|Posted on August 23, 2016 at 11:00 PM|
Who lives here - Katy and Greg Bates with their children Nathan (7) and Ruth (5).
Aims of the blitz - Move a huge 10m2 pile of soil to create two swales in the front yard allowing us to grow more vegetables.
Project details - Construct two berms (raised beds) in hugelkultur-style, down the slope of the existing grassy front yard to grow vegetables.
Challenges faced - moving a big pile of soil with only one wheel barrow. Wheelie bins and the trailer were used to physically move soil.
Not enought materials to finish the mulching. We had to go door knocking the neighbours for extra newspapers.
Achieved on the day - Three-quarters of the berms completed, making it look like a push-you pull-you instead.
Follow up - The berms were planted out with summer vegetables which all grew fantastically. One zucchini grew to four metres in length and we harvested 50 kilograms of tomatoes. And when we finally had a big rain event (40mm) the berms caught and slowed down the water making 20cm deep puddles to splash in.