I've been meaning to turn a good portion of the back yard into a garden for food and food-related plants (herbs) since I moved in..... 4 years ago.
So, really plan on doing it over the winter for next year so I can plant in the spring.
I'm mostly planning "easy" plants: Zuchinni, squashes, onions, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, peas, maybe cucumbers etc.
The question, though, is what's the best way to like, do a raised bed?
Google has helpfully offered up what looks like a non-stop barrage of AI generated nonsense, but I'm figuring some sort of cement blocks for the corners and some un-treated boring white pine (or whatever's cheapest at the local lumber yard) wood for the sides.
The questions are, I guess, is what exactly is the correct thing to buy to fill these since I'm planning on making something like 4 or 5 large raised beds and like, what extremely obvious things am I overlooking that'll result in this being less success and more of a typical my-project-failed?
Not at all and I missed the vegan bit or I'd have not mentioned it, so that's my bad.
My problem is I live somewhere that essentially does not have top soil (the clay is, if you're lucky, maybe an inch down) and I'm going to have to start from utter scratch, and the internet is uh, rife? with animal-based solutions.
I'm going to have to import something, and then do something to whatever I get, since from what I can tell I'm not exactly going to get anything remotely resembling decent soil purchasing a truck full of it.
Think about adding something like vermiculite or coco coir for fluffing up the heavy clay soil.
This is outside of my raised beds: My soil is really compacted clay as well. Plants don't build deep roots and the soil gets super water logged. I am working with straw and my own compost to kind of add some organics. I'm also using deep layers of wood chips that will eventually break down.