Design solutions -so far!

 

 

Pattern to Detail

 

Layout

 

Overall Concept:

The two main annual vegetable gardens will be located in the sunniest areas identified by the sector analysis.

The mini forest garden edge will meet with this, providing extra shelter from the North & forming a South facing arc which will create a heat trap. This shape will also help buffer the garden & the house against frost.

The fencing will be moved to include the 'lawn' area to prevent animals (except rabbits & chickens) from entering any of the area. This will provide a human-centred area outside the back door where we will extend & improve the current seating/socialising area.

A wind break will be planted along this new fenceline, around the seating area & to the west of the new steps (see access)

 

Access: The sector analysis suggested that the main paths would be better in a shady area where tree roots are also most concentrated. This also gives more area over to annual veg in the sunniest part of the garden.

So there will be two main arteries into the garden and one main connecting path between the two. This connector runs roughly on contour along the bottom of the main terrace.

The two arteries come out from the back door (kitchen) so are in sync with the existing desire lines

I don't know if this is a natural pattern, I would have liked to use a nice spiral or circle or something but working with the landform here it just didn't fit in. This pattern reminds me of an Ash key, and also of connecors between DNA!

 

Soil & water

Terracing: When surveying the site with the bunyip we realised that the main part of the fall was on the part of the garden nearest to the house, (90cm) over the other part of the garden the fall was only about 10cm.

After realising this I opted to make wide shallow terraces in the garden. This gives a main almost flat, sunny, growing space for annual vegetables. It also prevents surface run off & holds water (& thus fertility) in the wider landscape for longer. The main terrace will not need any support as it is so shallow & now after a small amount of earthwaorks -with a spade!, it slopes slightly back towards the polytunnel. Nonetheless, the terrace will be held in place by one of the main paths which will be bordered with perrennial herbs. **update** In considering the new function of income generation I've extended the length of growing beds, as such, the terrace will need supporting, -not sure how i will do this yet.

The second terrace running along the house is deeper & will need support. I will build retaining stone wall there, with some steps up, using stone onsite which was knocked from the end wall of the tool shed. This will link around to the current stone wall & paved area oustide the back door. My partner Danny has worked as a stone mason & I have some experience so slowly but surely it will get built.

 

Annual Bed arrangement: This terracing alone might antagonise the wet soil with the high rainfall fall, but here it is combined with a series of straight edged raised beds (without sides) which run ever so slightly downhill -towards the polytunnel. In low-medium rainfall events all the rainwater soaks into the soil, there is no run off. In very high rainfall events, especially in winter when there is less evaporation, there is some (very little) run off in between the beds -the paths which are slightly compacted from foot traffic. This run-off travels towards the polytunnel where it is needed to alleviate the watering regime. Meanwhile the vegetables on the raised parts stay high & dry (but not so high that they dry out!) It's a bit like an Irish version of Chinampas! 

 

Ffos Dyffris; I did think maybe I was the creator of this ingenious solution until I came across an article written by Chris Dixon where he illustrated a traditional Welsh technique which he uses on his land called 'ffos dyffri'. This is a very similar idea used in his pasture to intercept water in high rainfall events, it is essentially an off contour swale which takes excess water to somewhere usefull for example a pond. So I am using a series of ffos dyffris x chinamps hybirds in the annual Irish vegetable garden. An international solution!

 

I initially trialed this idea in a small patch to the side of the polytunnel & it worked well so I have continued to rearrange the beds in the rest of the garden in this manner. When making up the beds I simply did some shovelling & raking to level things out a little bit & then also added compost to the lower end to build it up.

 

Annual beds: The beds themselves are similar to what's recommended in the 'french bio intensive' method devised & pomoted by john jeavons. The slightly raised beds don't require sides, so no slug habitat there. In addition they are quick to install. The bio intensive method also recommends close planting of crops which quickly fill the space & get the soil covered (& protected from the rain).

 

The function of 'Less work -especially in Spring' immediatley suggests a no-dig method. As for the slugs, mulch is a no go, so I will use the method outlined by Charles Dowding in his book 'Organic Gardening the no dig way'. 'No dig' will cut a huge amount of work off of the annual garden set up in Spring when things are a bit manic! Keeping the weeds down over winter is key to this system, and so is compost.

