How to Get Out of Mowing the Lawn
and Grow a Garden Instead

An Urban Permaculture Story

Tahoma Urban Agriculture Guild

Welcome!

This slide show tells a story about turning the usualtime commitment for yardwork into a much more useful endeavor. It's written for folks interested in creating space for growing secure food supplies on unproductive, urban land.

What's Inside?

The story tells how unproductive land in an urban,residential area was turned into Home and FoodbankGardens with the help of family, friends and local volunteers.

We share the steps taken and describe some of the Permaculture methods used in the formation of these gardens.

What's Inside?

The story tells how unproductive land in an urban,residential area was turned into Home and FoodbankGardens with the help of family, friends and local volunteers.

We share the steps taken and describe some of the Permaculture methods used in the formation of these gardens.

What Can I Do in My Yard Today?

This was a question we oftenasked shortly after buying aproperty in Tacoma, WA.

Gather food for dinner - NoCut some flowers for the vase NoHarvest some fresh herbs for the kitchen NoFind a quiet space to read a book NoSquirrel & Birdwatching Decidedly No

Mow the lawn & remove noxious weeds - Yes

The Next Question

What's the first step forcreating the time and spacefor what we value doing in our yard?

Answer:

Get rid of some of the lawn and put in some garden space.

The Home Garden, First Edition

1) We chose to begin with asunny spot we hated mowingthe most, over the crestof a bank.

2) Dark rock was used forbuilding raised beds to increasethe daytime soil temperature.

The Home Garden, First Edition

4) Once the beds were done they were mulched with strawto wait for planting in the spring.

3) Each area was filled witha mixture of fresh potting soiland some home compost.

View of the Home Garden from Above

Here's what it looked like from the balcony.The original garden area was about 300 square feet.

The Following Summer

There were more things to do in the yardthat we valued and LESS lawn to mow: we had food & herbs for the kitchen, cut flowers for the home and more time to enjoy in the yard.

The Rewards of 300 Square Feet of Garden

A quiet space in the yardto read a book.More food for the household thanwe could consume.

And all the Urban Wildlife one could wish for,including honey bees, butterflies, squirrels and songbirds.

The Surplus

By June there was far more food gathered fromthe garden than the family could eat. And the freezerwas getting full.

We started boxing up the extra harvest and deliveredit to various Foodbanks nearby. By August the deliverieswent from once to twice a week.

Taking Another Look at the Parking Strip

By Fall the Parking Strip was starting to lookmore like a gift than just a piece of land we hadto mow.

We decided to check with the City to find outabout converting it to garden space.

Sure enough, it just required a permit. And the process did not require a fee.

Getting Connected

The next step was to find an organization that was interested in working with us to establish a foodbank garden on the Parking Strip.

After checking around on-line, we found The Making a Difference Foundation (TheMADF.org). The Foundation operates Eloise's Cooking Pot Foodbank in Tacoma and they were delighted with the idea.

Volunteers fromEloise's Cooking Pot Foodbank

Putting a Plan on Paper & Submitting to the City: the Checklist

1) Go to the City websiteand write down the rules for putting a Garden Strip in.

2) Draw out a site plan based on the rules.

3) Fill out the permitapplication and submitit along with the plan to the City.

In the Meantime

While waiting on the City to process the permit we decided to move forward with getting the most important materials started.With some advice from folks at the Foodbank on what to grow, we put on a Seed Starting Workshop.

We didn't know when thepermit process would be done so we stuck to thingsthat could winter over well. Such as:

HerbsRoot vegetablesGreensCabbage

Once the Garden Strip is Approved
the Project Begins

By drawing a Site Plan to scaleit can later be used to calculate the amount of materialsneeded for the project. A suitable scale for most garden spaces is1/2 inch = 5 feet.

Here's the basic checklist of materialswe used:Garden Mix

Potting Soil

Cardboard

Pro-grade Landscape cloth

Dark Basalt rock

Fencing posts

Wire Fencing Mesh

Straw bales

No-till Installation: The Urban Advantages to Raised Beds

1.) Less Work to Install: a 3 inch Cardboard Sheetmulch prevents existingweeds from invading thenew bedding area. Eliminatingthe need for tilling or sod removal.

