Garden renovation progress

As I have related in my previous posts, I am in the process of renovating my garden this fall.  I am doing this because the beds were uneven and it just looked bad to me.  So, after having to delay the work due to family issues, I have begun in earnest to relocate the beds.  What I have desired is to bring everything into alignment including where they end.

I would never harm the tree for garden symmetry

Sunday morning was a beautiful day with a low temperatures and a gentle breeze.  I cranked up the Sirius radio and off I went.  One issue I ran into was that in the bed I was working on, the Oak tree in our yard has a big root running right where the one border is located.  I naturally had to concede that this was not an issue I could solve by removing the root.  It is quite large and I would be concerned that cutting the root would harm the tree.  It's a beautiful tree so I had to figure out how I was going to work around the root.
The issue was that the cement block over the root was standing up higher than all the rest of the blocks and looked out of place.  So, I devised a plan to build up the blocks in the border so that there would be a slight rise to the block and then a slight decline after this block.  As you can see, it's noticeable but not overpowering.

Granted, it wasn't perfect, but it did solve the issue with the least cost.  If I leveled all the other blocks to this one block, I would have had to buy a lot of soil to put under the rest of the other blocks.
I worked for about two hours getting the blocks in alignment and leveled as seen in this photo.

I also made sure that the two block borders were 48" apart which is what I consider the optimum width.  It allows you to work on the bed on each side and you can reach every plant in the bed.  My previous bed was 44" wide and that did not quite allow me to plant my vegetables with their correct spacing.

Cement blocks: a concern in vegetable gardens.

One concern I have heard people express is that my borders are cement bricks.  People are concerned that the blocks will cause the soil to turn alkaline.  While I understand the concern, research is inconclusive as to the mobility of the acids coming off the blocks.  But I also know that the bricks I have are at least 20 years old and were out in the elements their entire life.  My neighbor gave me about 100 of them because he just wanted to get rid of them.  I would think their age would negate the issue of acid bleaching.
Cement blocks are extremely durable so I know that I will not have to do this again.  My reasoning for doing this is to first widen each bed to 4 feet widths.  Additionally, I can now use drip irrigation to water them if we have another dry spell next summer like we did this year.  I am also doing this to get an aesthetic look to the beds.  I plan to fill the holes in the blocks with dirt and grow bee attracting flowers in them.  That will also anchor the blocks in place so they won't shift.
So, in two hours time, I was able to get the first plot about 70% completed.  There is supposed to be a period of about 16 hours of on and off again rains.  It supposed to be clear most of the weekend so I am hoping to complete the first plot and then maybe get the second plot about 50 % complete.
You may be saying that you don't have this much space at your house to do something of this proportion.  You should remember that everything can be scaled to fit whatever space you do have. Even a small garden can produce great abundance.  It's all in the planning you do.  Don't rule out a garden just because you think it cant be done in your case.  The rewards are too high not to have a garden that fits your space.
So, there you have the status of the project at this time.  I will follow up with more reports as I work through this.  So, until next time, happy gardening everyone!