Jen Fulkerson

Megan great idea, I've always wanted to make my own baskets, I'm definitely putting it on my seed list.
William that's the exact wood I bought. I ripped the rounded sides off the  2x4 and cut the board in half. Then as I was building it I decided the 1 3/4 X1 3/4 were to wimpy to use for the legs. I ended up using pallet 2x4s for the legs. it's not the look I was going for, but I think it looks fine, and will be strong. I'm definitely not a carpenter, but I enjoy making wood projects, and for myself I'm fine with wonky corners and such. I'm trying to do better for this project. I will post a picture when I'm done.
Sara that's the best pallet I have ever seen. I would say at least where I live it's a very rare palette. It's wonderful you have access to them.  I work for a co-op, and will put my name on a good one when I see it. Also one of my coworkers will let me know if there's a good one.
Su that's a good idea.  I have an old washer I can use. It's so hot here in the summer I have had bad luck with metal. I also had a terrible time with grow bags, but I have discovered if I put the grow bag in the metal container I get good results. Now I'm wondering if grow bags have plastic in them. 😔 I really wish plastic wasn't in everything. I guess I will reserve them for flowers.
Thanks everyone, I have really enjoyed all your thoughts and ideas.

WOW this is why I love Permies! So many amazing ideas, Thank you very much.
First I will answer the questions. I have so many gophers it's pointless to plant in the ground unfortunately. To compromise my favorite way is to make a raised bed with hardware cloth on the bottom of the bed. I dig a two foot hole under the bed and filled it hugel beet style. The research I've done, and the good people of Permies have assured me galvanized steel is relatively safe to use.
Some of the beds are tall, and don't have contact with the native soil. I'm about to build a shadow tall bed for my brother-in-law. The answer to what kind of beds I make is all of the above.
I love the tile suggestion, but I don't have any, and for the most part I try not to buy any more than I have to. It's a good thing. I wanted the bed I'm building for my brother-in-law to be nice, so I bought the wood, and even using fence pickets, and 2x4s cost about 30.00. the next time I'm dismantling a pallet and asking myself if it's worth the trouble, I know it is.
For the one I'm giving away I think I will use flashing, or aluminum tape, or wood strips, because I want it to last a long time. For myself I think I will try stuffing the cracks with branches, or sunflower stalks, I have a bunch of those. I will find out how long they hold up, and if the soil will stay in place once they break down. I don't know why it never occurred to me, but I love it.
Than you are for the wonderful suggestions, I really appreciate your help!

I enjoy making raised beds. Pallet wood is what makes it affordable for me to make them. I use heat treated pallets only. I have watched the video's claiming they are not safe because you don't know what they were used to transport (after I had built several) I will admit I didn't think of this and it really upset me. Finally I decided I don't live in a perfect world, I hope sanding, and discarding wood that looks questionable (saturated, off color etc.) is good enough.
I also didn't realize weed cloth contains plastic. building with pallet wood means a lot of imperfections, so I always line my beds with weed cloth to keep the soil from falling out of the gaps, cracks, and knot holes. I'm a realist who strives for perfection. I have not eliminated plastic from my daily life. I would like to eliminate it as much as possible. I'm not going to remake all of my raised beds. I don't want to use it in the future.
I have thought of 4 alternatives. 1 Try to find cheap 100% cotton sheets/material. 2 Burlap. 3 Coco core. 4 Wood. Wood is the cheapest option (pallet wood) but it requires a lot more wood, almost double, and adds a lot of time because I will have to build it bored and batten style. Cotton is the next cheapest if I'm shopping thrift store sales, or yard sales. Burlap is supposed to be slow to break down.
I haven't found a lot of info about alternative bed liners. It seems most people use weed cloth. I'm quite interested in hearing if anyone has alternate ideas, or information on my ideas.
I'm far down on the Permies scale, but strive to inch my way up, as I learn and grow.  Thanks

Thanks for the very helpful responses.
It sounds like it's fine to grow up the chicken yard fence. It also seems I will likely regret planting it in my raised beds. It wouldn't be too bad if it was a ground cover, but it's a vigorous vine that will choke the life out of anything in its area. Bummer 😕 Oh well what would life be without challenges.
Thank you all.

I enjoy planting new things in my garden. This year I tried Malabar spinach. It grew well even though the heat of the summer, which is impressive since I live in Northern California zone 9B. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.
I did notice it readily reseeding itself. I was a bit concerned about this, wondering if I would be constantly pulling seedlings next year.
I just learned it's a perennial in my zone. I don't remember reading it was a perennial or invasive, but it may be both. I probably would have still planted it, but I would have planted it in a pot, not my raised bed.
This spring I may try to dig up the tuber and plant it next to the chicken yard. The problem with this idea is I can't seem to find out if the seeds are harmful to chickens. There's lots of information about the leaves, and they are good for chickens. I can't find anything about the seeds. I think I read the berries are fine for humans, but should spit the seeds out, thought I can't find that tonight either, this is not a problem for me, because I didn't like the berries at all. So I'm just not sure it's completely safe.
I'm interested to know if you have grown Malabar spinach. Did it give you any trouble? Are you glad you planted it, or do you wish you hadn't?

Welcome. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous garden.
I'm curious about the jars with red liquid in the bottom picture.

I wouldn't say I'm a Scrooge, but I struggle finding joy in the season. There's just an overwhelming amount of stuff to do, and never enough time or money.
There's a person at work who LOVES Christmas. He and his wife have their tree up and house decorated before Halloween. His joy of the season is infectious.
I enjoy making wood projects. He texted me a picture of one of those deer made  out of firewood/logs. Said if I have time it would be great if I made one for the display where Santa sits, and we let people use for photos. I've been wanting to make one, so It was fun, and my son helped, so even better. It got a great response from lots of people. I even got a request for 2 a customer wanted to buy., (I just didn't have time) It made me feel good.
Last week the person who asked me to make it (the Christmas guy) wanted to know what I would charge for the deer? I told him he could have it. He was so happy. This week he told me he was going to take it home after Santa came. He said his wife is very excited.
Their joy in this simple gift has given me a boost I really needed.
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you find joy this season

thanks Barbara. I will keep trying to think of an alternative. My property is . 99 of an acre, so not that big compared to some, but all the gardening is done by me myself and I. I keep adding more and more, so it's a lot especially since I live in Northern California, and hand water.
I've tried cardboard, it works, but needs to be redone every year. as

Microclimate is a word you hear a lot in the permaculture world. I understand the basic concept, but I don't think I realized I could intentionally create a microclimate. It kind of blows my mind, and makes me want to try a bunch of different ways to create Little individual areas. ( When time allows)
We have had a very mild fall. Between that and being busy and behind I have not removed all of my tomato plants. We are finally getting some cold weather. All but one of my marigolds have died. The marigold next to one of my massive tomato plants is alive and blooming. I doubt it will survive much longer, but it's cool to see if still blooming. It brought home the microclimate concept.

I grew garlic 24/25. It wasn't very successful. I think I didn't water enough in the spring. Then realized my mistake and probably watered to much. What I did get was very small, and a lot of the foliage had died back, so I think I missed a bunch.  
A little late, but still in the acceptable window for  my zone I was planting garlic today. I have a bunch of volunteers. I decided to remove them. I doubt they would grow all bunched together the way they were. Being a waist not want not kind of person I replanted them. I separated them, and planted around my raised beds. I don't know if they will survive. If they survive I'm not sure they will produce bulbs. I figured I have nothing to loose. If they survive, it's a win no matter what. Even if they don't make a decent bulb, we can eat the greens, and they are a great pest control
Time will tell.