We have again added bed space to the Energy Garden, this time in the shape of a mandala. Utilizing techniques from Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, we are slowly building the hardpan barren “lawn”, read: super invasive bermuda grass and clumps of dead sod, into nutrient rich humus. As double digging was near impossible, we are letting the worms to the work by creating a sheet mulch close to 18 inches thick.

First we created the design for the area and then marked the edges of the mandala on the earth. Next we began creating the bed. Otherwise known as lasagna gardening, we chopped away some of the clumps of grass and started with an inch layer of manure. We followed that with cardboard, then with an inch or two of organic vineyard compost from Grab and Grow in Sebastopol. According to the grab and grow website, it is “made from a simple blend of grape pumice, green waste and oyster shell flour, this compost has no manures or supplemental nitrogen fertilizers added to this high potassium mix.

This was followed by a single “book” layer of wheat straw, then with another inch or two of mango mulch. “It doesn’t have any mangos in it, but it does have horse and cow manure to supply basic nutrients; grape and apple pumice which are high in beneficial bacteria and yeasts to aid with the breakdown of organic matter; rice hulls and straw for good soil tilth; soft rock phosphate and greensand to boost the phosphorous and potassium.” This was followed by a layer of alfalfa straw and wheat straw mixed together. We will plant by opening pockets in about a month.

Next we created the paths by laying burlap bags donated by Taylor Made Farms in Sebastopol. On top of the burlap we put down woodchips. The irrigation was then laid under the straw. We have also sheet mulched and prepared a new berry patch next to the sunflowers and driveway in the front of the house. In an epic battle with the Bermuda grass we have also sheet mulched all of the paths on the property with cardboard and woodchips. We hacked down most of it and hope it never comes back. It looks great right now.

Before...

After... let the worms do the digging!