One of the events of training I was most looking forward to
was the perma-gardening. Having never had a garden growing up, nor the space to
have one at school, gardening was a skill I lacked. In a similar vein to how I
took pride I having killed, gutted, and cleaned a chicken myself, growing my own vegetables seemed very
appealing. Luck for me that the only organized project we did during training
was to setup a highly efficient and systematic mini-farm.
After a quick training session on Friday covering the basics
about perma-gardens, myself and the 15 other PCT’s met early on Saturday and
Sunday mornings to do the actual work. Though I won’t go into all the details, perma-gardening
has 5 main components: composting, water management, soil preparation, planting
diverse crops, and maintenance. As anyone in my family can tell you, I have
always loved to build sandcastles, so the water management segment was more fun
than work for me. The idea is, using the natural tendencies of rain water, to
accomplish the 4 S’s of water management: stop, slow, spread, and sink (very
different from the 5’s of organization I learned in IE).
- Stop: Using berms that surround the outside of the garden, block the natural downward path of water so that during rainstorms your fertile topsoil isn’t washed away
- Slow: Dig collection pools so that where water does flow in, it does so at a slow pace; further protecting the soil and storing some water for latter
- Spread: By placing ditches between all the vegetable beds and ensuring that they are downhill from the collection pools, water can flow and enter every area of the garden
- Sink: Using a technique known as double digging, soil is opened up and aerated to a relatively deep level for a garden, allowing more water to be absorbed and more nutrients to be cycled.
Glad you made it
Welcome to the farm
Who’s your daddy?
I’m your daddy now
I’m here seeking only what I need
In your mind I’ll plant my seed
It’s for sure
Guster- Airport Song
Dirty, oh so dirty
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