I’m experimenting with a passive compost trench system along the sides of our forest garden beds. The bean borders/compost trenches are primarily for erosion control, building soil, boosting the worm population and suppressing weeds. Secondary benefits include beans for seed and food, attracting pollinators, and benefiting nearby plants with extra nitrogen and water. The bean/vetiver/compost borders also look really good. In a few years the vetiver will grow into 12” clumps and form a continuous hedge, which will provide a continual source of nutrient rich green manure.
vetiver
Let Nature Grow Your Garden
“The natural way of gardening is a big change from the traditional way. It is human nature to resist change! This change will be much easier to accept if you take a good look at a forest or natural glades.
Miracle Soil Building Properties of Vetiver Grass
This is almost too good to be true. Keep reading if you want to learn how vetiver is a true miracle plant. What do you do when you have hard pan clay soil like we do? We dug large tree holes for our fruit trees, but at some point the roots need to penetrate the surrounding clay soil in order for the tree to grow to maturity.
Vetiver/Clay Follow-up Report
I’m real happy with how the sample vetiver/clay block and earthbag turned out. This follow-up report summarizes some of the pros and cons. You can read the first report here. The block dried in a few days, but the mix in the bag was slow drying (it took about 2-3 times longer to dry) and … Read more
Bags and Vetiver for Erosion Control
The photo and following text is from a vetiver website Patti Stouter found. Please send us links to any relevant articles you come across. There are situations where slopes are so steep, where rainfall is so intense, and where the soils are so fragile that applying the Vetiver System by itself will not work. There … Read more
Hempcrete — Growing Your Own House
This is my second post about hempcrete in just a few days. Obviously I’m pretty excited about it. The last post listed quite a few advantages of hempcrete. This post with even more exciting advantages is based on an article in the most recent issue of The Owner Builder magazine called Growing Your Own House, … Read more