 

Fertility:

Composting anything & everything! The garden compost heap has been moved to the top of the slope to the North of the polytunnel, There is space here for a series of heaps which can be turned down slope. This area can take all garden waste, shed cleanings from mucking out chickens, ducks, geese, & human urine.

Compost tractor! I will designate a couple of areas around the garden for other heaps which can simply be raked out in situ once they're composted. This minimizes work in wheelbarrowing the finished compost around. We have done this before & it worked well, however the heaps need to be well placed to make a bed in an appropriate spot. The mobile chicken coop/flexi fence can, when appropriate visit the compost heaps to help with the turning & eat some extra scaps.

 

The other compost heap currently located at the end of the yard about 100m away has been sorted through & will be used this year before being relocated to behind the compost loo. This will have to be turned regularly to avoid rats living there. It will take food waste mixed with waste from the polytunnel & shed cleanings & human urine. It will be near to the big polytunnel where the cat hangs out alot. It will most likely be used in the eastern wing of the veggie garden and in the big polytunnel.

 

A new large scale wormery made from a recycled IBC and some election posters will process much of the waste that was previously going to this compost heap so it will be a much smaller task. The wormery will provide nourishment for the garden & alleviate the amount of manure import needed. The design is also completely rat proof! yay!

 

Chickens & ducks will continue to move around the garden to provide fertility & pest management. They need to be fed very carefully so as not to attract rats. -see below.

 

I will also gather leaves from the road in autumn to make leaf mould.

I may also add rockdust and seaweed dust to the garden as necessary.

I will use the manure currently onsite & if there is more available I will get it -but not rely on it.

 

Green manures can be sown where there is not a crop for any length of time

 

Rain Water: In addition to the landscape water harvesting sytem, the roof water from the house is collected in a reycycled 1000ltr tank. This tank has been set up on a stack of pallets to a height which can flow through a hose to the polytunnel. I will also install a smaller barrel inside the tunnel for thermal mass & into which I can dunk the watering can because the flow won't be very fast. (there is not enough height off the roof which is downhill) This means much less time & effort carrying watering cans.

An old bathtub sunk into the ground beside the polytunnel will collect rainwater from the plastic & provide a protected habitat for frogs. -I may be able to redirect this water into the tunnel itself too but havn't figured that out yet completely..

More research is also needed on the idea of an azolla station for Duck & Chicken feed, turning the abundant rainwater into a nutrient rich feed as well as fertility for the compost heap, awareness of potential invasise nature too....

 

Yields:

Yields will come from:

Annual veg garden which has much improved access, better fertility & more appropriate use of sectors. -Continue to record yields.

Perrennial vegetable area.... -edges

Extra & more organised herb dimension -edges & expanded patio area

Fruit & nut trees in the hedges -existing

Mini Forest garden edge(s) -yet to be designed in detail

Tree nursery

Upskilling: Top fruit maintenence, & all the learning that come from working in the garden

Money:  Local Sale of surplus from an honesty box and/or to Organic stall at the market.

 

Wildlife: 

Rats will be minimized by being carefull about feeding the chickens, installing an automatic chicken feeder which I may buy or build...and also by allowing the cat into the polytunnel.

The compost being turned more frequently will be less of a habitat for rats, also situated nearer the cat hopefully will help.

Slugs will be controlled by clear layout of the garden & the no dig approach of using well decomposed compost as mulch, We also have some new ducks! The ducks got eaten & we got some more, indian runners who are reputedly good slug hunters. They have lived up to their reputation, they also love to eat huge snails. They too need a feeder like the hens to keep rats away. And they need protection from pine martin & mink!!!! I am also looking in to getting some azolla going for extra nutrition for the fowl. As for bedding, I will ask my neighbour if I can collect reeds from the lakeshore, they can then be used as bedding-compost-mulch.

Black birds: I will remove some soft fruit bushes to make more space for annual veg & cage some other bushes. This will allow us ripe fruit! and the remaining bushes can be for the blackbirds

Pine Martin: eating fruit & nuts....

The humans will go on a top fruit maintenance course and prune the fruit better so that they can be netted.

 

Humans:

Access, Understanding, Time

Access is greatly improved (see above)

The new layout makes it alot easier to see what's happenning, what's to harvest, & what the plan is

Time is saved by: no dig, paths & access, water barells in the tunnels,