October Gallery

[Dave Riley]

It grows and rises up!

I've been converting the 'beds' into mounds of various sizes.

Thus the growing space has grown significantly and the photosynthesistic joy is self evident. I use fewer pots per area and since the garden comes up to meet me, I don't have to bend down so far.

I find I can hose fill uncovered pots even when standing at some distance from them.

Note the paving --old woollen carpets -- and new potting work station.

[Dave Riley]

You are too kind, Phil.

Maybe the word is 'eccentric'. 

[Phil]

You certainly have an interesting garden Dave!

[Dave Riley]

• I've just built two of my largest mounds and planted out sweet potato. I've been disappointed with the harvests so far via my 'neglect' strategy with Sweet Ps. These mounds are not as large as those in the New Guinea Highlands but they are the biggest in my 'hood.
• We were pulling out the carpet from the house and it sure makes paving the pathways easy. After years of fiddling with various paving options, I'm really liking what I'm walking on.Easy underfoot. Mulch functional. Recycled. Free.
• With the mounds a'rising, the garden looks more like a flying saucer aerodrome. The invasion has begun. Unconsciously I have been in the service of extra terrestrials, building their chariot parking space.
• By mounding the garden it is clear I have significantly increased my growing space --by 25% at least -- so I have more planting options as the efficiencies increase. The other great advantage is that with each mound I create a focus group of plants which forces me to attend more empathetically to their needs one square metre (+ or -)or so  at a time. So watering or planting or weeding (not that there's much of that) or fertilizing proceeds through many little garden islands as though I'm attending to a chain of atolls. And each islet has its own boutique character with their own calendar of events and needs and its own bounty
• When I get my Pigeon Peas skywards and the frangipanis kick in for Summer the overall is  sure to have a magical quality.
• Nonetheless, with the moulding and shaping -- the ready plasticity -- I'm much more in control.
• I've wondered about the Three Sisters mound patterns employed by the American Indians.  Our tradition of beds and pathways seems logical and practical but I've found that batches of mounds, cheek to jowl,  works much better than I expected. It may look like a jungle, but there are jungle paths and valleys that enable access. You need the paths however to facilitate the drag of the hose or to quickly access the various regions. 
• The Indians employed crop rotation around set mound patterns. But they were focused on three core crops: cucurbits, corn and beans (and sunflowers).At the moment I'm just beginning to explore rotation options although I always intercrop.

[Dave Riley]

Here's the  HUAUZONTLE. Looks weedy, right?