Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

The Freedom Blueprints

By John Hoffman

Module #3 part A

Food Freedom
- The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food from the Menu-

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

2009 by John Hoffman. All rights reserved. Published by http://www.freedomblueprints.org/. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in an ad database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of John Hoffman. The Author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained herein. However, the author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, wit regard to the informational content, documentation, or files contained in this book or in any accompanying media files such as CDs or DVD, and specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to program listings in the book, the techniques described in the book, and/or the use of files. In no event shall the author or publisher be responsible or liable for loss of profit, or any commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special incidental, consequential, or any other damages in connection with or arising out of furnishing, performance, or use of this book, program files, instruction, audio or video connected with this information.

Further, the author and publisher have used their best efforts to proof and confirm the content of the files, but you should proof and confirm information such as dates, measurements, and any other content for yourself. The author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to that content or its accuracy.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

INTRODUCTION

Facts prove that only one out of a hundred Americans grows the food the other 99 eat. This would mean that our food supply is provided by just one percent of the population. It is also argued that most of us do not have a clue about where our food comes from. We do not even know the basics about how food gets to the supermarket. Grain is basically the main food source in our society. We have built traditions on it. Bread became, centuries ago, the symbol for food, wellbeing and hospitality. However, did you know that most of it is grown in the Midwest? They are imported by train on only two railroads. Vulnerable, some may say, given the fact that our food supplies are scarce in case of a, God forbid, disaster. The only ones of us that might have a better chance of surviving a major food shortage will be the people that live in rural areas. They could find or grow food more easily. However, in urban areas, this is virtually impossible. When food shortages occur, people will be expected to migrate to the countryside. This would create havoc with their survival efforts.

Food, an industry like any other

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Nevertheless, politicians and our other leaders assure us that the American food supply is the highest quality, and they seem never to forget to mention that it is the most nutritious in the World. It seems that all comes for granted here in America. We enjoy the greatest, healthiest, most nutrient foods that God has given.

This is false! More and more vegetables, fruit and animals are Genetically Modified. We eat mutant plants and animals. Plants that grow more of that, animals that provide more of something else. And even if you do not buy such a doomsday scenario, ever wondered what happens to all the food left unsold in supermarkets or restaurants? Do you truly believe it is given to the poor and starving? As if plants and animals knew that we needed more milk, meat, fruits or potatoes, and larger onions. For Petes sake, tomatoes do not know they are round, red and pretty. We make them pretty. Japanese just invented square watermelons, and not by putting them into square boxes. Plants and animals are violently and genetically mutilated by industry. The effects of this are not yet assumed.

We do not breed fruits and vegetables for their flavor, but to fit the requirements of uniform maturity date and to adapt to mechanical harvest. We harvest vegetables and fruit before they are ripe only have them withstand transportation conditions better. We transport them about 1.500 miles to the consumer. Is it normal to have such a huge contrast between the supermarket tomato and the home garden tomato? Between a supermarket egg and a free-range egg? Supermarket foods are pseudo-foods that answer to no real basic hunger needs.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Facts show that the national diet has been declining in nutrition! This did not happen yesterday; it is a continuous process that began decades ago and we perpetuate it. We treat our soils as we treat our cosmonauts: feed them with pills. As if Earth did not provide them with everything needed to give us plants and veggies. If we are what we eat, our soaring incidence of degenerative disease should come as no surprise. The number of allergies grows continuously, and there is an increasing incidence of attention deficit and behavior disorders, obesity and, most shockingly, heart disease, cancer, and adult-onset diabetes.

We say that we choose what we eat, but we actually do not know what we chose. Chicken are soaked in fecal sludge, because this is the way chicken from high-speed processing plants is robotically killed on the lines. These are the chicken we buy in supermarkets and the same most of the restaurants or food stores sell. We wouldnt normally choose chicken if we knew how its made.

