I put a garden in the front yard of my rented duplex this year. Just dug it right into the ground with no fancy anything, using a lot of free fencing wire & posts. Very crude but effective. My neighbor across the street thought it was so cool he came over and offered to water if I ever needed help. (He paid pennance for 5 days in a row a few days later, but will be repaid in veggies)

The yard had been unwatered and neglected for a few years. I added some amendments with a shovel 10 months ago but the seedlings, planted from seed about 3 weeks ago, were struggling.

This morning I mulched around everything with 6 bags of compost / steer manure ($.99 a bag at Home Depot) layed about an inch thick, but not touching the stems*.

It looks like the plants grew 2" just today!

*Beware, I just thought this up and did it without any research and could meet with disaster later.
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Today I watched the DVD "The Power of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".

This is a very hopeful, uplifting documentary that is only 51 minutes long, but packed with great information.

I feel 87% less doomerish than before watching it:)