Design concepts

Themes

• No-dig gardening
• Focus on perennials
• Greenhouse for extending the growing season
• Composting to add fertility to the garden
• Rainwater harvesting

After the creation of the beds in which we are going to grow our food crops, we would like to incorporate a no-dig gardening theme throughout the garden design. With a focus, the first few years on building a high-quality soil, a no-dig garden (see appendix). will be achievable. Mostly we will be growing food crops above the soil with a focus on perennials.

With the addition of a greenhouse, we will be able to extend the growing season

Having a section of the garden just for composting will supply our beds with compost needed to keep the soil fertility high. This will help to also create a closed-loop (see appendix), recycling both garden and kitchen plant waste back into the soil.

Setting up a rainwater harvesting system will help the garden not to be reliant on tap water during the dryer months of the year. Tap water is not a sustainable resource, it also has a detrimental effect on the soil microbiome (see appendix).

Layouts

Design Details

Year one

• Set up a compost area
• Level the paving flag path
• Build a boxed raised bed for salad and picking leaves
• Dig the vegetable beds into the lawn
• Improve the soil

Set up compost area - After deciding the best location for the composting area, (see appendix) this is where we start implementing the design and straight away create a connection between the kitchen and the garden before any food is grown. The kitchen plant waste collected now will become future compost for the vegetable beds.

Level the paving flag path – Before the building of the raised bed which is to be built alongside the path, the paving slabs will need to be levelled. This will allow the raised bed to run flat against the path. The work involved with levelling will be much easier without any obstacles next to the path saving on time.        

Build a boxed raised bed for salad and picking leaves – Reusing the timber boards, a raised bed will be built alongside the path. The first plantings will be in this bed, making sense to build this next. Once built, lawn sod dug from the creation of the vegetable beds will be used in the bottom of the bed to help raise the level and cut down on unnecessary use of compost. Over time this will add fertility to the raised bed.

Dig the vegetable beds into the lawn – This will need to be carried out soon after the frame of the raised bed has been built. The removed lawn sod will then be added into the bottom of the raised bed, enabling us to complete filling the rest of the raised bed with compost. (locations of the vegetable beds see appendix)

Improve the soil - Once the lawn sod has been removed, compost brought from the allotment and farmyard manure will be spread over the exposed soil. Using a garden fork the whole area of the beds will be loosened using the fork. Through loosening the soil with a fork as opposed to digging and turning the soil over with a spade will help maintain the existing microbial life in the soil and help the plant roots to grow down into what would have been a heavy compacted soil.      

Year two

• Improve the soil
• Review which plants grow better than others in the garden

Improve the soil – As part of building fertile soil, composts will need to be added on top of the soil before new plantings are carried out. Microbial teas can also be sprayed over the garden throughout the growing season helping to improve the soil.  

Review which plants grow better than others in the garden – the second year will be a good time to gather any observations made as to which plants grow well and which plants do not. After a couple of growing seasons, it will also become apparent which foods are used more than others in the kitchen. Changing dietary needs should also be considered.  

Year three

• Install the greenhouse
• Improve the soil
• Setup rainwater harvesting solution
• Review what plants have been grown and to what value
• Be prepared for change

At the beginning of the year make a start on setting up the green house with the intension of been able to start seeds in it ready for the season ahead.

As with previous years, improving soil fertility in the beds is an ongoing yearly focus. Composts, mulches and liquid teas are to be used.

Tapping into the down-pipe on the gutters will provide a solution for capturing rainwater that can be stored in the large barrels I have on-site. This may need some thought and possibly it’s own permaculture design.   

At the beginning of the year make a start on setting up the greenhouse with the intention of been able to start seeds in it ready for the season ahead. 

creatively use & respond to change

Been prepared for change; as the design grows over the years many unforeseen events may happen both in the garden and in our own lives which could have an impact on what we grow or how we choose to grow. Always been ready for change is an important part for the continuation of this design and will affect each of the forthcoming year's design plans. One of the permaculture principles is, creatively use and respond to change.                      

Year four

• Creatively use and respond to change
• Implement an auto watering system for the raised bed.
• Build storage boxes for tools and equipment
• Improve the soil
• Removal of any remaining lawn 
• Add a seat in the garden

Add a simple auto watering system to the raised bed.

