Re-landscaping Phase II: Irrigation + Building a Kitchen Garden
We’re well into the growing season and while swoon-worthy photos of lush veggie plots saturate my social media feed, I can’t help but feel a little left out as my garden looks a bit… unconventional this year. I’m not letting it get the best of me because deep down I know I’m making magic. When it comes to cultivating a garden from scratch, or rather, fully regenerating a soil ecosystem from dead to thriving, it’s a slow process.
When my husband and I moved into our home just over six months ago, we could tell the yard had been severely neglected for years. Weeds grew with reckless abandon, brush was horrifically overgrown, and the soil was rock hard and lifeless. As you know we’ve already felled many dead trees for fire safety, pruned out thousands of pounds of dead plant debris and invasive weeds, and demolished an ancient rotting shed to make space for the kitchen garden. We knew we had our work cut out for us, and we likely will for the next 5 years, too.
In our efforts to re-landscape our yard, I’ve taken on the personal responsibility of regenerating the soil to establish a biodynamic organic vegetable garden and backyard orchard. This is a project that will take years to complete. Biodynamic farmers claim that it takes about seven seasons to regenerate or create a balanced inter-dependent garden ecosystem. I have big dreams and plans for this garden space, but before anything can happen, I’m 100% invested in cultivating dark, fluffy, nutrient-rich, life-producing loamy soil. How do I intend to create such soil, you ask? Compost and cover crops of course.
For those curious about the concept of biodynamic gardening here's a brief overview. Biodynamic farming is a form of alternative agriculture that takes an ecological and ethical approach to farming, food, and gardening. Traditional farming—which includes both conventional and organic farming—erodes soil quality over time with grazing livestock, crops, or other nutrient-draining vegetation. Biodynamic agriculture offers a way to maintain and restore ecological balance and organic harmony to a farm ground or garden, making efficient use of a farm’s natural energy. Biodynamic farming leads to long-term, sustainable agriculture. The principle is that biodynamic farming methods include avoiding chemical soil fertilizers to enhance soil fertility, consideration of biological organisms (from living organisms in the soil to animal health), diverse crop rotation, cover crops, green animal manures, as well as meeting certain guidelines for perennial and annual planting. A percentage of land is usually set aside for biodynamic practices like biodiversity preservation (such as established wetlands, ponds, or planted insectaries to contribute to the ecological equilibrium). The biodynamic principles share a spiritual focus, connecting humans and the land, with the main goal of cultivating an environment that will improve humanity along with the earth.
It’s been a little while since I’ve last shared an update on the yard, so here I’m sharing the first steps I’ve taken in this process to build my suburban biodynamic organic kitchen garden.
Irrigation
One of the most important elements of building a garden is establishing a nearby water source. On this lot, it happens to be flood-style secondary water irrigation - a nearly forgotten watering method from the pioneer era. As a historical home in the Salt Lake Valley, this lot has access to water from a canal (established by the mormon pioneers) that channels lake water and snowmelt runoff. A few days each week the water master of my neighborhood diverts water from the canal to my property. The water flows a few blocks from the canal through ditches and pipes underground and eventually into my backyard.
Because of this unique water source, the easiest way to build my backyard kitchen garden is to structure it the way the pioneers did - with deep furrows and hilled planting beds. While this method is a relic of the past, it remains one of the most effective and sustainable ways to water a garden. Because the water flows in between each hilled garden row it’s automatically spreading horizontally in the soil at plant root level. Watering at root level encourages plant roots to reach deeper and wider into the earth. This offers multiple benefits such as decreased potential for root rot, soil erosion prevention, and prevention of soil-borne diseases as a result from overwatering. This watering method also enables me to use less water than any other method. Each watering session is saturating the soil deeply so I only need to water my garden once every 7 days during peak summer temperatures. Allowing the soil to dry out a bit in between waterings helps plants grow stronger and healthier while also helping the soil ecosystem to thrive.
