So many people recommended a book called
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew that I had to give it a read. This photo shows my attempt at a square-foot garden. It isn't quite finished because I still need to add more grid. I also made a calculation mistake and now my 4x4 isn't square exactly.
I made this bed out of a 2x6x16 that I purchased and had cut at Home Depot. That way, the wood fit in my car easily and I didn't have to get out my hand saw. My 3-foot garden took a 2x6x12.
I just put two big nails in at each corner and the bed was solid. I've seen people use corner angles, and that might be better, but nails are easier.
After I dug up the weeds where my 4x4 was going, I leveled the ground and placed my new garden frame over it. Then, I put down bark to block weeds and provide drainage. Finally, I shovelled in left-over Farmer D compost and started adding the grid.
The grid is very important because without a grid, you don't have a square-foot garden and you cannot make the best use of every inch of soil in the bed. Spacing plants and seeds properly will get you the best bang for the buck.
Finally, I added pine straw all around my beds and in between. I did this for several reasons: first, to deter pests from entering my garden bed from soil level; second, to deter more weeds; third, to keep the mud down around the beds; and finally, to keep moisture in. It was more aesthetically appealing.
A 4 foot square garden can produce enough salad greens for one adult. A three-foot square garden will feed a child. If you want vegetables, too, and some for canning, you would need to add another bed. So, for example, my husband and I want lettuce and vegetables to feed us this summer; therefore, we would need four 4-foot square beds. If we planned on having our granddaughter for the summer, I would plant two three-foot beds for her. I am planning to put cut flowers in my 4x4 and herbs in my 3x3.
You can see what a section of a hive looks like. It is one box of several in a hive. The smaller frame sitting on top is an inner hive frame where the queen will lay eggs and bees will make honey.
Some of the beekeepers' tools haven't changed in hundreds of years--like the smoker on the left that calms the bees when you are opening a hive. THe beekeepers hat with netting is also important, and gloves. But the most important thing for a beginning beekeeper to remember is that slow, steady, determined movements do not alarm bees as much as quick movements.
Bees are just as important to the casual gardener as they are to farmers raising crops for animals and human consumption. For better yields and larger flowers, we should each try to have at least one hive to care for and manage. There are many things to consider about beekeeping. Location, neighbors and keeping the hive healthy.
This purchased cover is not quite large enough for the four-foot square bed. It's an 8' bag and it almost works. It will be perfect for the three-foot square garden, however. I plan to purchase more PVC and adjust the length for the smaller garden. Frost barriers come in a lot of sizes.
Using two 12-ft. PVC pipes and a twist tie, you can make a frame for holding a frost barrier, whether it is designed for that purpose, a large sheet of plastic, or even blankets. This frame and cover can keep young plants safe from freezing temperatures. Most covers will work down to about 28 degrees.
This little garden next to my back door gets a little too much shade for cut flowers, so it's going to be an herb garden. It makes sense because it is closer to the house so I can just run downstairs and take a quick clipping of whatever herbs I need. 
Just when wishful thinking makes you think spring is here, the expected unexpected happens. It snowed and snowed. It was beautiful.
We've had so much rain and so much snow that I wish I had the heavy duty version of these babies. Come on spring.
The peas are the happiest of all the seedlings. I don't think I have enough light for the tomatoes, cabbages, and cosmos. In my master gardener class I learned that "leggy" seedlings are stretching to get more light and that is called etiolation. Great new word!!
So many people recommended a book called Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew that I had to give it a read. This photo shows my attempt at a square-foot garden. It isn't quite finished because I still need to add more grid. I also made a calculation mistake and now my 4x4 isn't square exactly.
Photos of this installation were on the disk of my squashed camera. Putting this together was not difficult and of course, with just a little rain--the statistics are on the Fiskars website--it is full. We installed two so now we can harvest and save enough rain water to take care of our gardens! 
