The cyclical nature of nature is strange, chaotic, ordered, uncanny, always recurring, returning, present, and contradictory. From the ashes new life rises, and death provides the food and nourishment for tomorrow. Violence breathes temper into the calmness that soon follows. The garden itself becomes a space for utter violence, constant death, and so much more. The compost is a festering pile of death, from which the tender and vulnerable seedling will soon sprout... The ultimate sacrifice for life.
A Quick Update
A month or so ago, almost 40 days, I planted new seeds. Before travelling again back to my girlfriend, I managed to catch a glimpse of the new growth. I also tried to save some september bush (Polygala myrtifolia) seedlings that popped up in the garden. Alas, these did not make it (see below-right photograph). In its place, various plants started growing. My favourite, which I never sow but which always returns, is the chickweed!
But below-left, you will see just how wonderful the salad rocket and amaranthus are doing. It is truly a feast for the eyes; the green lures me into eating them! In fact, I made a wonderful salad from these greens, which I will post in a future recipe write-up!
Beginning Anew: Raised Bed from Old Material
In the past, I grew my food in raised beds; but since then a lot of things happened and my father, whose property it is, got rid of them. They were ugly, and I am not 100% sure how safe they were. We found them on the property so we have no history of them.
Fast forward, I saw various building materials lying around the house. I thought of the idea of making a raised bed. It gets rid of the building material, which is very expensive to discard. I also had a bunch of scrap paper, various palm tree debris, and materials that did not want to become compost.
I started by layering old roof tiles in such a ways that the water will flow to the garden below for when it rains. I then begin piling bricks all along the tiles.
As soon as I finished with this, I began piling old and written palm tree debris on the bottom of the raised bed. In the past, I have found that the bigger pieces of palm trees rot, and then soak up all the water. It is great for pot plants. Here, I threw a bunch of them on the bottom along with some old papers. Interestingly, the palm tree debris becomes like sponges, soaking up water.
I then added layers of old materials that did not want to become compost. Not everything becomes compost at the same time/rate. Some materials, like grass and tree leaves almost instantly become compost under the right conditions (especially in an aerobic compost pile). But things like palm leaves and bigger pieces of wood/timber/stems do not turn into compost that easily - it takes a lot longer.
I separate the "ready compost" or the smaller pieces from these more stubborn pieces and lay them on top of the palm debris and papers.
I then added the finer "compost" on top of everything. It is not that deep, but with time I will add more layers, finer compost, and more mature compost. With time passing, the first layer of compost will also break down into more mature compost.
Collecting Seeds
I have been collecting seeds for many years. I am very proud of the amount that I have acquired throughout these years. Some plants are so prolific, like wild rocket, and others are not so much; but with time you will also manage to grow your seed collection.
Below, you can see I already began transplanting some of the garlic chives from another garden into the raised bed. But you will also see the amount of seeds that I had on the tray!
Even with all of these seeds, I managed to forget to add the mustard seeds I wanted to plant...
I will see what grows, and what does not grow, and if there is still some space left for mustard plants.
In any case, throughout the garden bed, I placed Lupine beans/seeds, I hope that this will also fertilise the ground. I think they are nitrogen-fixing plants, and I also planted a lot of dandelions at the edge of the bed which also helps with healing the soil.
Below-right, I added text to the photograph to help me remember where I planted what!
Postscriptum, or Adding Succulents to an ugly wall...
In the end, after a long day's work, one that took way longer than I thought, I managed to rebuild my previous garden. I also added some decorations, in the form of succulents that I put into the wall. Time will tell of this trick will work. I think it looks nice! Maybe it also helps with fertilising the ground - wishful thinking! But in diversity, life thrives.
For now, happy gardening, I whish you many flowers and abundant harvests.
All of the writings are my own, albeit inspired by the hard work and beautiful flowers/plants that I hope will revisit my garden bed. All of the photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.