After having implemented an auto water system for the raised bed and now understanding the best location for water storage in the garden, building storage boxes for garden tools and equipment will follow in a suitable area with enough space.       

For any remaining areas that still have the old lawn growing the grass to be replaced with suitable paths. This will only be small parts of the garden at this stage in the design and will be accomplished using recycled materials.   

Adding a seat into the garden has not been high on the list of things to do, however now that all the permanent elements are in place finding that special place in the garden for a seat will add value to my life.       

Keeping on improving the soil.

5 – 10 Years

• Upgrade and increase the size of the salad and picking raised bed
• Build permanent structures adding height for growing up 
• Creatively use and respond to change

As the years press on, I will need to replace the timber boards around the raised bed, this will also provide an opportunity to increase the size of the bed.

Adding something akin to a pergola over the vegetable beds will increase the growing area of the garden.  

10 years onwards

• Creatively use and respond to change
• Improve the soil
• Using all available space for growing    

Looking into the crystal ball, ten years and beyond I would like to be using all the available space for growing. I also want to be still looking at ways for improving soil, improving yields, improving the relationships between what is grown and what is used in the kitchen. 

Design – Maintenance

Daily:

• Check of the garden  
• Check the greenhouse
• Check the water catchment equipment
• Check the auto watering system

Check of the garden – At different times of the year, this will mean different things. Often several times a day I will have to walk the path that runs through the middle of the garden when I leave or return to the house. Automatically a check of the garden will be done taking into consideration such things as, dryness of the soil, wind damage, plants that are ready to harvest, plants that need other attention, slug and other pest issues. A check of the garden can also be done when harvesting food for the kitchen each day with any observations actioned and carried out. The most time-consuming daily job in the early years whilst soil improvement is still taking place will be watering.        

Check the greenhouse – During hot weather extra time will be required to make sure the needs of the plants growing in the greenhouse are met. This may involve extra water, or extra shade been added. A daily visual check will be to make sure the greenhouse has taken no wind damage.

Check the water catchment equipment: a quick check of the water catchment equipment just to make sure no blockages have been added.

Check the auto watering system; most important for the dryer months when relying on an automated system, a quick check to make sure it's working correctly.  

Weekly:

• Tend to the worms
• Seasonal: Sowing seeds, potting on, planting out.   

Tend to the worms; each week empty any liquid that has gathered at the bottom of the wormery, this will involve lifting out all the trays giving an opportunity to make sure the general health of the wormery is to a good standard.             

Seasonal: Sowing seeds, potting on, planting out; these can be time consuming tasks which are best planned for weekends when more time is available. Exceptions will arise due to weather and some plants needing a few more days before they can be planned out.

Monthly:

• Seasonal; cut the grass
• Tend to compost

 Throughout the summer a quick cut of the grass will be needed for the first few years of the design. The end goal of removing the last of the lawn and replacing it with suitable paths will bring to an end this unnecessary use of time and electricity. It will also provide extra storage space when we give the lawnmower away.  

Tend to each of the different compost systems currently in use.

Yearly:

• Trim the beach hedge.
• Dig out the compost heap

An hour a year will be needed to cut the beech hedge this will be done around the middle of the year.

Digging out and spreading onto the garden any compost heaps that are ready. The time taken for this will be no more than a couple of hours. 

Maintenance conclusion

The first few years will involve extra time needed for tending to the plant's needs, soil quality will be low in organic matter so extra watering will be needed if it’s a dry year. More plants will also need to be grown from seed at the beginning of the design and planted out. This is a time-consuming process. In the following years, perennial plants will feature more in the garden decreasing the time involved with young plants.

The size of the garden may be only small but with intensive small space gardening daily time will be needed throughout most weeks of the year to check on plants, during the summer months this may involve such tasks as making sure the soil is not to dry or for the wetter months of the year to make sure slugs aren’t eating everything.

The time spent may only need to be a few minutes some days for a quick garden check, other days an hour for watering may be needed. Each week at least half a day should be put aside during the growing season for general maintenance which will include sowing seeds, planting out, cutting the grass, tending to the worms and the compost.

Harvesting crops from the garden will become part of the food preparation time in the kitchen so will not be included in the maintenance of the design. Harvesting will also stack as the daily check of the state of the garden and may eliminate any extra time needing to be spent in it.

Having to walk through the middle of the garden each day when leaving and returning to the house will also stack as a time for checking the state of the garden.