soil damage – Duckduckbro

West Garden is Getting Greener

It has been nearly 4 months now and here are photos showing progress on the West Garden. From September-October last year we had construction work on the western part of the garden to rebuild the old pigpens. In November, we proceeded with mulching, planting and digging rain gardens in areas prone to flooding. La Niña also meant above average rainfall from October-March, so it was quite a challenge trying to get the garden into good shape. We had some important practical goals: (1) to control flooding in the area when it rains, (2) to improve fertility and texture of the soil, (3) to grow more forage crops for the animals, and (4) to make the garden resilient if or when the drought (El Niño) comes.

Above photo shows the southern end of the west garden. We have moved the sheet roofing left on the ground to a better location under the house. The stumps of gemelina wood lying on the ground have been stood up to serve as support for potted plants. A rain garden was dug up at the end of the canal. Pathways and plant beds were established. Getting seedling to grow in this area is difficult because it is next to large mahogany growth. The mahogany trees shed their leaves and increase tannin seepage into the ground. Mahogany trees also create dappled shade, making it difficult or impossible for sun-loving plants to grow. This area also floods quite considerably when it rains, killing young seedlings.

We have managed to grow plants that thrive in such difficult conditions such as San Franciso plants along the hedge and green and purple gabi (taro). Some pandan have managed to survive as well.

Above photo shows the longest side of the west garden. We have trimmed the young Jackfruit tree and the banana tree on the right side which was trampled to the ground by construction work have regenerated. The path became flooded, muddy and dangerously slippery and this has been amended by paving with sand and gravel. There is a large area mulched with dry coconut leaves on the left – this used to be a goat pen. Now, kangkong and kamote planted there are crawling over the mulch. Soil from dug-up rain gardens and compost from the pigpens were placed around the coconut tree where vegetation has started growing.

We have also planted flowering vines and placed support for them to climb on going over the pathways. This will take some more time! Some climbing plants were also planted along the wall and we are hoping that in time, the wall will be covered with vegetation.

Above photo shows progress in the area that used to be the old boar pen. The vacated area was a mud pit and needed a lot of mulching and treatment with lactic acid bacteria to decompose manure and aerate the soil. Over time, what used to be a barren area is now starting to become green with kangkong, kamote, papaya, gabi and forage crops such as madre de agua (tricanthera). The dry banana leaves on the right are reserved for the sow when she gives birth this month.

Here (above photo) is a closer look at one of the rain gardens. Water goes down slow in this location but the gabi planted here seems to love it. Some pandan, tiger tail plants and kangkong are growing in the vicinity.

This photo (above) shows the other rain garden which drains faster than the previous one. The gabi planted here are doing well. Some kamote are growing along the canal leading to the rain garden. A banana was planted nearby, although not flourishing, it is managing to survive. A lot of grass is growing here as well, much more here than in the other areas.

One side of the old boar pen (above) showing one of the flowering vines and the madre de agua (tricanthera), planted as cuttings and now growing very well.

Along the old goat pen (above), this photo shows the growth of two types of kangkong and an okra seedling.

Another view of the West Garden towards the old boar pen showing more vegetation and an orchid planted on one of the posts used for the pen. We have mounted more orchids in the other posts left from the old goat and pigpens.

We are very happy with progress on the West Garden, considering the state it was left in by construction work last year. We are hoping that as more vegetation grows in this area, it will be less prone to flooding and will be protected from drying out during the hot summer months.

What has helped tremendously in this effort are mulching, rain gardens, compost from the pigpens and the application of lactic acid bacteria and a small amount of indigenous microorganisms. We have our fingers crossed hoping the garden will continue to thrive when summer approaches.

Mulching

Coconut trees finally got cleaned today – after nearly 3 years. It took such a long time because the guy who does it is as slippery as a rat out of a snake’s mouth. “Cleaning” coconut trees means clearing the tree of dead materials, trimming the leaves and cutting down coconut fruits that may pose a hazard over roofs, garden beds and pathways, and of course, cutting down mature coconuts (for copra or cooking) as well as a few young green ones.

We use coconut leaves – green or dry – as compost, feed for the pigs and for mulching. We specially need mulch for the west garden. Several days earlier, I’ve started work by sowing mung beans and adding a thin layer of dry coconut leaves on the soil, plus spraying with a dilution of lactic acid bacteria to facilitate decomposition. Then we got help from Bebe and Atoy to further mulch the area.

