nicolefaires:

An herb spiral.  This is one of the trademark strategies of permaculture.  The spiral’s tiers shelter the shade-loving herbs one side, and the sun-loving herbs are kissed by the sun on the other side.  Meanwhile all the herbs are companions to each other, facilitating the growth and  soil health of the group.

This is actually a great way to do a bed. It allows the plants that need the most sun and water to get them and at the same time builds the soil up. Modern farming methods have so depleted the soils ability to maintain nutrients and moisture that we end up with floods instead of water soaking in plus the added “benefit” of having tons of chemicals dumped into our food supply. 
Start your own spiral or regular garden for next season. See what “real food” tastes like. You’d be amazed how fresh natural grown veggies taste.

A couple of links for those around the world to help:

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/ - UK

http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/  - US

http://permaculture.org.au/ - Australia

If you have links for others I would love to get them from you if you don’t mind.