whats below counts

WHATS BELOW COUNTS
every year at this time i pull up my old plants
from my garden and throw them in my compost
pile
yes everything compostable goes into it
and it all eventually looks like this

after spending weeks and months getting attacked
by chickens weather piles of leaves newspapers
cardboard paper feed sacks bacteria fungi
insects leaving a big ole pile of almost edible compost

when i do pull up my plants usually in years past
the roots are large and are a mirror image of the
plant that was above the ground
you know like a reflection of a tree in a pond or river

but
this year was different
when i pulled up my peppers this year after that last freeze
what i found was this large mass of a root system
that now explains my fantastic production of peppers
this year
the first year that weve ever frozen peppers for future
use this winter

this root system why was it so much better this year

it was the hugelkulter and the keyhole garden methods
plus
an hour long conversation i had this year with the head
gardener at the organic garden place in austin
the natural gardener recently nominated for one of
the best garden nurseries in the us
when if you ever go there youll understand why
be sure and take your kids theyll love the donkeys
chickens and the goats and the cats

this year i took an old water trough that was rusted out
its 6 ft in diameter
cut out the bottom
dug a hole about 16 inches
put a layer of cardboard and newspapers
logs limbs twigs leaves lots of leaves
layered in dirt compost leaves newspapers until
i reached the top then
topped it all off with several inches of good compost

then i added a good organic fertilizer then cottonseed meal
and as i planted the plants i add worm castings worm poop in
with the plants as i planted them

i fed them rainwater all spring and summer and had the best crop ever
of peppers eggplants basil tomatoes all in this 6 ft diameter bed
with a final depth of about 24-30 inches

all that stuff i put in the soil held moisture in the soil
plus i forgot to mention
i put a 1 ft cylinder of chicken wire and filled it with compost
materials compost and kept it watered also through this cylinder

must have been the right thing to do based on our production in
this 6 ft square area
and based on that mass of roots

here is the same garden space all ready now for spring planting
in march
it had a 4 inch layer of compost added
a scattering of good organic fertilizer
a dusting of cottonseed meal
i will add earthworm castings to the planting holes
then just add water
it was covered with a layer of your leaves that you gave me
thanks again
and will keep the composter full of material all year

the hugelkulter or anthill garden method and keyhole(less) garden method
does work
try it

yes its what below the surface in gardening that makes the difference

the organicgreen gardener

ultimate green house, more gardens

ULTIMATE GREEN HOUSE

this is the ultimate cave house that we saw this summer
on our trip to utah colorado arizona new mexico
the inside temperature stays at a constant temperature
usually in the 60s

in a recent trip to arkansas i visited a cave house or
earth house that was being built on the side of a hill
overlooking a large pasture and small creek or in some
places they would call it a small river

its was built in a beautiful location
that even though its just a few feet off the road
about as far as from my barn here at the country n
to my house
its is not visible from the road
it looks like pasture on a bluff overlooking this beautiful landscape

i had met the builder owner and his wife there in the past to see
if i had recommendation about building it
the only thing i had to say was im jealous

the house is built into the hill
has a concrete slab placed
its roof is made of industrial strength metal braces and are
covered with industrial strength metal roofing
which is covered with dirt and again looks like a pasture
its strong enough that they can drive a tractor over it without
any problems

the inside temperature was upper 50s low 60s despite 30s or 40s
outside and that is with out any heat on the inside

the homeowners were not home so i didnt take pictures without
their permission
hopefully on a future trip ill be able to do that and ill  post them

the exposed walls are made of cement blocks with the holes cemented
with a thick layer of insulation over them with an outside wall of
rough cypress (which doesnt rot) and seasons well without treatment

(i have a cypress swing that has been outside for 30 years and still is
not rotting)

there is a large overhang like you would see in a cave which will be
their front porch

the plan is also to add solar panels for electricity and to collect rainwater
at least for gardening and the yard and landscape

man am i ever jealous but proud of the couple for the amount of
work theyve done to make this happen and happen correctly

the ultimate green house

MORE GARDENS

one of the first squarefoot gardens we put in was this one for
one of my wifes shes friend who had bought  their first home
they have grown veggies in here for 4 years

she saw my blog on the composter and was asking about it
so i made her one and put in place in the middle of her garden

i filled it with my country n compost and then the natural gardeners
barnyard compost
she will add greens from her kitchen grass clippings leaves etc to keep it filled
the materials will compost down and will provide nutrition to her veggies

here are my 300+ 1015 onions planted in my new anthill garden or
hugelkultur garden in which i dug down 20 inches removed all the soil
added a layer of cardboard a layer of newspapers a layer of tree limbs and
tree trunks a layer of my country n compost a layer of leaves a layer of soil
then repeated the newpaper compost leaves soil layering until i filled the
soil back up

i have now the hugelkultur or anthill garden bed that will hold moisture well
in this dry climate and is loaded with nutrition

i topped this off with a 3 inch layer of the natural gardeners barnyard compost

i should get a good crop of onions
if all make and since they are all organic i should get 300 x $1.50 = $400
worth of onions to eat here at the country n

sure cant wait until i plant my tomatoes into my hugelkultur garden

here is my garlic i planted this fall
they are growing well so far
hopefully i will have a good crop as i
have planted close to 100 garlics this year
all organic so far
this bed is not done in the hugelkultur method yet but
when i dig the garlic this summer i will change this bed
to this method also

i love being green and organic

the organicgreen doctor