Terracing stabilizes the hillsides; stops major erosion caused by strong rains. It also increases the access to the hillside areas, and it increases growing space for our edibles.

We are working on a hillside to plant vegetable gardens in raised beds. After leveling the floor of the terrace and cutting straight down the bank, we have an invasive ground cover to remove and weed mat to place down and secure in place. Our raised beds will be made of rock, a material abundant in the riverbed that runs throughout the length of the property. The land continues to provide…

Our raised beds will be about 18 inches high, 20 feet long, and from 15 to 24 inches deep across the top from front to back, depending on the particular terrace. This will leave a walking path of about 12-15 inches in front of each bed. On our first selected area we will have enough space for two beds per terrace with walking space in between.

Rocks are and will continue to be carried by hand by the mightiest of us (that’s all of us, of course) from 30 to some 70 yards away from the selected planting area. Sometimes we enlist the help of a wagon or cart for a part of the way, then up the hillside again by hand and back.