Nice garden space! Thanks for posting that pic. Are you thinking of a narrow bed on the "empty" side of the tree?

I was thinking of to the right of the tree, as to the back is going to be cucumbers and on the far end I have two rhubarb plants. I don't want to dig on the far side anymore. I had two more rhubarb and I dug them up before they really got into the tree roots.

OK - I get it now. You want to extend the closest bed (in the pic) towards the apple tree. Straw bales to form a raised bed might be an option but I'm not sure about the appearance.

Yeah, straw can be messy and since we've used it over grass seed DH nixes any more. I think a pine frame would work. It doesn't have to be very deep. I would like to try carrots in one just once. First I need to know how many I'll need to can around 10 pints. I'll bet a lot!

No idea how to calculate your carrot space. I grew them in the ground for the first time this past season. Up until then, I grew those little rainbow carrots in pots. I grew 'Danvers Half-Long' because I didn't think my soil would be good enough for larger carrots. They did okay - got to about 5-6" long. I did amend the soil with perlite before sowing the seed.

I actually have a page I took from a magazine that tells me how many rows and how long to make them to can such and such a vegetable.

I ordered Danver's too for the same reason. My dirt has a lot of tiny rocks and pottery shards in it. I am constantly picking this stuff up and it never ends.

I have a couple things, vermiculite and something else.

I've also been reading my vegetable books on the treadmill and remembering things I forgot.

I plan on having a good garden this year :o)

Interesting about the pottery shards in your soil. Any idea where they came from?
I was resistant to adding perlite to garden soil for a very long time because I thought it didn't look right. I thought compost would solve everything. Maybe - but I figured that the very edge of the bed where I intended to squeeze in carrots would be my experiment. I have a thin layer of sandy loam on top of clay. I'll probably add a little more this year along with some compost and see if I can get a better result.
I did send in a soil sample (my first) to a testing lab and have been working this week on what I need to add to get the mineral content where is should be - at least in the bed where I grow a few vegetables. I'm hoping that will give my better yields and healthier plants.

Cindy,
Back in my Grandma's time the trash pile was usually in the back yard. Broken things ended up there. I have also found a lot of clay marbles in the garden among other trash and treasures. Most of the cups, bowls and glazed pieces are worthless, but sometimes I find a pretty piece to keep.

I just assumed the lighter stuff would blow away if it got on top. I would add it to potting mixes then cover with garden dirt when I planted. I add a scoop of mix to each thing I plant in hopes of just loosening up my garden. I have fairly loose soil to start with, but it can compact.

My soil is nice in the spring but rain during the growing season can make it compact and get crusty. I mulch with shredded leaves so that helps a lot.

Mine doesn't compact too bad unless we get a pounding rain.

If I walk too much in any of my beds, it compacts my amended clay soil so I've tried to be more conscious of that. All of my beds were created years ago before I knew better than to walk in them. I suppose I could make some paths through them with stepping stones - might help some and eliminate my tiptoeing.

We already had a bout 10 rubber mats and bought a lot more. They really make it easy to walk in the garden and can be moved anywhere. I see they showed in my other picture too.

Nice! The mats look like they'd work really well. Will have to look at them. Your garden looks full and happy!

Last year I put a thick layer of mulch on top of newspaper so I could walk in the garden without compacting the soil and to control weeds. It really helped on both deals to do that. End of season I put compost on top of the mulch and this spring will newspaper and mulch on top of that again.

Cindy,
Laughing, thanks! That was 2014's garden, when we got the mats. They ought to last for years!

Pepper,
I tried newspaper and it was so processed it wouldn't even get wet!!! Cracked me up!
It is a good soil conditioner and worm feeder tho. I used to tear strips for the compost pile.

The bulk of my newspapers either go to DD for the ferret cage or making new beds. During the winter months, a lot go to the humane society for animal cages. The "glossies" go into the recycle bin. I don't garden in straight rows - more of a interlaced type of gardening (basically, if there's an open spot, a plant goes there) - so it's hard to use newspapers in my gardens.

Cindy,
I get one small paper and it goes to my Dad who reads it and uses it to start a fire in the barn stove. He brings me a free trader paper and it's barely thick enough to use for cookies from the oven. Good thing I don't bake like I used to.

I know the trend is to read newspapers online but I'm not a fan, not wanting to sit glued to a device screen for a couple of hours with numerous clicks and scrolls. Nothing better than sitting with two newspapers all over the dining room table, across from DH making comments and drinking coffee. Not a Kindle fan either as I take great comfort in carting my book around and not looking for a plug to charge up a device. It does go against my conservation-oriented mindset but the newspaper always seems to win out.

Same here!!

Cindy,
Paper and coffee used to be what we did. Now, the papers we took have nothing in them for news. I kept the small one because they print our city council news. That one I share with Dad. The other, I check the obits and anniversaries online.
I don't have a Kindle either, nor a smart phone, I-pad, etc.