Sheet Mulching; using what you have to make a difference.

As you can see above and below I have started sheet mulching an area for the vegetable garden.  This garden will be 10 feet by 15 feet. The Herb garden just west of this one is 10 feet by 10 feet.  The soil is in pretty good shape.  I had it tested by the lab up at CSU.  It came back as sandy loam, good on organic material, good in nutritional values of N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium).  One issue I will have to contend with is the high pH.  It is sitting at 7.2.  Not too bad and I can remedy with the help of good compost and the sheet mulching practices.  Sheet mulching is a good way to kill grass and weeds in an area where you want to create vegetable, herb or flower gardens.  Bermuda grass is resilient and it will be difficult to kill.  This will be a true test of this technique.

Sheet mulching, also known as "Lasagna Gardening" is a good way to repair soils or build up poor soils.  This is an easy practice that can be done by anyone anywhere with just a few ingredients.  The bed will be built in an area of just Bermuda Grass.  I want to eliminate some of the grass areas on this small farm as they require too many inputs.  I would rather the inputs go into food and herb production- they will be less than required by a lawn.

The first step was to cut the grass in this area very short.  I put the lawn mower on the lowest setting and scalped the lawn leaving the lawn clippings.  I then measured the areas and staked the corners using string to create a straight line.  Then the digging began.  I dug out the edges of the garden to separate it from the existing lawn.  Noticed while digging that I saw very little in the way of earthworms.   The sheet mulching process should help to bring more earthworms.  Using  a "what I have philosophy;" I will take some of the big tree limbs that are already down to line the garden edges.  Continuing to use what I have,  I took the boxes from moving to create the first layer.  I removed tape and labels to lay them flat on the soil.  The boxes overlap each other by about 6 to 8 inches on all sides.  My next layer is newspaper.  I used the newspaper from packing and moving.  The ink is soy and safe for the garden.  I did not use the glossy sections as they are not safe for the garden.

One whole length of the garden will be used for garlic growing.  I have several varieties of hard-neck and soft-neck types that I will plant in October along the south edge of the garden where I have dug out the grass and worked in compost.  I will not be sheet mulching that area.  More on garlic planting later on.

The third layer was local manure.  I spread enough to cover the newspaper completely- approximately 2 inches total.  The third layer was local compost.  This layer covered the manure layer.  The next layer will be fall leaves.  The property is full of trees; Mulberry, Alder, Red Bud and Elm. This layer will be added this fall.  Leaves will help to build great soil.

If you have water where you are, go ahead and water in between layers.  Water is like gold here and I planned this project around rain storms.  Rain fell on this site three times now in the last week.  I will update this blog with photos to show how the layers will start breaking down and how fast.  I will record temperatures to let you know how well this process cooks.  Starting this process now in late August will give the layers all of the fall, winter and into early spring to breakdown.  In the spring time I will do another soil test to see where we are for N, P, K and pH.  

Stay tuned......the adventure continues.

View from the window and treasures found

So from here we can see some clearing has begun.  We have a small chainsaw that cuts out the brush. Mainly finding Sumac and Elm tree starts.  This jungle that lives here has his head and is running roughshod over this property.  The roots will have to be dug out.  Sumac sends runners and has a strong desire to live.  It reminds me of a tree form of bindweed.

In amongst the brush we have found treasures.

Two large currant bushes.  One was so completely buried in Sumac that it has received no sun in awhile.  Jim was able to carefully cut away the Sumac to allow her to find the sun. She is of course leggy and pale from lack of sunlight.  Today she is learning to stand on her own two roots!  The other shrub was over by the barn.  We will pick lots of luscious fruit from her this morning to add to our breakfast.  

Another find was this lovely blooming Cardoon.  It is big and spreading so it seems pretty happy here.  I should have fun with growing artichokes here.  

We slowly work away on the house.  Cleaning and unpacking.  The house was in quite a state.  I decided that the previous owners were blind and could not see the dirt.  Also, taking into consideration that the house was abandoned for quite a time- I think almost a year.  I spend days negotiating with spiders, ants, beetles (more on them later) and Rollie-pollies that they need to move outside.  

