Two's Company; Three's a Crowd

It turns out the rows in the garden are overcrowded.  There should be two plants per row instead of three, giving two or three feet between each plant to maximize fruit production.  Mature tomato plants are about the size of a barrel. 

The plan is to relocate the middle tomato plant on the back row and the two tomato plants in the middle row to another raised bed garden. Onion bulbs will be planted in the space vacated.  There will also be room in the new raised bed for one more resident.  Let me know if you've seen a squash plant looking homeless. 

So the guys and I get to work.

Practice...

 ...makes perfect

Isn't child labor great.  Their little hands work great in these ackward corners.

After all that work it's time to go (backyard board) surfing

The spot was marked off and a rake was used to get rid of mulch and vegitation.  Then footers were dug and the box leveled off.  It took a couple of attempts to get it level.

Added 2 cubit feet of garden soil and 1 cubic foot of compost to the existing soil. 

The new box, ready to transplant tomorrow

Additional cedar mulch was purchased to cover the bed, bringing the total cost of both beds with plants to about $65.  That's a lot of tomatoes.  Hope this works. 

Rookie note:  If your wife planted a plant last year and now it looks dead and the branchs are dry and brittle don't assume it's dead.  Some plants have roots that stay alive even when the plant looks dead.  If you aren't careful you won't realize this until you get the root out of the ground and notice the new green leaves sprouting at the base of the plant.