Permaculture in Denver Colorado: Difference between revisions

This is where I am developing a catalyst business for a Community Investment Enterprise in Denver, Colorado. The Base Pair I am starting with is an organic kitchen garden based on no till, perennial plantings mixed with annuals, that is drip irrigated for low maintenance and water efficiency.

As a business offering a service, I can join the local trade exchange, the local Balle group, the sustainable business alliance and other community groups, as ways to seek out opportunities for sets of transactions that could be internalized in the CIE.

soil tests

Building Organic Matter in the Soil

The front range of Colorado is semi-arid with long periods of drought and extremely low humidity levels. Retaining water availability for plant roots is critical. Tilling the soil "burns" organic matter and should be kept to a minimum - deep mulches of green matter are highly recommended. Grass or Hay contains roughly the right balance of nitrogen and carbon to decompose without tying up the nitrogen needed for plant growth.

Traditional sheet mulching to start:

- chop down existing growth

- water thoroughly the night before assembly

- organic fertilizer

- 1/2 inch cardboard or newspaper

- some more organic fertilizer

- 12" of hay

- cover with soil or compost for aesthetic purposes if desired

keep moist

wait eight months before planting

Quick Method:

- Chop down existing vegetation

- water thoroughly the night before to loosen soil

- organic fertilizer

- plant perennials

- cover the rest of the bed and up to stems of plants with 1/2 inch card board or newspaper

- cover with organic mulch

- at planting season for annuals cut through to soil

- add newspaper to suppress weeds and mulch to build soil

Drip Irrigation

A source of free information:

Irrigation Tutorials

Each drip system will require a back flow preventer, a filter, and a pressure regulator (price). In most systems we will also install a timer (price).

In a standard key hole bed (see below) you will need approximately 36 feet of 1/2 drip line and 24 emitters spaced at 18" (need to price).

Plant Selection

The really cool thing about no-till systems is that you can include perennials and ornamentals in the design - since you won't be plowing them under every years. If you have only one key hole bed, as a low maintenance kitchen garden, you can plan for the basic cooking herbs, some tulips, day lilies and mums for season long color, and some annuals like basil, lettuce, tomato and a squash plant or two. If you leave your lettuce to go to seed after it bolts you will have volunteer lettuce the next spring that will sprout earlier and grow as well if not better than the seeds you plant. (The carrots you forgot to dig last year will bloom this year and you will get volunteer carrots next year). I usually leave room for a volunteer sunflower or two.

Of course, the more key hole beds you have the more plant species you can include. I have six beds primarily devoted to vegetables with tulips and iris bordered with my small fruits. I have a quarter bed by the kitchen steps with my cooking herbs and four more beds out front with the perennial flowers. (See companion planting below).

Perennial herbs

- sage

- oregano

- chives

- tarragon

- fennel

-

Perennial edible Flowers

- day lily

Annual herbs

- basil

- rosemary (not hardy in Colorado)

Annual vegetables

- anything you can grow in a traditional garden

Composting

Composting has always been a quandary to me. I almost never have enough nitrogen to do a proper "hot" pile and I am always short of mulch to keep the ground in the garden protected from the effects of rain hitting the soil directly and the drying effects of sun and wind.

A large portion of my half acre is in native grass that I cut once a year as the primary source of mulch. I also get large volumes of leaves that I don't want to put directly in the garden because they will tie up nitrogen and that are almost all carbon so will not readily decompose in the compost pile. Finally, there are the kitchen scraps that have to be composted - because I am not going to grind them up and send them down the sewer line.

I am experimenting with using a portion of the leaves in the kitchen scrap compost and the balance of the leaves in a slow compost and deep mulch, to keep the grasses out of my small fruits. A worm compost of the kitchen scraps and some of the leaves is another option.

Key Hole Beds

A key hole bed is designed to maximize planting area and minimize pathway. The standard version is a circle with a ten foot diameter. A one foot wide path way leads to the center of the bed and, at the center of the bed, a smaller circle of two feet diameter is left as a place to stand while working in the bed. Imagine a 4 X 12 bed bent into a circle.

Key hole beds can be arranged in groups. The lay out can be varied depending on the plants to be grown and the physical requirements of the gardener. As I get older, it is necessary to have access to the outside of the bed as well as the inside.

Companion Planting

Full Season Gardens