Know Thank You

Arizona desert soil doesn’t have many nutrients, is heavily alkaline, and is hard clay caliche. This makes it difficult to grow the things that most people like to eat. For sixty years or so our modern solution has been to truck food here from other places, or to grow it here using dangerous chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. For centuries prior to that we were able to grow food here in central Arizona by cooperating with nature rather than hopelessly trying to control it.

In order to grow food here you need soil that will sustain more than saguaro and tumble weeds. An easy way to build that soil is a layering technique called lasagna gardening. People in cooler climates can do this above ground, but here in Arizona we know that raised garden beds dry out quickly in our intense heat. This spring I cordoned off about a third of the back yard and over the next several months dug out six garden beds.

Bed One: 40′ long x 2′ wide x 3′ deep
Beds Two and Three: 17′ x 3′9″ x 3′
Bed Four:  17′ x 3′9″ x 2′
Bed Five:  5′ x 3′9″ x 3′
Bed Six: 5′ x 3′9″ x 2′

The strange width of 3′9″ for most of the beds came about simply because I used a broken broom handle to measure out the yard before digging. It was very handy to lay that on the ground, make a few cuts with the shovel, and move it along. The walkways between the beds are also 3′9″ wide.

All the hard clay caliche earth was dug out by softening it with water then digging it out with a hand shovel. This has been a long, slow, difficult process, and gave me tremendous respect for the Native Americans and pioneer farmers who worked this land before me. I piled the earth I dug out onto the walkway spaces between the beds, which raised the walkways and will cause rain (yes, someday it will rain) to roll down into the beds. Some of the caliche was also used to create a sloping berm (see upper left of photo) which runs the length of the 40′ bed. This will catch rain too, but it also serves as a deterrent for our dog. I don’t need her assistance either digging or fertilizing!

You may be able to see some tree leaves poking out of one of the beds to the right of the photo; that’s where I’m composting tree trimmings from the front yard. In another bed I’m composting waste from our rabbit friend. In two separate bins I’m composting kitchen waste (we’re vegan so all the kitchen waste – except anything not organic – is very earth friendly).

I’m in the process now of building new soil in two of the beds using the “lasagna” technique. This process has begun in the bed at the front of this photo and the one to the left of the tree. Once they are productive I’ll then have more mulch and compost to use for building soil in the other beds – and the building soil cycle will continue.

This much planting space should allow me to grow a lot, so we hope to be canning and freezing large quantities, rather than traveling to the store and buying large quantities in plastic bags.