More and more processed foods on offer in the supermarket are not foods in the traditional sense of the word. They are mere imitations with a very narrow ingredients base. Many of them have never before been eaten in the evolution of our species. We are the guinea pigs in this experiment called the food industry. Moreover, the worst will happen in the future, after we are gone. Can you imagine on what basis our children and grandchildren build their immunity systems?

Some might say at least our food is cheap. True, we spend a smaller percentage of our income on food than almost any other national population. However cheap turns out to be an illusion as well. Just consider that food is cheap because the true costs of production are externalized. If you do not understand the process, it stands for: severe economic exploitation of farmers and agricultural workers in lower developed countries. And our cheap food turns out to be expensive indeed if you would be able to count the money you spend on medicine for getting ill or sick a lot more often than before. Nevertheless, this sweet before is a time only our grandparents have experienced.

There is much to be done to change the situation at the macro level. Little can be done, though. The food supply in America is largely controlled by four or five agribusiness/food processing mega-corporations with enormous power to control the market and regulatory agencies. Some seem to try to wake up from this nightmare. Europeans invest huge amounts of

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

funds in ecological gardening: plants that grow without the help of chemicals. What do we invest in?

The alternatives

We cannot hope to buy better food in the supermarket, but we can grow our own, better food, at home. Some of us are lucky enough to live at the countryside or to have a farm or at least a garden. Most of us can produce at least some of our food in our own back yards. This module will show you that you can produce more food at home than you might at first think possible and we will teach you how to manage those small, tight spaces and make them useful. Food independence though does not mean food isolation! Even if you will no longer buy from the supermarket, you should buy from local producers or bartered for goods. The point in all this to eat as healthy as possible and at least be happy with yourselves that you did everything you could. You will learn how you might introduce some food production into your backyard (or even back deck), or where you might find local sources for wholesome foods.

THE SOIL: THE BEGINNING

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

It all begins in the ground. In addition, Mother Nature gave it one of the best recipes in order to develop and grow a wide variety of plants. Starting from hundreds and thousands of years ago human kind has tried to understand the secrets of earth. Why some soils are better for plants than others are and what is the ideal composition in which to grow plants. More and more scientists study the composition of the soil.

They even try to make artificial recipes by mixing all sorts of components together. But statistics show that globally, the soil quality decreases. It might be because it is overworked. Because of the huge food industries that care only about profit and less about the soil they grow on. They just ad chemicals and wait for the soil to get better. However, soil is just like an ill child. Too much medicine does no good; it needs fresh air, water and fresh fruits.

Few of us dare to hope we will ever come to stop the juggernaut which is todays American agriculture and the economic engine driving it. There is one place this agricultural juggernaut cannot meddle: our backyards. Do not take the issue of soil preservation lightly. It is one of the most ardent issues nowadays. Focus all the attention you can on soil ecology, an enormous subject deserving your full attention.

Natural soil fertility

Why some soils are more fertile than others are? Just compare natural, virgin systems with those used in agriculture; soil fertility increases over the millennia if soil is left unspoiled, because of a complex, organic, natural process. Mass agriculture causes loss of fertility because it disturbs this process. Never has agriculture been more industrialized than it is now.

Coming back to the first question, some soils are more fertile than others are because in the case of virgin soils, everything in the system is recycled: every creatures waste is another creatures resource. Cycles are closed. If nutrient losses are avoided, over time there must be an accumulation of fertility. The main ingredient to all this is the Sun, whose light is filtered in just the right amount by the atmosphere.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

If sunlight is continuously added to the equation, the result is life. Seeds grow into plants, plants make more seeds, and plants perish but do not disappear: they transform themselves into fertilizers, food, for the new generations to come. Simply breathtaking! A miracle: the reversal of entropy, the conversion of sunlight and sterile rock into ever more complex life forms.

In addition, whatever we take away from a piece of land, we interfere in its cycle, disrupting it in a less or more severe way. We take some of its food, reducing fertility. This is especially true when we think of a farm that is supplying many other mouths than its own. The nutrient cycle is never a completely closed circle.

