New compost area and sheet mulching

Our compost pile has been just that "a pile". it sat in the corner, with a very sad look. It was hard to see because in front of it was a dilapidated raised bed from years past, the raised bed was overgrown with weeds and had tomato cages and cardboard stacked on top of it. I've been wanting to do something with this area for a while, but have not had the chance. This morning I was up early with plans to do something else and this mess caught my eye, and now it is history.

I don't have any before photos, it was just too ugly to take its picture. First I built this compost area from two pallets, some used 2 x 4's, a gate leftover from when we rebuilt our fence and some used corrugated roofing tin.

Then I dug up the old bed and spread the dirt, and weeds around. I covered the whole mess with cardboard and watered it really well. I then spread straw over the cardboard and watered it again. My plan is to continue layering compost and mulch onto the straw. Hopefully by next year this will be usable soil. It took all day but it was worth it.