Building the Garden
We got water!
Last week, Nucleus Design finished installing the water system to the new garden site. We now have water - a very necessary part of the garden. Now we can begin to install the irrigation system to all the different areas. We will be using drip irrigation for the whole garden as it is the most water efficient way to water. There will be a timer to automatically turn things on and off and we have 12 zones in the garden with each having a specific type of irrigation based on what we are growing - perennials vs annuals, natives vs flower beds.
What are all those trenches that got dug?
One thing we have been thinking about is how to grow food in an area that will probably have drought as a constant for the foreseeable future. We believe there is a way to grow food with less water and that it is important to keep growing food locally. One important part of the infrastructure is looking at how water moves on the landscape and figuring out ways to hold it on the landscape and allow it to sink into the soil and be held there instead of letting all the rain run off the site. We worked closely with Nucleus Permaculture Design to install a series of swales and berms throughout the site. Swales are on contour trenches because they are level and hold water (like a long pond). Berms are the mounds above them. Swales create a way to hold water on the landscape when it rains and then that water permeates into the earth and builds the underground water storage. The berm is a perfect place to plant trees, herbs, flowers and other perennial plants.
Image from Living Permaculture PNW
What about that big wiggly mound on the side?
More info on Hugelkulture.
It is a Hugel Mound - another Permaculture technique that Nucleus Permaculture Design installed for us. We took all the logs, stumps and brush that were left in a large pile from the school’s construction and buried it in long trenches and then covered it with soil. The wood slowly breaks down and creates a sponge for holding water and building soil. It creates a mounded planting area that will help us create a privacy barrier for the neighbors. Instead of burning it and releasing all that carbon into the atmosphere, we buried it to build soil.
Aerial of the new garden, by long-time volunteer Bim.
Native Hedgerow planted
We planted 180 feet of hedgerow at the top of the garden all in native plants: Coffeeberry (pollinators love this plant), Coyote Bush, Manzanita, White Sage, Flannel Bush, Red Bud and Oregon Grape. This will be a low to no water zone that will attract pollinators, birds and butterflies. Thanks to Wendy Krupnik, gardener extraordinaire, for overseeing this project at our work party. Thank you to Sebastopol Rotary for the grant to support this planting.
Ceres Garden Program Manager, Sara McCamant
Fruit Trees
We have planted 20 fruit trees- apples, pears, plums, Asian pears, peaches, mulberries and figs all got planted with the help of the Sebastopol Rotary Club coming and working for a morning and their support with a grant to buy fruit trees. We will use the fruit to feed the youth volunteers when they are working and to go in the grocery bags that we send to clients. We planted the fruit trees along the fence line coming into the garden and also the upper corner will have an orchard area. Some trees will go on the berms above the swales.
Rotary Club members with staff members Elissa (far left) and Sara (far right).
Prepping beds for vegetables
We have started to prepare beds for planting out vegetables - each bed gets compost and a mixture of soil amendments that were recommended after we had the soil tested. The soil has a low pH so we are adding lime to raise the pH and we are also adding magnesium, potash, calcium, and nitrogen to support healthy plant growth.
Who’s been helping?
Big thanks to Willow Creek Wealth Management and World Centric (above) for coming out with big crews for work parties. Also to the Rotary Clubs of Sebastopol for their hard work digging holes for the trees. We have had over 25 people coming to our public work parties on Saturdays. Daniel Shanahan and Miles figured out how to move our very heavy benches over one morning. We have Traditional Medicinals sending over a group to help us dig up all the daffodils and move them over to the new site (below). So much support from so many people!!
What’s next?
There is a lot, including…
Moving the shed and structures over,
Digging up more plants,
Installing all the irrigation,
Moving the chickens,
Planting, planting and planting!!
Join us for the next work party on Saturday April 9th from 9:30 am to 12 pm.