2-The next step was to line it with 2 layers of corrregated cardboard.
3-In the center we anchored a 12" round and 3' high chicken wire basket.
4-Our first layer of about a bushel of tin cans- these will add air pockets and iron to the soil as they deteriorate (we used ones without the coating on the inside.) Also added here a dozen oyster shells which will add calcium to the soil.
5-A 3" layer of large sticks
6- A "green" layer of cactus pads
7- A 3" layer of leaves.
8- A 5 gallon bucket of wood ash.
9- Two 2.1 cu ft. bags of manure
10- A 3" "green"layer of grass/weed clippings
11- 3" of shredded newspaper & another 3" "green" layer of grass/weed clippings
A little help from a puppy packing it all down!
12- Another 3" layer of leaves
13- The last layer is 4" of soil- We mixed 4-5gallon buckets of good dirt with 2 bags of peat moss.
14- 10 days after planting- we have seedlings of spinach & beets!
how did you keep dirt from going into the "compost bin" in the middle? Is it just chicken wire?
ReplyDeleteNice job. Might be good to add that the watering is done through the compost bin. This cuts down on water consumption and also allows the compost ingredients/nutrients to leach into the bed. Plants are watered from the roots. (Occasional whole garden watering might be necessary depending on local rainfall/climate).
ReplyDeleteAlso it’s an African traditional garden I like history to be included when doing something soo obviously out of the norm.
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ReplyDeleteI made a combo keyhole/hugelkultur bed which turned out to be an ideal rat habitat. I had to remove the chickenwire cylinders but as it turns out, rats are very successful diggers. Since I have fruit trees too, I will likely always have rats.
ReplyDelete