Friday, July 20, 2012

Herb Spiral?

So this is my take on an "herb spiral". More of a Permaculture-esque raised bed. I didn't have adequate materials to make the spiral shape. I had few bricks or rocks, so I made a small square instead. I'm planting white sage, thyme, greek oregano, valerian, stevia and cilantro.

The purpose of making the raised bed is to eliminate the need for adding fertilizer and additonal ammendments for a period of time. The layers of materials decompose to create essentially a raised compost pile.

Materials:
  • Soil
  • Dried leaves
  • Unfinished Compost
  • Compost
  • Leftover potting soil
Then you simply layer the materials accordingly. It is best to use a layer that will aerrate the pile and allow for drainage. I did this with some of our unbroken clay soil. You can also use a type of gravel or wood chips. If you have any green materials like grass or food scraps you can layer them in between brown materials.

Personally, I added a layer of drainage material, (clay) and then a layer of compost.

Then I added unfinished compost and a layer of leaves.

To finish the pile, I added finished compost and some old potting soil.

Then you're done! I watered in most of the layers. And now I can plant directly into all sides.


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