Sjohnny, I settled on the raised beds after trying a bunch of different things. The two differences between us are that my house is right next to the growing area and that it is built on hardened and marine sediments. Any time I dig I find fossils (and not good ones). With that the back would flood with any 2"+ rain so I went with raised beds with 2 inches of decomposed granite between everything to walk on with a drainage system to the front under everything. Weeds still pop up so I pick 'em and feed them to the chickens. When I turn over the soil in the beds I find grubs...straight to the chickens. I have to make sure I give them a handful at a time or they fight over them.

Thanks for the bucket nest idea joshuatree, cheap and easy!

I will have to look into Ruth Stout as well...