The start of my ambitious 5000 sq ft FREE garden,
Free T posts (returned from a PaPa we gave some to a few years ago)
The garden is currenty fenced with fishing line (that PaPa gave us.) It is an experiment in deer behavior :) I read a letter in BackHome Magazine about a woman who used this method and believes the deer run into the line and are confused by it and stay away. We have also surrounded the garden in blackberry, boysenberry and raspberry canes (25 dug from shoots from current bushes in my and PaPa's gardens, 27 purchased.) According to Adam Turtle, our permaculture consultant, deer hate rubus and won't cross it.
Free cardboard from behind a furniture store-
blocks the weeds and grass from growing up through my garden beds. I learned this method from Susana Lein of Salmander Springs Farm in Kentucky. I went to her half day course titled "Starting a Homestead from Scratch" at the SSAWG Confrence JD and I attended in Chattanooga last January. You may have heard of lasagne gardening, but she calls hers the "layer cake" method, and it is a little different. The cardboard is the plate, compost is the cake and straw or mulch is the frosting. Susana's farm is on a rocky ridge in the Appalachian mountains. She built her topsoil from nothing to 9 inches is 9 years with this method.
Free compost- 2 year old manure and shavings. Just the right mixture of carbon and nitrogen from a local horse facility (horses are much less likely to have medicaion and hormones in their systems than livestock)-
this makes up the soil for my beds
In a few months, the cardboard will have decomposed and allow roots to grow down into the original clay.
Free straw- leftover from a party we had last year. I covered the beds with straw to hold in moisture, cover and protect the soil until I am ready to plant.
Free compost from the city- walkways wide enough for a wheelbarrow or dump cart. Free rocks to edge the beds- we picked up from the land.
What the kids were doing:
Playing mancala
Finding friends to play with
Ahhh.....making a flower bed
1 comments:
WOW! Yes, I see why the song "HELP" is in your head. That is so cool. Please let me know if we can volunteer. Also, scouts need outdoor projects to work on. I can get cub scouts as well as boy scouts to help you if you'd like. Thanks sister! Tirra (T TruthSeeker)
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