When my son and our Gypsy started the landscaping, we trusted them to grow some tasty, organic meals for us. We provided the land and the financing, and turned them loose.
What I didn't expect was the pure beauty that was created out there.
I have to admit, I didn't really get the concept of sustainable gardening. Well, I knew what they meant and it sounded great, but when it came to grass or weeds popping up in the middle of the veggies, I really didn't get the need to leave them as is.
Or the vast mix of plants together. I was raised by an avid gardner, and my dad was concise on his measured rows and spaced plants. Of course, he also used lots of Sevin Dust, Miracle Gro, and weed preventer.
This way of gardening by passes all of that. There are flowers scattered throughout that repel bad bugs or draw good ones.
Food, flowers, herbs, all sorts of plants are grouped in "guilds" of related vegetation and the ground is completely covered to prevent erosion and to attract the right bugs, and lots of other jobs that they are busy doing.
It would never have occurred to me to plant a ton of clover around the baby perennials to feed the soil and keep the ground covered.
Or to add Borage to the melon patch. It does something or another. But mostly is plain old pretty.
My son has collected exotic and heirloom varieties of plants, including this curly stick tree that will produce magic wands. And the whole thing is irrigated by swales and trenches that are filled with gravel and look like trails.
They are lined with the daintiest little wildflowers I have ever seen. As well as some grass that apparently should be left to protect the earth there until the trees grow more and create shade, then the grass will naturally die out, along with the other ground covers he has added to keep the dirt safe till things start to take off.
Until the trees get big enough to block some sun and the area truly becomes a forest, we are using the beds for our regular garden too. Tomatoes, peas, beans, heck, just about everything, is growing among the perennials.
In a few years, we won't be able to use this space for our annual plantings, because by then, it will be all fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, vines and other food producing vegetation.
This archway of branches will soon be covered in kiwi vines and grapes, but for now, I'm enjoying the stark beauty of it as it is. And at night it is lit with twinkling solar lights.
The produce is beginning to come in, this year, just a few handfuls of berries, but next year, and the year after there will be more and more.
This is a garden that will grow over time, bigger and better. It will not need to be tilled in the spring like my Dad would have, it will develop and change, but once established will take care of itself, with plantings that cooperate and take care of each other.
The mounds are known as hugelkultur, and make for a beautiful layout, as well as a healthy growing space.
Our regular garden is a masterpiece this year too.
It's lush, full, and delicious.
Daily, we have been eating every variety of lettuce you can grow, plus kale, chard, spinach, herbs, and other things that my son sneaks into salads. He is quite a cook and also has been foraging in fields for wild thistle to saute as a side dish. It is every bit as good as asparagus (which we also have growing).
My Dad would be fascinated, I wish he was here to see it. He'd wonder about the lack of rows, but I know he'd love the vast harvest we've been picking! I do too.
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