Great job!! Good for you. You don't want to go up too high on a retaining wall without putting in "dead men". Yours is fine but I would say if it is over 18 - 24 inches you need dead men. These are tie ins that go back into the earth 4 to 6 feet that keep the wall from tipping out. I see you had some 4 legged help tamping down the fill! Let's see pictures when it is done.

@kgoodyear Thanks! I'm not going over 12" on that wall nearest to the camera and only 8" on the upper one. I'm almost done! Will share pics after I level the dirt on the terrace. These blocks are so easy to use. They are available at Lowes or Home Depot. They have a foot at the back and on the bottom that nests behind the block below it.

@Veteran229 the original plan was raised vegetable gardens out of cinder blocks that were left underneath the mobile home I removed. The soil here in Florida is very sandy, even inland, so growing vegtables in amended soil is best. But now that I'm seeing how shady the area is all day, I am rethinking that plan and leaning toward a fire pit/BBQ (on gravel and stepping stones)... to burn the copious amounts of pines I have. Someone obviously planted them to later clear cut, but never came back! I will take them down selectively so I can keep the oaks that have started to grow in between the pines. I'll be done with the walls and fill today. Will post an after photo later on.

@Veteran229 I read that if I kept the walls low, I could get away without gravel underneath or behind. That made the project alot easier. They are 8" and 12".

I too grew up on a farm and we had to learn how to do many things though,I think we kids took to it better than Dad. We paid a bit more attention to detail. My mom did upholstery so we all had to do some of that though we all hated it. I don't think any of us had a particular attachment to the farm. For us boys it was work, work and more work.

@kgoodyear I understood that. As a teenager in a rural area, about the only way to make any money at all was farm labor. That meant long hours in Florida heat and humidity for very low pay. I swore that I would never live or work on a farm when I grew up..

@wordywalt Though we don't think so at the time, I would have to say as a farm kid I was probably pretty lucky. I had access to a welder, tractors and plenty of room. Mom and Dad were especially accommodating to my interests. Once I was old enough though I took a job in town selling and repairing TVs and audio equipment and appliances. I enjoyed the repair and learned quite a bit. The town is all but closed down since WalMart came in and shut most everything down.

@kgoodyear I hate seeing that happen to too many good rural towns which were fine places to live and grow up.

@wordywalt All it takes is 1 WalMart, a casino and drugs and the town is turned into a wasteland.. Apparently drugs are now rampant in my little home town.

@kgoodyear Factory farms don't help, either.