Core anything sounds familiar but core gardening is different. Clearing one of my 4 x 8 raised beds readying it for a fall/winter garden, I came across this unusual method.
The whole point is to conserve water. I have drip irrigation in front and back but with so much garden my water bill was the highest ever. Had to find a better way to water than my drip system.
I dug a trench 18 inches deep and 20 inches wide down the center of the bed.
Then off to the feed store to buy a bale of straw. Okay, first time for that.
I was pleasantly surprised that the bale had sections that flaked off. They were just the right size to lay horizontally and tight next to each other in the trench. Then soaked the trench and straw with water as I walked over it in my boots until I was walking on water.
The bed soil had dropped about 5 inches during the growing season so filled back up leaving a berm in the center allowing for compression of the straw.
I mixed my Grade A super fancy homemade compost with some OMRI organic raised bed compost, Dr. Earth compost, vermiculite, peat moss, Azomite (A to Z of minerals in trace elements), kelp, high grade worm castings, oyster flour (calcium), and some mycorrhizae in the planting holes.
In went the red and green chard and broccoli plants. Also seeded with radish, lettuce, arugula, and several marigolds to attract good bugs, then topped with an inch of coir. It looks like a tightly made army bunk with green sprouts.
Hidden underneath it all, down the center, is a 20 inch wide core of straw charged with water. The concept is to eventually not water when the plants get bigger and allow the moisture in the core to wick out to the nearby plant roots. I planted on top of the core also.
Another gardener in MI said it was the best method he has ever used and didn't water all summer allowing the rain to re-charge the core. I can be the rain maker. Then I can shut off the irrigation and let the roots wick water from the core.
Will keep you posted.
Bear - the mad science gardener! |
