Low Raised Bed

I was perusing the current edition of Mother Earth News, just minding my own business, and came across the article How To Make Cheap Garden Beds by Cheryl Long.  I am completely all for this.  If you know anything about my property you know it is nothing but rocks.  Big rocks, little rocks, heavy rocks, round rocks, white rocks, brown rocks, etc.  I have only ever built completely raised beds for gardening and hauled in dirt.  I currently have 12 beds mostly 4 feet by 8 feet. 

As I read the article I stumbled upon the phrase "low raised bed."  Hmm, I might be able to do this.  I found a test area and gave it a try.  It was a lot of work but I now have a low raised bed which measures 7 feet by 2 feet.  I dug up the soil and got it all loose 4 inches deep. 

Let me tell you what's going on in the pic.  At the bottom right side is what needs to be dug up.  Notice there's still some green weeds growing.  Next to that is a "small" rock that needs to be dug out.  To the left is the tilled up soil mixed with very small rocks.  In the upper left is what was finished and covered with mulch.  In the upper right are not so small rocks I tossed to the side and form a border along the fence line.  

Now the mulch can decompose and start improving the soil.  I am going to try planting some extra seedlings there in a month to see if the bed is usable this season.

I wonder where that pot went.  Ah, there it is.  Whoa lady, you're gonna need to get through me to get that pot.  I need that pot... You're gonna have to scratch me.  Pot.  Scratch.  Pot.  Scratch.  Fine, you win.

Today was the first official harvest of the season.  I did a health pick of all the greens and it added up to quite a bit.  I have spinach, swiss chard, 3 lettuces, and fennel.  It was one gallon bag's worth.