I made a box out of pine boards and stained the outside cedar. I got peat moss and vermiculite and three kinds of manure and mixed them in the box. I put in seeds and they did not grow. I put in plants and they grew small fruit. I took the stalks and I put them in a bin where they rotted with old sandwiches and egg shells. It did not smell like I thought it would. It smelled more like oranges. In the spring, dirt came out of the bottom.
I put the dirt in the box. I put in seeds and they grew in forlorn ways. Some started with promise only to disappear, seemingly in the middle of the night. The sun scorched young leaves. I was powerless to protect them. A fence, however, is a big help for small pests. A short fence and a tall barrel can do more than two ignorant hands to improve the life of a garden. To this will the radishes testify.