One of the projects for May was to build a raised keyhole garden. It was a main component of my month of reducing waste, and we knew several weeks ago that we were a bit "off" in our timing for optimum planting for summer produce. However, we spend a LOT of money on many of the fruits and veggies that we can grow in the fall and maybe even in winter, so we went ahead with the late spring garden. In April, Allen and I chose the design of a low-water garden and started searching for the most cost-effective way to build it. Looking at the time and money investments needed, we chose to go with a kit. I ordered it the last week of April, and it was on our porch two days later on the last day of April.
I had planned on waiting a day -- till May -- to begin construction, but Allen couldn't wait. He popped open the box and started working right away. I went to bed early, expecting him to do something other than keep working, and when I woke up, the walls were complete after a couple hours of him working on it. My husband is a sweetheart!
That weekend, we did some experimenting trying to decide the best place to put it. The frame is made of metal conduit, and the corrugated sides are a polycarbonate -- except for the size of it, it is very easy to move at this stage. When we chose where it would go, we dug around the frame a bit so that we could make it sit on the ground evenly. We didn't even need to remove the grass underneath, we just covered it up. First we made a layer of several inches of sticks from the yard. The not-quite solid layer would give the garden a way to drain excess water. The funny looking tube of chicken wire through the middle is where we will put our kitchen scraps for compost.
Next, we covered the sticks with newspapers and large pieces of torn cardboard boxes. We cleaned our garage out with this layer! The kids played lots of games with big boxes and it didn't take long (sliding down the slide) to make them soft enough to tear. After we made a really solid paper layer, I started wetting it all down with the hose.
The third layer was fresh grass clippings as Allen was mowing while I was working on the layers. Lots of green grass means lots of water, and that layer will be far enough beneath the garden surface that even if there were some weeds, they shouldn't cause much trouble. Again, we soaked the layer with water.
Next, we started filling in with our own huge pile of compost that we've been working on for several years. Though our pile was big, once we started wetting it, we knew we would need to purchase some more to fill the garden. We bought and mixed manure and more compost into our pile and filled the garden -- wetting the layers as we went because we wanted to start with a very wet garden. The reason this type of garden needs so little water is because it retains so much water. Putting the water in to begin with is easier if we do it layer-by-layer (I'm not making this up, we spent more than a month just researching this type.) The best part about adding our own compost is that we could make sure to add lots of big earthworms to the garden. They will help break down all the layers we added, plus they can start working on the compost bin, too. There should be lots of nutrients in our new garden! Not too bad for an afternoon of work.
The following weekend, we covered the dirt layers with pine straw and started planting some veggies. The plants have been in for about three weeks, and I've only added water twice -- both times, I only added a bucketful. Everyday, we add our kitchen scraps to the compost bin through the center (the chicken wire tube), so we have dramatically reduced our kitchen waste since we are composting again. Our goal is to grow some of our own produce and cut down on the amount of spending and packaging we used when we got the same things at the store. As of now, we have planted corn, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, and strawberries. I've also started some seeds for beans, watermelon, and cucumbers. When it cools down a little bit, we can cover the garden with a clear tarp and grow some salad leaves through the winter.... at least that is what I aim to do.
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