Sometimes change is good.

   I am not one that likes change when it comes to gardening.  It is my preference to stick to tried and true methods and I have a tendency to pay no heed to suggested improvements.  Still at times, things need to change.  For the past few years, I have fought rodents relentlessly to no avail. My gardens sat in ruins causing me great anguish. I could not compete with the underground tunneling of the masses of voles.  So, I changed methods.  I read all I could find on container gardening and the use of raised beds.  The raised beds interested me most as I do garden a good bit and would need many containers.  My one concern was that most raised beds would not inhibit the tunneling one bit. Most had no bottoms.  I needed beds that were literally "raised" as in raised off the ground.  Mark and I discussed the matter and he came to my rescue by building boxes to my specifications.  I wanted them certain sizes and depths.  These were made using untreated cedar fence boards.
  
  I was a bit dubious about trying the new method but I jumped in headlong and planted everything I could in the boxes.  Beans, potatoes, squash, peppers and radishes all had new homes in the raised garden boxes.  At first, it seemed as if the plants were slow in taking to their new beds.  I was persistent, though, and tended them dutifully.  Soon, things were up and running!  The potatoes especially seem to have decided that this was perfect.  Mark had made the sides eighteen inches high and within just a few weeks, he had to add six more inches.  I have now added enough compost to fill the twenty-four inch deep boxes and the potato plants just keep growing.  Back on the farm, Pop used to "hill" his potato plants quite deeply.  He always said to grow good potatoes, you had to keep piling the dirt around them.  So, I do!  I sure hope this works and those potatoes are doing something beside growing stalks and leaves!

  Having the gardens like this has been a breeze.  So far, weeding has been nil, fertilizing much easier and, best of all, NO VOLE PROBLEM! With the gardens raised a good foot off the ground, the voles have to do a bit of climbing to reach the plants.  Our two cats now have the advantage of a clear view of the rodents as they come out of their subterranean abodes. I am already planning a good many more such gardens to be used for the fall and winter garden.  The boxes are just the right size to cover with some reclaimed windows that I have been saving for years.  This should be just the protection needed for any frosty nights come this next winter!  Oh, I love this type gardening!  Yeah, I admit it...sometimes change is good.