How To Build Soil and an Herb Spiral

Part two of the Potato House Permaculture Pension series on soil building. This time, we build a sheet mulch in an herb spiral. For more information, please visit http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~potato/PotatoHouseEnglish.html or http://permaculturetokyo.blogspot.com

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• permaculture
• herb
• spiral
• gardening
• food
• soil
• sustainability
• health
• eco
• potato
• house
• pension
• scott
• meister

[HooDaBabba]

KaribuEvanston...there are a number of ways to enrich soil over the years. Probably one of the slowest forms would be...

a) Hugelkulture compost (although I've never witnessed this done in a small herb-spiral setting...but there's always a first, and you could be it). I've had relatively good success with it in a 2 meter X 1.5 meter plot.

b) first a sheet mulch as you see here, then repeated, seasonal applications of compost supplemented with bio-dynamic fertilizers. Feed soil not plants. 

[HooDaBabba]

ishouldntbeyoutubing...thanks for the comment, It doesn't look that sturdy, but it's out lasted our fireplace chimney in terms of earthquake tests (the chimney lost last week). You maybe can't see it from the angles in the video, but the rocks are all laid in such a way so the weight is going inward toward the soil, and as the soil has settled over time, it has become sturdier.

[HooDaBabba]

Impalapez, thanks for watching. I have heard of Bio-char...I haven't done a great deal of research, but it seems interesting. I think as far as coconut vs peat moss sustainability is concerned, sphagnum moss, and peat moss are not the same thing (sphagnum, not peat moss is being used above), anyway, we should use whatever resource is most readily available avoiding transport costs. Sphagnum moss is overly abundant on my property, This is why I'm using it. Thanks for helping me to clarify this.

[HooDaBabba]

Thanks for the comment onionblue (and luogocomunista)...To answer you questions, the high part of the spiral is in the center (neither northerly or southerly) and gently slopes downward to the bottom which should be the shady side (north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere). My spiral happens to be on a gentle north facing slope, but spirals can be anywhere (preferably close to the entrance of the house). Hope this answers your question.

[SustainableBackyard]

Thanks for sharing this great info!!!

[HooDaBabba]

You're VERY welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

[yourgardens]

AWESOME

[heidistubbs]

Love it! I hope it works down here in Australia.... Don't see why it won't. Now to find a good supply of rocks to start.....

[KaribuEvanston]

Thanks, this is so helpful. I'm planning to move the location of my spiral for next year. I'd like to make it permanent in the new site. How will I enrich the soil over the years if I don't want to re-create it from the bottom up with straw, etc.? Or is that the only option?

[katsandroses]

Very informative and user-friendly. Thank you :)

[PreservingLiberty]

I know of course the earth spiral is for the closest zones so it's expected to be more cumbersome, but is there any way to keep from replanting in the spiral by designing a herb garden to sustain itself through generations. Or should I just leave that to the outer zones.

[PreservingLiberty]

and i'm not saying the principles are wrong, just the endless supply of videos that withhold the application of permaculture just to describe to you their personal ethics.

[PreservingLiberty]

Thank you for posting this to educate people instead of posting principles of permaculture. Because people like you are educating us without regards to your profits we all now can create an earth spiral. Thank you.

[mbttbm1]

Great Video! Could you please name all of the plants in your spiral? Thx!