Lets see.... I don't think I'd bother putting chicken wire down underneath all the manure, it would rust out within a few months. You might need it around the sides, above the timbers, as rabbits can easily jump 16".

As far as what you you use to fill the beds, you'll probably want to add *some* soil as you go along, but I've grown great gardens in 90% compost, and the best garden I ever had was nothing but a foot deep rotted horse manure from the neighbors stables, and they scraped up some of the underlying soil when they loaded the truck.

The draw back with a very high percentage of organic matter is that it goes away pretty quickly. So I'd say layer out your cardboard and stuff, spread out all the horse manure you can get, and maybe spring for yard or two of top soil. At some point, what ever soil that is underneath your bed is going to get fluffed up by worms and mixed into the rest of what you put down.

Good luck. You still have plenty of time to get everything ready.

I'm glad David's reply came up before I typed mine. I was going to say pretty much the same thing, right down to scraped out horse corrals being a good source of soil/manure mix... 16" of organic matter will settle down to being almost flat in a few years.

Some things don't germinate well in too much composted manure, carrots being one... Tomatoes, peas, beans and corn loved it! Seems like beets did OK. Radish - not so well.

Cheers,
Michelle

David you took the words right out of my mouth. Rabbits jump well. The wire should definiatly go up not down. I don't have rabbits though, I have dogs. I have not seen a rabbit here since we got the dogs.

All of my garden beds are 99% horse manure, I have horses. Put the chicken manure in at the very bottom of your beds, that way by the time the roots reach it, it will have aged even more.

Personally I don't bother adding soil because it introduces weed seeds. I just add lots of horse manure and let it rot. That means that next year, my bed might not have as much "soil" in it cuz the manure broke down further, but that just means I have more room to add more compost. Make sense?

Happt Gardening
Billie

Thank you all for your help. Good point on the wire... I guess I was thinking they dig under too. I may still bury some slightly under the sides, but I think you're right, it would rust away if I lined the bottom of the bed with it. I'll add some up the sides.
Usually I have to fence my garden in to keep my dogs out (I have lab mix dogs (diggers of course) and one really serious veggie lover. She dug up and ate all my carrots when she was a puppy, and does doggie self-serve on my green beans. This time, I have a spot between the backyard fence and the front yard retaining wall. It'll keep my dogs out, but there are rabbits everywhere. Sometimes we even see 4 or 5 at a time.
Seems like I read once that carrots get an excess of fine hairy roots when they grow in too much something, I can't remember what though. I'll have to see if that's in my garden book.
Thanks again,
Amy