I am continually amazed at the validation received from the universe on the new venture.  Last week in Virginia I met another amazing soul on his journey named David.  He is involved with food distribution channels for organic and sustainable farmers.  He explained to me that it will be necessary to establish a network of distributors that take into consideration how to move the food to market so that we can grow past farm to table.  To this point I had only given thought to distributing the food through farmers markets and roadside vending. I will contact this group in Paonia, Colorado to understand their logistics to see if my little farm will merge with their channels. David thinks they don't have anyone in New Mexico yet.  I can also deliver the food also using my 1985 Mercedes wagon that runs on bio-fuel, but her range is limited.  A problem I will try to solve. 

I ponder these important questions daily.  I have to remain true to my love of the land and hoping that in my limited imprint I will remember that like a pebble dropped into a pond this energy will expand out to universe.

I have named this tree Big Mac Daddy.  It is a huge and lovely Alder tree that seems to beg children to climb him.  He will be a great place to ponder this journey and Jim and I plan on setting up a space here for meditation and resting.  

While at the Monroe Institute I was found the space to ask the universe if this plan will go forward.  I sent the message with an apple seed that I planted into the ground.  My answers were sent in picture of young apple trees that were young, growing and blooming.  Next pictures were the apple tree in fall colours.  I asked then for clarity as I saw no fruit.  Next images were of an old metal sieve with lots of pulp in the grids and a cup below the sieve full of apple juice.  The metal sieve had interesting carvings on it that looked like hieroglyphics.  Again, I feel so sound in these decisions.   

One of the best parts of my day are walking the Bosque in the morning with Jim and Kota.  The water is soothing to walk along and the trees and wildlife there are amazing and restorative.  This will be an important part of my new life.

Time to go pick some currants.  Sending this on with love and light..........................

From the beginning...........

My Mother would say "Child you have the itchiest feet of anyone I know"  There was no better truth spoken.  I was a rambler and a wanderer.  I have a clear memory of being about 4 years old saying to my Mom I am going to California.  She told me "That was fine but don't cross the street".  So, around and around the block I went asking everyone I met a long the way "Which way is it to California?"  I did not find it that day but I eventually got there. 

Since those very early days I have spent time in many countries and have been able to do what I love.  I am a gardener and an herbalist.  Nothing makes me happier than to have my fingers in the soil growing food, herbs and flowers.  

 The traveling and wandering desire has now led me on a new journey to a new patch of ground.  This blog is part of my new journey and a big part of the new future I am trying to prepare.  I hope that this blog is entertaining enlightening and an education for all of us.  

As my partner and I traveled the desert southwest we would comment on how we loved the area.  We would take any time we could to camp, hike, soak in hot springs of the high desert of Colorado and New Mexico.  We would often comment to one another "Wouldn't it be great to live here!"  But our grown children were all around us in the Denver area and I had a great job that I loved- Why would we move? Why would anyone give up such a great job?

Fate, serendipity or just the natural evolution of life happened and here we are on the brink of moving to a small piece of land in New Mexico.  We find ourselves watching our children are all setting off on new adventures heading off in all kinds of directions to see and experience the world.  My partner's daughters graduating from University with one heading west and one staying in Denver but leaving all options open.  My daughter's family are all heading out to the Pacific Northwest to start a new life near the Puget Sound so now it feels right for us to chase our dreams and jump into this new life.

Friends had seen this place a few months back and found it was not the right fit for them but said to us "You ought to go and see this place"  Jim, my partner was in the area at the time and went to take a look.  Jim sent me the link via the real estate website and I was struck with a thousand ideas of what kind of amazing experiences this place could bring.  A few weeks afterwards I took the time to drive down and look it over.  I was first struck at all the vegetation.  We were in New Mexico but could not believe all the foliage.  Walking through the property I identified Apple trees, Plum trees and tons of Alder trees.  Alder trees tell me a lot.  They whisper the truth that there is a lot of surface water on this property.  The property had me hooked, but then went to look at the house.  An amazing nearly 100 year old adobe.  Walls that are 2 feet thick.  A huge kitchen and pantry.  A real root cellar.  The rooms are all painted in traditional southwest colours- Turquoise and peach.

Moving a head.  Life and progress moves a lot slower in New Mexico than it does in the Denver Metro.  I am so looking forward to a slower moving lifestyle.  This one has become a lot faster than I feel comfortable with.  We hope to close sometime this week.  

The overall plan is to create a sustainable and organic garden farm.  It is a small place so being mindful of the land, water and all resources will be a cornerstone.   Stay tuned as we move forward with the plotting and planning.  I hope this will become a learning experience for all of us.

Till next time.......