start of gardening

Yesterday, it finally reached 50 degrees (I only go outside when it's a certain temperature, I'm a sissy, I know), so I donned my coat, hat, and gloves, bundled up the girls and went outside to start exavacting for a new flower bed. My house is on an old strip mine, so my yard looks sad. I started a raised bed last year in the back of my house. It did well. For the front, I'm opting for raised berms insteadof a boxy bed so I can make a curved edge instead of a straight edge. I have to import all of my dirt since mine is packed clay and rocks. 

I started on the trench to outline the bed. I used my mattock, the tool of choice with my ground. I'll remove a 2 foot wide strip of sod from around the inside edge of the bed and pile it upside down in the middle of the new bed. Then I'll bring in good soil to pile on top. I'll smooth it out and taper it down to the edges. Thanks to Garden Gate magazine for giving me that idea. I think I'll line my trench with pea gravel to keep the lawn out of my bed. 

I'm so excited. I've tried growing things in my ground with very little sucess. Now with raised beds I can grow a variety of plants, and they won't get lost in my clay like ground. Now I need a garden plan to figure out what to grow and where.