Mid Season Rescue
This is a very quick project to start off, but only time will tell how it works out.
That's appropriate because this is a pretty wild place.
Over the course of spring and early summer, parts of the veg garden have got very out of hand. This happens to everyone, and it's hard not to be disheartened. Using wild design techniques - thinking and doing in one fluid process so that the design was implemented as I went along I approached the issue of one particular bed. Survey and Analysis In this model, I'm surveying and analysing as I look at the bed. The survey comes with years of knowing the site. What do I know? It's green sand, and weeds grow readily. It adjoins pasture land and the grass out there is bred to compete. Turn your back and your garden is graze-able. It's quite exposed and windy, but gets the benefit of full sun. It's been a dry season so far and the ground is hard and unyielding. Last year it had salads and beetroots on it. The soil is workable, but lacks organic matter and doesn't hold moisture too well. It could do with some added bulk and nutrition. I'm in a hurry as I have a business to get underway and 3.8 hectares of land elsewhere to get into management. I need something quick and presentable. I have no money, so I'll need to utilise what I've got. Analyzing, I'm aware that digging it over is a non starter. It would unearth untold weeds, take hours, probably kill me as it's the hottest day of the year, and still not give me something I can plant into before it is way too late. What I need to do is obliterate the weeds, feed the soil, and grow something all at once. We're on rented land so very long term solutions aren't always practical, and we are late in the season to be planting much, so I may need to use something already planted in cells. By now I'm Designing. First removing all traces of a white radish called Icicle, which has run to seed and has seed pods all over - this I know to be a promiscuous self seeder, so the pods are hastily fed to the chickens. Next, I scythed the bed completely, cutting down everything in there, and piling it on top. This has created a sort of overground heugel bed idea, and I'm thinking if I can layer it with something which will add nutrition and inhibit weed growth I may be able to plant something through it. The answer in my case was sheep fleece. Jacob fleeces are not worth sending to the Wool Marketing Board for sale. I spin some and can sell some to hand spinners. However we have a lot and not all are top quality - these are a case in point, and have proved to be a good, dense mat to prevent weed growth and of course will also feed the soil. However, being on rented land and with neighbours, this does look odd, and also will not have a good finish to it. I decided to cover over once again, this time with something else we have a surplus of - hay. Now hay is an odd choice as if (when) it sets seed, it will grow more grass. However, I'm restricted to what I've got. It looks good, anchors the under layers well, mats over nicely to keep everything in place, and is local, organically produced, and free. Next, the problem is the solution. What to plant? What I do have is some squash plants, which are in small pots and should be going out to the field - however the garden there is still behind schedule and my little plants are beginning to yellow with lack of nutrition. Squash is an ideal plant for this site, as if and when they do get underway, they will provide good coverage, holding the bed together and keeping everything in place. They are hungry feeders and I may need to feed them during growth - but it will be interesting to see how much nutrition is available to them via the sheep fleeces. I'm planting them in soil islands, created using soil/compost obtained from the community composting site at the tip. It's a living soil rather than a sterile compost as bought in bags, and I've made the islands deep - they go right down through all the layers. So, the squashes are planted and have been well watered in. The design has been Implemented to some extent, and now all we're waiting for is to see if they will grow, and what kind of changes will be needed once the system starts to work. |