Some plants seem to do well by moving the lava rocks, dumping in soil, and putting in a rooted cutting. For regular garden vegetables, however, this method doesn't work.

The only way to have veggies is to build raised beds. There are many advantages to raised beds, and especially when you are dealing with a yard of lava. With the help of a friend, I built several small beds.

Local friends have a piggery nearby, and they have been helping me out with their dump truck full of cured "pig dirt." Their real soil, added to the natural by-product of pigs, mixed in with my compost material, creates rich soil. I wish I could cover my whole acre with it! It doesn't look as big in the picture as it really is (next picture). I'd already used a lot of it before I took this shot.

Gradually, I shoveled buckets of it into the beds with visions of fresh veggies floating through my brain. I'd been hungry for beets, so that was the first thing I planted. They looked so pretty growing in their rows.

The first picture above shows my first harvest of little beets (the other produce there is not from my garden). I cooked up the greens first, because they don't last very long once they're picked. I've eaten all the beets now, so it's time to plant more.

I also picked a mess of collards and mustards from the small beds. For just one person, the small beds are ample.

This past week, the same friend helped me build a larger bed out by the shed. We bought 4X4 lumber on sale at Lowe's and created this 8'X4' bed. I put cedar mulch in the bottom to keep the soil from dropping down into the lava too quickly, and now I've started to shovel in more "pig dirt." As soon as it's full of soil, I'll plant more veggies.

I'll build a few more of these larger beds. As you can see, it will take a lot of buckets before I fill this bed! This represents only three buckets of "pig dirt."

I can hardly wait to show you pictures of the new veggies that will be growing here. So far, the wild local mouflin sheep haven't decided to eat my produce before I do.