed!!!!!!!
All ready for planting.

(God bless you, Suzanne! You're a true friend!)

And God bless you, too, Mom.

Now get to planting!!!;)