Our herb spiral did its job over the winter. The mint, chives, parsley, and catnip all overwintered very well. In a few weeks we will reseed it with basil, dill, cilantro, and sage. Mmm. The rosemary did not make it over the winter. I’ll buy a potted plant from the nursery this spring as rosemary is very slow growing.
Here is the herb spiral now, all cleaned out and fixed up:
See how the spiral looked last summer here.
And click here to learn how to build an herb spiral.
Enjoy this site plan of our heart-shaped Mandala Garden. This is for a four year rotation plan with each color representing a different zone. Each zone is purposely spaced out so we can spread out certain varieties of plants that may be vulnerable to disease and blight.
Traditionally, mandala gardens use a series of concentric circles with keyhole paths cut into each bed for access. This method utilizes space more efficiently than garden beds laid out in a grid. Our Design primarily utilizes concentric circles, but has a few straight beds put in there for varieties that are more easily managed as rows, such as lettuces, carrots, onions and radish. And after all…it’s heart-shaped. How cute is that?
Luke and Tofu are studying from The Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture:
This book was written in Australia so some of the day to day situations don’t apply to us here in Massachusetts. For example, they have different animals and critters running around their yard and different tree species. But the concepts of storing water, preserving wild spaces, and creating workable, sustainable food producing zones are still applicable in our neck of the woods. Luke and I have really been inspired by this book in particular. It gives detailed plans and descriptive diagrams and sketches. Thanks for letting us borrow it Sarah!
In the garden we are harvesting peppers, tomatoes, string beans and cucumbers:
The perennial garden looks so pretty right now:
