QUINCY, ILL. -- Most gardens this year are growing about a month to six weeks ahead of schedule. One of those gardens is at Four Winds Farm. Deborah Lee initially tilled up the land about ten years ago. Four years ago, she added the raised beds.
"That's nice because you have pathways in between that you can cover. Also when you have raised beds, you don't have to keep tilling. You amend the soil each year by putting grass clippings, compost, and other things on it. You want your raised beds about four feet wide. Then you can reach across the middle and you don't have to step on it. You can have them any length that you want. I love the raised bed, it's nice to have that and I don't have to till. And then I top dress it with compost. That adds a lot of fertilizer and I don't have to worry about the weeds coming up," says Lee
She also has what's called a lasagna garden, which isn't necessarily a garden to grow vegetables to make the Italian dish.
"It's nine different layers built up. We started with cardboard because we had that on the lawn. We wet that down and covered it up so weeds don't come up. Then we put a little peet moss on and then a little leaves from last year that weren't even shredded. Then compost, aged manure, and I'll continue to build that up with grass clippings. That way, you can just put it right on your grass or on a driveway," says Lee
Lee prides her garden on being educational. This summer she will offer both medicinal herb and culinary classes. You can email Deborah if you're interested at DLee@adams.net.
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