Several months ago, I watched a documentary film about a
gardener named Paul Gautschi who has discovered an organic, sustainable method
of gardening. He has been a gardener for over 55 years and is considered a
master arborist by his community. He has raised food for his family of 7
children, and to give away to friends. He gives numerous tours of his gardens
and orchards to both local and international visitors.
The film, Back to Eden,
was co-directed and co-produced by Dana Richardson and Sarah A. Zentz. The
method is basically growing fruits and vegetables in wood chips, and Paul has
had impressive results. After watching this film, I was very interested to try
this technique and I proceeded to watch every video I could find on YouTube of
people who have had success growing in wood chips.
The first step was to call our local power company to
request to be on a waiting list for free wood chip delivery when they would be
in our immediate area doing tree removal work. We did so and waited about one
month, all the while clearing a spot for the anticipated truckload delivery.
Once the chips arrived and were dumped into a tall pile, I began spreading them
around with a hoe and shovel until the pile was about 2 feet high.
The pile sat from fall until spring, decomposing until it
was only about one foot high. I added a bag of organic garden soil and fertilizer where I wanted to plant
zucchini and melon seeds. The seeds were planted and watered and they germinated
in about a week. I continued to keep the seedlings moist until roots were
established and the plants had their second or "true" leaves. There
have been almost no weeds, only an occasional sapling that is easily removed.
Only minimal watering is required; I have watered the plants 2-3 times this
season when we have had an extended period of no rain. We have harvested
zucchini a few times and are currently waiting on the melons to mature. So far, this may
be my favorite way to garden!
Here is a slide show documenting our experience in creating a
wood chip garden. Hope you enjoy!
Blessings on your gardens,
Karen
I have been experimenting with the wood chips also. I have only good things to say about it! My only worry is that once enough people find out about it, they won't give them away for free, you'll have to pay for them just like the bark mulch that has gotten very expensive, but was once free!!
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