Building the Kitchen Garden Rows
I started building my kitchen garden by framing the bed and rows using wooden stakes and string. This helped me create consistently straight measurements throughout the entire plot. Once the beds and the furrows were marked I used a spade shovel to dig out the furrows. The soil from the furrows was hilled-up to create the raised garden rows. The furrows simultaneously serve as walking paths and channels for where the water flows. When the water flows I choose to weed because they lift quite easily in the water. As you can imagine, watering and weeding is a muddy process! Although, it is short lived and quite enjoyable in the evening summer hours as the yard cools.
I built these rows in April and May of this year, and as I dug I could tell the soil is clay-like. It’s very dense, chunky, and doesn’t drain well. My first goal was to naturally till it, loosen it up, add biomass to make it fluffy, and fix the nitrogen in order to invite more life back into this area. The most effective and regenerative way to do this is by sowing cover crops.
Seeds from True Leaf Market
Sowing Cover Crops
These are buckwheat blooms, the main crop I’m growing in the rows this summer. As an experiment I sowed a handful of pumpkin seeds and butternut squash just to see how they’d respond in combination with the cover crop. So far, they are doing wonderfully well which indicates this cover crop is working. Buckwheat is a quick-growing summer cover crop that does incredible things for the garden during the intense summer sun. The blooms attract native pollinators and the roots break up the clay soil while simultaneously fixing the nitrogen (aka, making more nutrients available). An added benefit is that the size of the plant (which is nearly four feet tall now) shades the furrows and mitigates weeds. I haven’t weeded since before the Summer Solstice! The fanciful blooms are also beautiful additions to my otherwise empty landscape.
Buckwheat is just one of many incredible cover crops that aid in soil regeneration. A few other common cover crops include nitrogen-fixing clover, erosion-preventing winter vetch, and natural-tilling turnips. Cover crops also help build soil health, retain nutrients, mitigate weeds, provide habitats for beneficial insects, act as a green manure, offer mulching material, and prevent soil compaction. Cover crops are more than a sustainable gardener’s ally - they are key plants that heal the earth.
Since I sowed buckwheat in May I’ve already noticed earthworms returning, and the soil texture becoming darker and fluffier below the surface. Now that the buckwheat is beginning to form seeds, I’ll cut it down and layer the stalks on top of the rows as mulch. Without mixing it in (I don’t want to disturb the delicate ecosystem that is trying to get established) this layer will suppress weeds, retain moisture, and add biomass as it breaks down. As Autumn approaches I’ll layer compost over the top, then sow a different cover crop seed mix to grow throughout winter. Come Spring of next year I’m confident the soil will be significantly healthier and full of life!
Hat: Gigi Pip
Outfit: Linen Fox
Building the Hugelkultur Perimeter Berm
On our half-acre lot in the suburbs of Salt Lake City we want our backyard organic farm to be a green heaven place to escape. For privacy we’re building a 3-4 feet tall berm around the perimeter of our backyard. To do this we’ve compiled all the dead plant material we’ve accumulated through our tree-felling and yard clean-up projects. We layered the large thick trunks and logs on the bottom then added the smaller branches and plant bits over the top to a height of about 1 foot. It’s still a bit too hot now, but come early Autumn, we’ll make a large investment of compost, soil, and mulch to build the remainder of the berm before planting trees and native perennial plants.
Like most gardeners, I’m so eager for my landscape to be full with blooms, fruits and lush greenery. Some days I want to fast forward and skip these tough days in the sun so I can enjoy this yard in its maturity. When I think with that mindset, I get down on myself for not having accomplished more by now. Many days I force myself to pause, look around, and notice how far the land has already progressed in just six months. I see more worms wriggling, buckwheat blossoms blooming towards the revolving sun, spiders spinning their iridescent strands in the leaves, and thousands of insects drunk with delight on the flower heads. Suddenly, I remember that growing has nothing to do with the destination. It’s not about the perfectly manicured, productive, or mature garden. It is about the process, the day-to-day micro-progressions, the here and now, today’s work, and the beauty of this moment in the garden. In time, the fruits of these labors will come. In time, my friends.
What regenerative or bio-dynamic farming methods would you implement in your garden to heal the earth?