In the absence of disturbance, ever more complex, interdependent webs of life emerge. Human agriculture has too often meant a breaking of the nutrient cycles: it created holes in the closed loops, through which nutrients were lost. We assume no need to return all wastes to the soil in forms it can use. And if we do, we do it in an ill way.

We think, for instance, that the best thing we can do with our poops is to flush them away to the sea, rather than recapture them as a source of fertility. Manure from highconfinement livestock operations is likewise considered more nuisance than resource.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Disturbance of the soil, when excessive or too frequently repeated, has catastrophic results. Soil erosion is not only caused by excess rain washing soil away, or by wind blowing it away, but serious erosion of topsoil also occurs through oxidation of humus by exposure to excess oxygen in English, to much earth dug out.

Patch the soil, as much as you can

We can all play our small part in healing the soil. Just start to start using every source of organic matter, you can possibly get your hands (gloves on) on. Ask your neighbors, if they have any cattle, horses, poultry, or rabbits to give you their manure and use it as fertilizer. At least try to convince them to do it! Same thing can apply to autumn leaves or spoiled hay. Never pass up an opportunity to bring more fertility onto your homestead.

All of us know that cover crops are used to boost the organic matter content of soil. Beans, peas, clovers etc., can be used especially in such a purpose. If you have the space, it would be a good idea to establish some fertility patches. For example, comfrey and stinging take any amount of fertilizing you can throw at them. When cut, they can be used as highnutrient mulches. If used in making a compost heap, they help start its rapid decomposition. This is the way to start gardening. Learning how to care for the soil.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

SUSTAINABLE CONTAINER GARDENS, OR GARDENS-IN-A-BOX

There are very simple ways in which you can grow your own garden even if you do not seem to have enough space. You do not even need a large plot of ground, as most people may think. Vegetables do not need to be arranged in rows to properly grow. Most of us do not live in areas with enough land to have a garden or we may not have the money to purchase a plot of land. It may also turn out that the soil in our garden is not proper for well, gardening. In addition, most of us, even if we have the land, we may not have the time or interest needed to tend a traditional garden plot.

(Source:http://desertification.files.wordpress.com)

A. Preparing the containers

There are countless reasons why you should or could tend to such a container garden, besides the fact that it is becoming increasingly popular and, who knows, maybe it will soon be a trend. Actually you do not need anything else than a container with fertile soil to produce

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

fresh fruits and vegetables. Well, of course, the full recipe includes seeds, fertilizer, water and last but not least, good old sunshine.

(Source: woollywotnots.wordpress.com)

If you have these, you can provide yourself all the tomatoes, radishes, lettuce or cucumbers you need for a fresh summer salad. Now if you get truly fond to it, you can just take your garden wherever you go since containers are mobile and versatile and can be placed or moved if necessary just about anywhere.

Most common places to put such a container garden is the apartments balcony, where the plants you grow would have more sunlight and air than inside. It would also be safer for your neighbors than setting it on the edge of the kitchens window. You can also set the garden on a patio or on a deck. Sure, lettuces are not tulips nor are red tomatoes red roses, but a well-arranged vegetable container garden can also be attractive and add a colorful touch or a focal point for a patio, balcony or deck. Some vegetables make attractive additions to colorful flowering containers. Just keep in mind: container gardens are not limited to apartment patios or window boxes, although both make practical locations. In order to build a container garden, virtually any container can be used to hold the soil. It is a matter of creativity, since a lot of plastic, ceramic or wood recipients have been used in such purposes. People have used car tires, coffee pots, beer mugs, milk

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

pails, wheelbarrows, cement blocks, baskets or even shoes. As said, it only depends on your tastes. One of the main bonuses of such an operation using containers to keep your garden soil is the fact that there are no difficulties inherited from a classical backyard garden. It is also important to know that potting soil is easy to work with. The reason this is, well, because it is neither alkaline nor composed of heavy clay, which bakes hard in the sun.

B. Preparing the soil

One of the container gardens main drawbacks is that water does not drain well enough through garden soil in the confines of a pot and after a lot of watering the soil may become much to compact to allow plants roots to develop. Farmers that grow vegetables in the traditional gardens can manage to use or to adopt to many soil types, but when soil is placed in a container, the soil conditions automatically change for the worse.