Instead of digging and ploughing through the soil, we rely on mulching. Apart from spraying lactic acid bacteria, I am currently preparing a variety of indigenous microorganisms with large mycelium growth. This will be placed onto the soil, under the mulch, to inoculate the soil and increase microbial diversity, hoping to improve soil texture and enrich the soil at the same time.

I don’t expect to grow anything soon in several areas where mulch has been added specially over where the boar pen used to be. The manure in that area has not yet completely decomposed. However, some of the mung beans I tossed around several days ago seem to be doing fine.

There has been an unusually high amount of rainfall this year and I think we’re nearing the end of the rainy period. This would be a great time to mulch since there will be enough moisture and humidity to decompose the mulch, and the soil cover will be much needed as the dry season approaches.

To learn more about mulching, here are some helpful resources.

A Gardening Challenge

More drawn to livestock, I have not done much gardening in years. A few attempts have not resulted to anything promising. However, since a section of the garden along the west side of the property has given way to newly rebuilt pigpens and the surrounding area cleared and trampled down by construction work, I may now have to face the challenge of tending not only to the pigs but also to plants.

But the first real challenge is tending to the soil – how to bring life back to soil that has been subjected to abuse.

Here is one area of the west garden between the two pigpens. I have laid down stakes cut from the tough midribs of coconut leaves to fence in what would be garden beds and paths in between for access. The fencing will consist of the thicker and heavier parts of the midribs, and inside the fenced area the coconut fronds will be piled along with other organic materials for composting. This is also where spraying the area with lactic acid bacteria might be helpful.

This is the lower half of the same area, some 25 square meters of what used to be a boar pen. There is still some scrap wood left from the demolition of the old pen. The red bits are from the tattered canvas roofing of the pen.

In this photo, one can see that the edge of the west garden has become devoid of ground cover vegetation due to construction work. A lot of work needs to be done here to revive the texture of the soil so that plants can start growing again. Due to digging and trampling, the soil has become compacted and is very prone to flooding.

Here is the southern corner of the west garden. Likewise, compacted soil, a canal dug up leading to nowhere now becomes flooded. Logs from a tree that was cut down will need to be stood up to serve as plant holders in locations where they will not block the flow of rainwater. Those galvanised iron roof sheets will need to be removed and stored elsewhere.

We have cleaned up as much as we could but much remnants from the construction work remain: pieces from cements bags and broken hollow blocks and a pair of slippers, pieces of plastic bags, paper.

A section of the garden was used for mixing cement, and although the workers have broken up the concrete to expose the soil, they did not clean up afterwards. We will need to remove as much as we can of this concrete and put them nearby where they can reinforce paths around the pigpens.

Here is a closer look at the soil in the area where the boar pen used to be. Heavy rains cause water logging and the ground here is very soft, it is really a mud pit. We will need to compost over these areas and will probably takes several months before improvement becomes visible.

Here is another section of the boar pen which is a mix of soil, composted organic matter and limestone.

And when it rains …

These photos (below) show what the area looks like after a half hour of rain. It isn’t pretty.

Managing the rainwater run-off from the upper part of the property will need to be done along with planting, contouring, rain gardening and such things in the west garden. A not-so-good neighbor has also been dumping their roof rainwater run-off into our property, so that will need to be dealt with later.

Canals were dug up around the pigpens to prevent rainwater from entering the pens. In some areas the water goes down, but in the southern section, the water pools in the canal and doesn’t get drained into the soil.

I planted tiger tail and fortune plants in this corner at the lower part of the canal hoping that later, more plants can grow in the canals and absorb the water.

In a few areas where the canals flow downwards, I hope to dig a couple of rain gardens to serve as catchment for overflowing rainwater, hoping to avert flooding in the west garden. Soil dug up from the rain garden may be placed over the old pigpen particularly in excessively muddy places where water pools.

Next to a mahogany tree and behind the darkness of a pile of scrap wood from the demolished pigpens this lily has managed to survive and grow.

The mung beans I threw into the wet areas of the west garden have also started sprouting. I don’t expect these to grow and mature but I am aiming for these roots to enrich the soil. More leguminous plants will need to be planted in these areas.

And this grass, pressed between the concrete base of the pigpen and the limestone paving has managed to survive.

So all is not lost, it may still be possible to bring the west garden back to life. It will take a long time, so it will be an exercise in patience. 😉

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