Enter the Trigram
In the fall, my Lady Friend's mother had talked to me about creating a new garden. The first one that I dug and planted on the property was the Concentric Garden, which you can see here.
This time around, things are smaller and more straightforward. No curved beds this year. The overall plot measures 18 by 18 feet, with about 175 square feet available for growing. The plan is to have a wrought iron fence placed around the garden, with gates (or archways?) at the front and rear. The magazine photo that this idea was derived from showed four or five beds on the inside, all surrounded by brick paths. More beds bordered the fence on the outside.
I drew up three variations. A bit surprisingly, the design that I thought would garner the least favor, even though it was going to be the easiest to dig, provide the most functionality and afford the easiest access to plants, was the one that was chosen. With the green light given on Sunday morning, I started to measure and put sticks in as more placemarkers that afternoon.
Around noon on Monday, I began to dig. Rain was forecast during the week, and I wanted to plant greens and some root vegetables after the New Moon. So I worked for about 7 hours and got the three, 2-by-10-foot central beds finished by sundown. I laid in winter compost at the bottom of each bed (which I only dug down to eight or nine inches because of time), then I mounded the beds with loosened clay that I dug out. The height of the beds is about six inches. I want to grow vegetables in each, so I want to get more worms into the soil before I sow seeds.
As the Flickr caption for the fifth photo states, I didn't remember which Bagua trigram the central beds resembled. It's ch'ien, or qian, which corresponds with expansiveness, the sky, and fertilization.
That'll work.
It rained throughout the day and night yesterday, and there's more precipitation possible today, so I won't be digging for awhile. I'll be working on the row covers, though, which I'm going to fashion from dowel rods and a plastic drop cloth. The frame that the plastic sheeting will be draped over is 18 inches high and 24 inches across. I'll lay 3 to five of these frames across each 2x10 bed.
This time around, things are smaller and more straightforward. No curved beds this year. The overall plot measures 18 by 18 feet, with about 175 square feet available for growing. The plan is to have a wrought iron fence placed around the garden, with gates (or archways?) at the front and rear. The magazine photo that this idea was derived from showed four or five beds on the inside, all surrounded by brick paths. More beds bordered the fence on the outside.
I drew up three variations. A bit surprisingly, the design that I thought would garner the least favor, even though it was going to be the easiest to dig, provide the most functionality and afford the easiest access to plants, was the one that was chosen. With the green light given on Sunday morning, I started to measure and put sticks in as more placemarkers that afternoon.
Around noon on Monday, I began to dig. Rain was forecast during the week, and I wanted to plant greens and some root vegetables after the New Moon. So I worked for about 7 hours and got the three, 2-by-10-foot central beds finished by sundown. I laid in winter compost at the bottom of each bed (which I only dug down to eight or nine inches because of time), then I mounded the beds with loosened clay that I dug out. The height of the beds is about six inches. I want to grow vegetables in each, so I want to get more worms into the soil before I sow seeds.
As the Flickr caption for the fifth photo states, I didn't remember which Bagua trigram the central beds resembled. It's ch'ien, or qian, which corresponds with expansiveness, the sky, and fertilization.
That'll work.
It rained throughout the day and night yesterday, and there's more precipitation possible today, so I won't be digging for awhile. I'll be working on the row covers, though, which I'm going to fashion from dowel rods and a plastic drop cloth. The frame that the plastic sheeting will be draped over is 18 inches high and 24 inches across. I'll lay 3 to five of these frames across each 2x10 bed.
posted by mr damon at
2:46 AM
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