When we use it inside a container, regular garden soil can become too heavy, hard and compact for plants to grow well, just as we have mentioned above. Instead, potting mixtures are lighter and provide better drainage than pure garden soil. When you buy soil at a shop, look lightweight, well drained mixes, and remember that soil does not necessarily need to be dark colored in order to be of better quality.

Do not hesitate to ask for the shopkeepers opinion if you are not sure of what type of soil you need to buy. If you feel up to it, though, you can always make your own mixture. They are just as effective if you use the right recipe and proportions. All you need to do is to mix equal parts of loamy soil, perlite, and peat moss.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

(Source http://www.icmag.com)

The mixtures as the one described above have no fertilizer in their composition. Such a fertilizer needs to be added to the soil mixture before planting. In addition, because there is a small amount of soil, fertilizers need to be added periodically because the nutritive components are washed away or assimilated by the plant.

In classical gardens, fertilizers are usually added once or twice a year in some cases, for the fact that the soil can absorb fertile substances in a different, more efficient way. In the case of container gardens, you can also apply a slow-release product such as Osmocote, and remember that dry fertilizers may not be as effective as liquid mixes.

Another fact is that weed will appear nevertheless, whatever soil mixture is used. If that weed appears to close to the plant you grow, cut the weed off just below the crown and do not try to pull it out. If the weed has grown to close to your plant, by pulling it out you may dislodge plant roots.

C. Planting

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

One of the advices given above was not to grow, into a container garden, a plant that has large roots. This advice applies also to the rest of the plant, so choose small vegetable plants. You would not want to grow a water melon or a pumpkin inside a container. Smaller plants include onions, lettuce, cabbage, short varieties of carrots, peppers or radishes. Most of these grow quickly and you can have more than a crop per year a continuous production. You need to browse a little about the characteristics of the plants you want to grow in your container. Tall plants can be tied to stakes with soft ties such as cloth or rags. To get optimum support, if you choose to do this you need to place ties just below the blooms. You might also want to try placing containers along a wire fence or rail that will provide support for vegetables such as cucumbers, strawberries and vine-type plants. One plant that adapts well to container growing is the strawberry plant. All it needs is a barrel (or virtually any large container). Drill some holes and plant the strawberries through them, in the sides of the container. Next you need to care for them and periodically provide them with adequate water and fertilizer. Also place a support next to them to keep them from tipping over in the wind. Remember that fruits and veggies need a minimum quarter of a day of sunshine in order to survive and fully develop. You may consider moving the pot around if the first place you put it to does not have the adequate sunlight time.

D. Irrigation

Special elements need to be considered in order to ensure success, even though containers are easy to access and provide a growing area in a relatively small space.

Containers must be watered more often than ground plantings, because there is no subsoil to draw the water from. Wind or sun dries the soil out more quickly, because a container is above ground. When this happens, the planters need to be watered out to a half of inch depth. Water needs to be poured evenly and slowly until the moisture seeps the bottom of the planter box. If you use a strong hose to spray water, this will only wash away the soil from the tender roots, so it is best to avoid such watering methods.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

The plants need less water in early spring than they do later on, in the summer, because they are smaller and the cool spring weather does not dry the ground that quickly. More water is required as summer comes along. On hot days, you should water your containers once or twice a day. Be thorough with your watering and, as we have mentioned above, try to get the water pouring through the holes at the bottom of the pot.

It is best if the drainage holes are located in the sides of the pot, very close to its bottom. This is preferred to de situation in which the holes are directly on the bottom because, if the pot is sitting on the ground, bottom holes may not drain readily. Keep in mind that there is no problem in having a container with holes on its bottom if the container is on a patio, or raised slightly above the ground. In the picture bellow you can see how you can build your own selfwatering container.

Source: http://www.youcangrowit.com

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Four holes in a large pot are enough, but you can always drill more holes if you think you need some more. Place wire ball, a rock or a piece of broken pot over the holes to keep the soil in the container from packing around the holes, clogging them and reducing drainage.

