Keyhole Garden Part II - The Fill

3/15 to 3/17/2012

Now, if I follow the 'sustainable garden' method to the letter, I'm using all the cardboard and old phone books I can find, along with a stout supply of cow manure and whatever other compost I can conjure, for the contents of my new structure.

There's just a couple of problems with that, though:

• Most businesses already recycle all their cardboard and have bound it for pickup by a recycler- to help myself to their behind-the-store stockpile might be considered stealing(?)
• With the Internet, phonebooks are largely irrelevant and therefore, not as plentiful
• I am well-removed from the nearest cattle ranch (I know this is TX but it's the truth!)

 I have some old boxes, shredder-bin contents, some compost, plus whatever weeds I can pull and twigs I can rake up from front and back yards.  There's no way that will fill a 6' radius enclosure to the 3' mark- that will take 3 yards-plus of fill.

Enter the local bulk dirt and rock supplier, where I place an order for the following:

• 2 X yds. river-bottom loam - the advent of civilization on planet Earth depended on stationary peoples anchored to a particular plot of land for the purposes of sustaining agricultural development.  The land needed a fresh water source for growing, hence their location near rivers (e.g. Nile, Indus, Euphrates, Mississippi); in turn, the planting location needed seasonal flooding to renew and enrich the soil.  What do you suppose it was that was carried by the flooding river?
• 1 X yd Central TX soil amendment - mix with the loam to provide additional organic and mineral content- made up of composted organic material and crushed Marble Falls granite to break down clays and enrich existing soils.

I figured out that truck rental from the local building supplier would be cheaper than delivery, so I made 2 trips and shovel-emptied the pickup bed each time. A dump truck would have been nice.

  (L to R) amendment, loam

Prior to the fill, there was the small matter of creating the central basket, essential to the ideal of sustainable plant feeding and moisturizing.  Chicken wire and a basic frame outline were all that was required here.

And now, on to the fill...

Remember all that native rock from the available materials list?  Well, I had no use for most of it and I just didn't want it lingering.  So down to the bottom it went!

        Down went the available cardboard...

And then I made sure to pack the central basket with everything compost-y I could find prior to the big fill.

 

 

 I'd create a layer of dirt, then a layer of twigs and leaves, another layer of dirt, then a layer of shredder-bin contents...

Dirt in the cinder-block voids serves a dual purpose: provides strength and stability, and additional growing spaces!

After sloping the fill dirt towards the central basket, I'm ready to plant.

Part III - Planting Time