Raised beds for the win, when our native isn't the greatest! I'll fill mine in the early spring, same method as you -- love using leaves and bracken to help fill and have a little interior compost happening.
What do you plan to sow?
Me? Planning my 2024 garden? How kind of you to ask... 😁
I use the Farmer's Almanac garden planning tool, and while it's not perfect, it does what I need -- provides zone-specific planting and harvesting times too, which is nice.
The big U-shape with the veggies in it is actually a large...