The container must be large enough to manager the plants rapid growth and hold water well enough to provide for plants needs. It must also allow drainage to keep roots from getting water logged. When you use containers it is best to research a bit on your plants and see what types of roots do they have, since it is best to avoid the plants that have large root networks.

Keep in mind that plants grow and they get heavier. The soil in the container also gains more weight because of the water. So if you plan to hang your container do so after attaching it to a tough hanger in order to handle the extra weight of watering.

It is also recommended, in order to keep the moisture in, to use mulch on your containers. Organic mulches include fine wood chips or peat moss and an inch of sawdust. Lawn clippings will also work if they are not spread too thickly and provided the lawn clippings have not been recently treated for broadleaf weeds. Mulch shades the soil; it keeps it cooler during the hot summer months and protects the fruits that lay on the ground.

Having said all of this, here is a list of 10 tips and tricks experts recommend before you go to work:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Best container capacity is between 15 and 120 quarts. Avoid containers that have narrow openings. Drainage holes should be 1/2 inch in diameter. Use light-colored containers in hot climates. This will lessen heat absorption and discourage uneven root growth. Keep baskets away from the afternoon sun. Remember that clay is porous and water is lost from the sides of the container, if you use clay pots. Like clay, terracotta pots dry out rapidly. Glazed ceramic pots are excellent choices but require several drainage holes. Cheap plastic pots may deteriorate in UV sunlight. Wooden containers are susceptible to rot.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

10. Redwood and cedar are relatively rot resistant.

RAISED BED GARDENS

If you ever plan to garden on a heavy clay soil, then raised beds are the perfect thing for you. They drain well, are easy to maintain evenly during and after irrigation, and last, but not least, there is less crusting of the soil if the mixture is properly prepared.

There are many advantages to planning a raised bed vegetable garden. This way you can access cultivation, care and harvest a lot more easily. A part of the fun of gardening is watching the plants grow and develop from bloom to harvest. Crops crowded in the backyard, in a corner you can hardly reach are often left unattended. The main effort is basically the one of building the raised bed vegetable garden, since planting and tending it is a lot more fun and undoubtedly relaxing. It is one of the reasons why, by the end of this chapter you will also learn to build your own raised bed garden.

A. Preparing the soil mixture

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Follow these steps in order to make your raised bed garden as efficient as possible:

1. The first thing you need to do is to spread some organic matter on the soil surface; about three inches of it - twigs, leaves, straw, and well-rotted manure make excellent composts.

2. You will need 6 or 7 cubic yards of compost to cover a 1,000 square foot garden with 2-3 inches of compost. After the organic matter breaks down you will need some more nitrogen to fill the plants needs. Add enough nitrogen to the organic matter to aid decomposition process. If you want to decompose a surface identical in size with the one described above, you will need: a. 20 pounds of ammonium sulfate; b. 12 pounds of ammonium nitrate or 9 pounds of urea (this fertilizer will aid in replenishing soil nutrients, but not in plant growth) c. a complete fertilizer at the recommended rate when planting seeds and transplants.

3. After you spread all this material over the organic matter, work the soil about 6 inches deep using a spade or fork to turn the soil and mix in the organic matter. Try to break up clods sufficiently. The best thing to use is a tiller. It makes a smooth, soft surface with the least difficulty.

B. Preparing the beds

It is easy to make the beds. All you need is a shovel to dig a trench or walkway (about 6 inches deep). By doing this you will practically remove all the soft soil. The trench you create should be a shovel in width. Afterwards, just pile the loose soil onto the bed and make the next walkway about 48 inches from the first one.

Rake the beds flat on top. The natural slope at the edge of the beds will leave a bed about 36 inches wide. Adjust the width as needed. The bed will consist in 8 inches of soft prepared soil for plants to grow in. Always work from the walkway areas and avoid walking, sitting or kneeling on the bed. Also, if you want to avoid mud problems after it rains or after

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

you water the bed, you should set an organic layer on the bottom of the walkway, around the garden, or even a lawn to keep weeds under control and make the place look better.

