Jim and I have built many, many raised beds in our time.  But for my “dream garden”, we had our contractor do the work!  First we decided to make use of a low spot that was very conveniently located, but not good for much else.

Brandyn broke out the spray paint and we talked about how wide the beds should be and where they should be located.

A lot of “thinking time” went into making sure everything would work out the way we envisioned it.

Lucky was amazing and squeezed the garden bed construction into the middle of the house construction.  He knew how badly I wanted to get some vegetables growing! (Ok, I might have reminded him of it daily. LOL)

I know some of the construction guys thought we were nuts as we planted our seeds and seedlings during the middle of construction.  They never knew what they would find growing when they returned the next day!

Hewitt was a regular visitor and would hang out with Brandyn for as long as Brandyn could put up with him!

Once the garden beds were in, they were able to build the retaining wall so they could get ready to build the chicken/rabbit house.

And then the fun work of building all the concrete walkways and steps began.

It took a LOT of guys to  move all that concrete into the aisles and get the concrete stamped before it dried.

This is the walkway to get us into and out of the garden area.  The tunnel is for the chickens so they can go from one pasture area into the orchard.

This walkway just “dead-ends” into a drainage culvert that goes underneath our driveway.

There was a LOT of labor and expense that went into my garden.  My estimate is that with what we would otherwise spend on vegetables, it will pay itself back in about 10-12 years.  And that does not include any of the lifestyle and health benefits that come from the garden, not to mention the joy.

To me, that is immeasurable!