Veggies love raised beds and square foot gardening. These are the beds that I layered lots of organic matter: manure, shredded paper, old fruits and vegetables, hay, compost and top soil.*Throughout the summer, the soil in the beds have settled down about 6 inches* To make planting more easy, I used twine and sectioned off one foot squares. Once the plants grow up you can't even tell the string is there. 
You can see that the lettuce loves being squished. I barely have to weed and if I do, I just pluck it out. It has been very interesting to study the critters that share our veggies. In the spinach, I found cutworms, next to that in the dark lollo rossa, I found green cabbage loopers. They like what they like and don't crawl right next door to chow on a different lettuce, even when they are right next to each other. We go out each evening and morning and hand pick off the bugs. I have even spent some time hand washing the broccoli and cauliflower leaves with a little dawn soap and water to get the aphids off. *Next year use row covers with the broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. It's almost impossible to stay ahead of the critters.* I really don't want to resort to any harsh chemicals. I want the children to be able to pick off any fruit or vegetable and eat it on the spot.
Below bottom bed, on the bottom two feet, I planted: marigolds, new zealand spinach, mascara lettuce, old simpson, dark lollo rossa lettuce and bloomsdale spinach. I also snuck some onions in between rows. On the top two feet, I planted the same, but three weeks later. Just in this one 4x8 bed, I can not eat all the lettuce that is ready.
You'll notice in the lower bed, I planted old simpson and dark lollo rossa inbetween cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants. As the broccoli and cauliflower plants are growing the lettuce thrives and produces more than I can eat. I absolutely love the red curly lettuces. I also planted pansies and nasturums for edible flowers. They make our salads extra special.
