We were blessed with some glorious weather this weekend up here in Southern Ontario and I managed to get a good deal of work done on the new raised beds. While I had hoped to get both beds in, there is still a bit of surface ice where my larger bed will be going.

I did get the L-shaped bed in and am quite pleased with it:

I laid down four layers of kraft paper (leftovers from a project a few years ago) over the existing bed. There are some Lily of the Valley under there, so I'm hoping they are sufficiently suppressed.

I also managed to construct my new hot composting box. It uses 2x3 untreated wood that I had lying around waiting to be used, as well as 1/2" plastic hardware screen. The front panel is hinged and can swing open for easy access. Here it is beside my other cold composter:

And a close-up:

This is the site of the next bed, which will be 8 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and U-shaped. I managed to freecycle the wood pile, except for the small stuff and the logs that were/still are frozen to the ground. The blue tarp is actually an old hot tub solar blanket that is trying to help thaw the ground.

And finaly, I also managed to drive around and pick up the ingredients for my Mel's Mix. There must be something strange with vermiculite supplies in the states, because up here you can get it quite easily and fairly cheap.

So, after all of that, I have a few questions for the experts:

1. Do you think the brown kraft paper in 4 layers should be sufficient to suppress the beds underneath? As I said, they contain Lily in the Valley.

2. I managed to get the following ingredients for Mel's Mix:

- composted sheep manure

- composted horse manure

- seaweed compost

- mushroom compost

- topsoil mix (composted manure, loam, sand, limestone)

I am thinking this is a sufficient range of sources. However, how would I know if I needed to add some bone or blood meal? Further, would it hurt to add some fertilizer? (Unfortunately I can be a "more is better" type of planner).

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Michael