It has been another quiet week outside of the chickens, which has been quite busy. I’m not going to spoil it though – check back tomorrow for more on that.
The cold snap has come and gone, but it is raining buckets of water as I write this on Sunday evening. We are planning on starting the Back to Eden project this upcoming Friday, pending the mini-front-end-loader/backhoe arrives as expected. There is way too much to spread in one weekend by hand, but with some machine assistance, we can get it done.
The end goal of this new garden area is an 80 ft. x 80 ft. garden with four inches of woodchips on top of some leaves. I had hoped to get some manure for the bottom layer, and actually had two offers for some, but my work schedule has not cooperated at all. Perhaps 20 cubic yards of it will appear in my yard before Friday. Dear manure donor, if you read this and decide to help, please dump it in the already gardened area – it will make it much easier to spread. 😀
Unfortunately, without the compost under the woodchips as I had hoped for, the first year of this garden style is likely going to be less than stellar. The compost speeds up the process of getting the soil ready for the first year, as the wood chips will not have decomposed much yet, but even without the manure, the garden should be better than it has been. I think I will supplement the decomposition process with blood meal, which should help heat the chips up enough to begin breaking them down some.
Again, a slow week this week, but next Monday there should be some exciting updates, with pictures!