low-cost easy raised garden beds?

[csziggy]

12. If you are not totally invested in organic farm stores sell straw

I have horses, so getting straw and hay is easy. Hay is not a good idea for the bale gardens because the grass tends to have more seed.

Depending on how things go this fall and winter, I may try some straw bale beds next spring. I have flower beds to dig out and re-plant, some old bulbs that need to be dug from our hold house site and moved to the new one, and some terracing that needs to be redone.

We're like you are - lots of deer and other critters just aching to get into our beds. I had to give up on pansies in my flower beds - they're just snacks for the deer. And I have to plan what to plant other places because the squirrels and armadillos will get into them. If I want to grow vegetables, I will have to put up an electric perimeter fence. That would give me a place to put my bird feeders where the deer and raccoons can't get to them, but I'd also have to defend the vegetables from the birds.