August In The Garden

Last fall my father raved to me about a new gardening system he adapted after watching Paul Gautschi's Back to Eden Garden documentary, to watch click here. He mentioned that it was a low maintenance garden that I didn't have to water or be bothered with constant weeding. All I had to do was to lay down some wood chips on paper on top of my lawn and in a few months I'd be able to plant. I was immediately intrigued--a garden that I didn't have to water? Heck ya! So immediately I began dreaming of our garden.

In October I passed by public workers trimming trees along our sidewalk and asked if they could give me the trimmings that had gone through their wood chipper. To my surprise and I'm sure my new neighbors' horror, they dumped an entire pile of freshly chipped up trimmings in our front yard. My family and I then broke down cardboard we had in the garage from when we moved, placed it directly on top of the lawn and spread about 10 to 12 inches of the wood chips. It's now August and the garden is thriving. I have some garden notes that I will add at the end that might be helpful if you are interested in this method. For now, here is a tour of my back to eden garden August 2014.

Fava Beans

Artichoke 

Tomato

Nasturtium

Zucchini

Summer Squash

Carrots & Peas

Spinach

Tomatoes

Harvesting in August ~ Spinach, Arugula, Blueberries, Kale, Greens, Potatoes, Peas, Zucchini, Summer Squash.

Planting in August ~ Beets, Spinach, Lettuce, Greens, Arugula, Radish.

Notes this month:-

After being away for 3 weeks in the heat of summer I came back home to a perfectly thriving garden that I did not have to water. When I planted the garden in late March I noticed that the plants were growing quite weak. I realized that I was planting the seeds in the mulch rather than the actual earth so I removed some of the wood chips until it was about 5 - 6 inches. After I began planting the seeds in the actual soil rather than in the wood chips the plants looked much better! I noticed that my leafy greens were especially weak so after I visited Paul's garden in Sequim WA and I noticed that he uses a lot of manure from his chickens on his vegetable garden I decided to add organic chicken manure from my Dad's chickens and they seem to love the fertilization! Another observation I made after visiting Paul's garden was that he waters his garden when he sows his seeds for germination. It's the only time he waters his garden. After that God provides the rain and the wood chips helps to retain moist soil conditions for the plants. I noticed that I probably have a 100% germination rate. I love this system! I've had no issue with slugs!!!

Happy August!

Last Fall