2) Reduced risk for toxic substances: A long list of toxins gotdumped on Urban soils last century. Raised beds, Sheet mulching& fresh planting mix eliminates the risk of serious toxins getting into the home food supply from existing soils.

No-till Installation: The Urban Advantages to Raised Beds

4) Scientific studies reveal that grassy areas contain some ofthe highest numbers of worms per acre. By not tilling and usinga cardboard sheet mulch, the existing soil system will spread upinto the new bedding area.

3) Reduced Maintenance: Laying a pro-grade landscape cloth edging below bordermaterials slows future weed invasion &reduces or eliminates need for herbicide.

1) Whenever possible, stagerockwork materials uphill fromthe installation.

Working with Rock: Rules of Engagement

2) Make sure the rock has been evenly loaded before transport.

3) When funds for heavy equipment aren't available be sure to have a level (not canted) and sturdy surface for transport.

Rules of Engagement

4) When a raised bed is intended for root vegetables or deep-rooted types like tomatoes, build the rock border (and garden mix) a minimum of 8 inches high.

Rules of Engagement

Project Phasing: What To Do When

Some things happen in their own time, like: obtaining permits, funding or volunteer schedules.

Here are a few tipsfor getting projectsto completiondespite theunknowns.

1 )Break up the task intodoable chunks based on your resources.

3) As much as possible, have all materials, tools & equipment at the site before starting the project.

4) Find tasks that can be done ahead and adapt them if needed for the season as in the case of plant materials.

2) Avoid heavy work orplanting during the heatof mid-summer

The Eloise's Cooking Pot
Foodbank Garden

With the efforts of friends, family and Eloise's Cooking Pot Garden Volunteers, we established some wonderful community connections and a place to grow healthy food that goes where it is needed most.The total growing space including garden pathway is 720 square feet

Home Garden Additions That Create More Growing
Space on the Same Area of Land

Arches were made of inch pvc pipe &wire mesh. This created vertical growing space for climbing types like peas and beans,part sun conditions inside for greens etc.

A constructed berm or existing bank can be used to maximize space both vertically and horizontally. In this example a terrace was built using a layered method of organic materials (aka Hugelkultur).

Home Garden Additions

A second terrace was addedbelow the Vertical Gardenfor sprawling vegetables like squash & melons.

Circular beds known asTortugas forcreating specializedgrowing conditions.

Some Lessons We Learned

1) In addition to food, gardens can grow stronger, more connected communities.

2) Collaboration can move mountains (of dirt and rock) in ashort time.

3) Shrinking an ecological footprint through re-use orrecycled materials also shrinks project expenditures.

4) Members of youth groups may be inclined to eatthe worms in a compost pile.

Garden Resources

Seed used for these gardens are Non-GMO and Heirloom or Open Pollinated varieties. Our sources include: Seed Savers Exchange, Nichols Garden Nursery & Pinetree Garden Seeds.

Hugelkutur is German for Mound Culture, the method originated in Eastern Europe.It can be adapted for use in trenches, terraces or raised beds. Advantages includelower irrigation needs & long-term soil nutrition feedstock.

More on Cardboard Sheet Mulching can be found athttp://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/cardboard-or-sheet-mulching/

For questions or comments about this presentation go to

Tahoma Urban Agriculture Guild https://tahomaurbanagriculture.squarespace.com/

Closing & Credits

We wish to thank the local organizations and businessesthat volunteered or provided support for Eloise's Cooking Pot Garden .

Central Church Youth Group's participation in the Seed Starting WorkshopTagro for donating and delivering the potting soil. Folks at our local Grocery Outlet for donating the cardboard. The Making a Difference Foundation, (TheMADF.org) for providing some of the funding for Eloise's Cooking Pot Garden.

Finally, thank you for your interest and we wish you agreat harvest in all your endeavors.

Tahoma Urban Agriculture Guildhttps://tahomaurbanagriculture.squarespace.com/