C. Planting

The seeds and transplants must are to be planted after the bed has been prepared. If you plan to plant larger vegetables, please consider making the beds a foot wider, for double rows. If you plant vine-crops (melons or cucumbers and such) do it in a single middle row, halfway from each edge, so that the plants have space to spread.

A 36 inch bed is wide enough for wide-rows. This type of rows is best for small plants (lettuce, beans, carrots). The best thing about bed gardening is that the plants shade most of the soil and emerging weed seeds do not get the amount of sunlight necessary to properly develop. You will, thus, need less weeding.

D. Irrigation

Because the loose nature of the soil also means it will absorb water faster, just as in the case of container gardens, the soil put in raised beds tends to dry out faster. Soaker hoses, drip systems, or sprinklers provide excellent watering systems for bed gardens. Try to keep walkways as dry as possible because wet walkways may cause weed expansion.

For the small plants and wide row systems plastic mulches recommended. All you need to do is to place two soaker hoses on the beds, one on each side and cover the beds with plastic, after you cut holes where to plant the seeds. The moist will be better kept in and the weed seeds out.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Experienced gardeners also recommend usage of compost under the soil to maintain even moisture. Leaves, grass clippings and other organic decomposing materials should be added latter on as the earlier layers disappear. A layer of leaves for example, put over the beds in the autumn will decompose over the seasons and fertilize the soil by spring. Be careful what sort of leaves you use though, for some types are poisonous for other plants, after decomposing.

E. Build your own raised bed garden

There are many materials you have on your property that can be used to build your own raised bed garden. Here is a recipe we have tried and definitely worked. All you need is this:

Square Shovel Sledgehammer Masonry Chisel Landscape Fabric Landscape Fabric Pins Bricks Landscape Block Adhesive Dirt for backfilling

1. Dig a trench. Its depth should be equal to the height of the bricks you are using. This depth is not necessary but it is recommended so that the first brick row is more stable. A square shovel would also be recommended because it would level the bottom better. Tamp the bottom of your trench to compact the soil and give more stability to the wall you are about to build (you dont want to build the Raised Bed Garden of Pisa now, do you). When you level the soil try not to make it larger than a bricks dimensions. It is recommended that you roughly respect the size and maybe even make it smaller to squeeze the bricks in. To keep out pests you will want to line the bottom of your raised bed with inch Hardware Cloth or other tough fabric.

2. Lay the first bricks. During this second step you first need to place some commercial grade landscape fabric in the trench, pack it up good. The size of the excess edges of the fabric should be about 4-5 times the height of a brick. Lay the first row of bricks inside the trench and onto the fabric so that the fabric is posted towards the interior of the bed. Line the interior of the bricks with the fabric to prevent dirt from leaking out. Do adjustments and hammer your bricks (with a plastic hammer, or a hammer

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

wrapped in some cloth or rags) to keep the course in level. You might keep a small trowel close, as it may get handy as you lay the bricks, to remove or add some more soil. This is about it! The next two steps are practically just kids play.

3. Lay the rest of the bricks. The brick rows should be stuck together with landscape block adhesive. Just squirt out some of this substance on the first row and start laying blocks on top of it. You may need to cut some of the bricks if you find out that you have some gaps that are too small for a brick to fill. You can do this job with a hammer and chisel, but if you happen to have a tile saw in the garage, do not hesitate to use it. Dont worry if you break a brick! It happens the first times around. Theyre easy to come around and you can buy them at any specific store at about $1 each. If the bricks have holes in them, fill them up with stones or soil so that they become more stable. It is also useful to plant a wooden or metal axis and cover it up with the rocks or soil if you do not have the required adhesive.

4. The finish line. After you lay the final row of bricks, fold over the remaining fabric, towards the center of the bed. Pin it in place and add mulch. Then start planting!

(source: http://media.rd.com/dynamic/82/38/84/200704_RaisedBed_FigA_sz2.jpg)