A lot has happened since my last posting on my woody bed.  I have been taking lots of pics, but I haven’t been keeping up on posting.  I will bridge the gap between mid-2014 and the present.  Some very exciting things have been going on leading up to a couple of companies that I’ve started.

Lets start with July 2014.  The contour woody beds.

https://austinpermaculture.com/2014/06/19/contour-wood-core-garden-beds/

After putting down a layer of compost and mix of black-eye pea and cowpea, I covered it with a layer of compost-infused mulch.  A good watering and a couple of summer showers later and a flurry of nitrogen fixing growth ensued.  I established 2 rows of the 5 rows in this manner.  Remember, these rows are about 25 ft. long.

The middle row consists of 3 beds.  One bed with chickory, one with strawberries (they all died) and the other with…

Daikon radish.  Daikon or deep root in Japanese is well suited for the semi-arid conditions here in Texas.  It has a very deep root akin to a carrot and tastes like horseradish.  You can harvest the seed pods when they are young and use them as a salad garnish adding a spicy flavor.  You can also cut the top of the plant (chop and drop) leaving the root to decay adding organic matter (worm food) in your soil.

The chickory in the previous picture bloomed in the middle of August attracting bees and providing a pollen source while other plants had died.

In the final bed of the middle row I planted 2 sweet potato slips that I grew out and an old sweet potato I let go to root.  This was the only food crop that I yielded in November.  Interestingly enough, this plant did not like my well water.  I’m sure due to the alkalinity.  It was necessary to water everyday with rain water I collected.  Once August hit the tubers had set on and were tapping into the wood core for water.  I stopped watering all together.

More updates to get caught up incoming!