That is wonderful you have an area for gardening. Your idea of tiered or raised beds sounds like a good idea. If your budget is limited, I would recommend doing raised beds this year and see how the garden goes. With raised beds you do not have to buy lumber, just pile up soil into raised beds. Have a compost area and get vegetable matter from some of the people in the apartment complex. A cheap compost system is a round of chicken wire. Call a local horse stable and ask if they will give you free manure. Sometimes this means doing some free labor like mucking out a stall.

I am not personally involved with the Kamloops Garden Box Project. You will have to contact Joel Dyck at joelfish@hotmail.com and find out if he can give you some suggestions about starting a garden.

I think you should just go for it. Don’t wait for extra advice. You will loose this season and the opportunity to learn. Start where you are. If seeds are an issue, I can give you some.