I build my beds using culled/reclaimed lumber. Each one was first lined with cardboard then filled with whatever organic matter I could get my hands on including sticks, logs, leaves, grass clippings, pine duff, horse manure, aged chicken manure, rabbit manure/bedding, hay, home
compost, and seaweed. I also included any soil that may have been dug up from projects elsewhere on the property when it was available.
I build the beds 2 each year, rather than all at once making it easier to get enough to fill them. And continue to add a heavy mulching to top them off each year. I heap this mulching at leas 6 inches over the top of the sides as filling the bed with only organic materials leads to significant shrinkage of the soil level each year.
Some of the beds are lined with hardware cloth (wire mesh) underneath to keep rodents from digging up into the beds. I found this to be most important in my strawberry beds (which are also covered with bird-netting over top).
Whenever I can get my hands on wood chips I use them (with cardboard underneath) to line the paths in between so I don't have to mow or weed between the beds. Every few years I dig the composted (now rich soil) woodchips into the beds and bring in new wood chips for the paths. This has the added benefit of being a great winecap mushroom growing area. with new "food" for the winecaps each time I renew the chips.
In another area of the yard I created an herb spiral containing all of my perennial herbs. I used whatever rocks I had at hand. For this I had an old garden bed, where the herbs used to be, that I used the soil from. I also layered in my home compost. You can see in the pictures that I then layered cardboard and shredded leaf mulch north of my herb spiral to make a space for a green bean tipi.
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