My Town Monday: Garden Henge

By fromskilledhands ( May 31, 2009 at 10:47 pm) · Filed under Gardens, My Town Monday, , ,

Debra and Stephen Bures' mandala garden, using permaculture methodsWe’ve gardened for some time here in our valley, but this year we decided to expand our garden, and our minds.  I’ve spent the last few years exploring permaculture. Dictionary.com defines it :

per-ma-cul-ture

[pur-muh-kuhl-cher] –noun

a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.

We decided on a mandala shaped garden for the new bed for several reasons: there is certainly more square footage with this method but mainly it is  beautiful. Nature does not grow things in straight rows. It is also a no-till method so the soil structure is maintained.  We started by mowing the area and then put down a thick layer of newspapers to kill the sod.  We layered different kinds or organic matter: leaves, straw, grass clippings, compost, and manure. Then we planted.   The soil is amazingly friable! We never walk on it so it isn’t compacted. Weeds can be pulled out with ease.   We planted a variety of vegetables an flowers to create a diverse environment.  Our goal is to grow as much of out own food as possible, as well as food for my in-laws, and for a food pantry.

Here are some photos of the work in progress.  I’ll keep you posted so you can see how it grows.Garden Henge and the barn.

Garden Henge is planted.

diversity in the garden

Cloudy and Winston were happy to join us in this beautiful place.

Cloudy in the grass

Happy Winston.

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Travis Erwin is the main MTM Marauder. Take a walk on over to his place and you will find links to blogs all over this blue planet.

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