[pedalling_faster]

the community garden i belong to has picnics & work parties every "solstice" (march 21, june 21, etc.)

this last one, we gave a big award to one of the guys who helped start the garden.

what was especially interesting for me was the things he said about how the garden was developed from sand, into a very fertile sandy loam.

i went back and asked him and one of the other old-timers about this, "how did you do it ?" their answers ...

* regular applications of - Manure & compost.
* "volunteer" weeds that get plowed under.
* animals like snails & earthworms that consume plants and contribute ... more poop.
* water - rain water, and water pumped using electricity.

for Peak Oil'ers who are on a budget, this is a relevant subject. the land we can afford may not be prime farmland.

[Laurasia]

How long did it take them to get the garden up & running? Reason I'm asking is that I often wonder about the areas of the Earth that are becoming more & more desertified each year.

Thanks for the post! Celebrating the Solstices - that touches a chord!

Regards,

L.

[pedalling_faster]

they put in raised beds. each bed is about 3 x 10 feet. not much, but it's still fun.

i think they trucked in some fresh compost - dirt - earthworm castings. i guess it would only take about one cubic yard per garden plot.

the garden has about 70 spaces now.

so i think they were operative immediately, though my guess is yields were not what they are now. now some of the growers provide all their "greens" from the 1 3 x 10 plot.

Ed, the guy who helped start the garden, has a cottage (tree) chard that really does grow like a tree. it clones like you wouldn't believe. he just cuts off a piece, you stick it in the dirt, it roots. it doesn't need to be in a high-humidity greenhouse, somehow it manages to sit there in the intermittent sun and not wilt, and still grow roots.

A guy named Chuck just gave me a cutting from the tree chard. he got his original cutting from Ed.

as far as desertified land, i am optimistic about the ability to convert parts of it into land that can support people. proximity to water helps.

the development of our little community garden probably used a fair amount of gasoline, on a per acre basis.

that will be the trick for the desertified areas - bringing in water, compost (dead plants), and manure - when there's limited or no hydrocarbon energy. plenty of sunshine energy though !

[katkinkate]

They did something similar in Findhorn, Scotland. Copious water availability is the key. Compost can be made of anything organic and if you're prepared to take some time to build up the soil you don't need to import a lot of stuff - as long as there is water. Although if you want instant garden you'll have to import compost and mulch (and lots of clay would help).

[Ludi]

It takes on average five to seven years to bring infertile soil to full fertility with the techniques mentioned above. So, not such a terrifically long time considering it takes about 1000 years to form an inch of topsoil under regular conditions not directed by humans.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I')t takes on average five to seven years to bring infertile soil to full fertility with the techniques mentioned above. So, not such a terrifically long time considering it takes about 1000 years to form an inch of topsoil under regular conditions not directed by humans.