I don't care for mowing the lawn..Part 2

In the interest of self-sufficiency, and of course, my quest to avoid mowing the lawn more than absolutely necessary, I have decided to begin turning the most of the lawn into garden space. 

More food, less lawn, mom's happy.

I began with raised beds. I pulled the wooden squares from the other part of the garden and put them on the lawn, in between the fruit trees.  I used cardboard and paper feed sacks straight on the grass, under the squares. Then I had them filled with some topsoil I had from 2 years ago.

I planted beets, carrots, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, and spinach in them. I covered them with hay, then laid a piece of old field fence over the top to keep the chickens from scratching them up. 

The grass in between, I will simply cover with spoiled hay as I get it.  On the right, center, is one of the rabbit tractors. I ran out of topsoil, so I decide to use them to help prepare the next spots. I am moving them over a little at a time, and letting them in place long enough to eat the grass down to the dirt.

This is a spot they ate totally away. In the rear, after the rabbits were done, I dug a single hole in the sod, each a foot apart and planted a seed potato. Then I mulched with spoiled bedding hay 8 inches deep, with a small depression left where each potato was planted. Strangely, the chickens really haven't bothered this one.

In the front, the black plastic is in place to warm the dirt in preparation for sweet potatoes.

This is the finished square the rabbits were just starting in the first photo. It took them 3 days to clear it.  Chris was starting to till for me, but the tiller decided to take a break (the machine, not him).  So the center isn't tilled at all.

This is the back edge in the square in the previous photo.  I planted 100 bush bean plants.  It's still a tad cold for beans, but I am tired of waiting. Call it an experiment. I covered them with old glass patio doors I got out of someone's trash. I hope they will keep the soil warm enough to prevent the seeds from rotting. Beans tend to do that it cold, wet soil.