What are your GAMCOD techniques and tools?

As the weather warms up, I am excited to see updates coming in from other's GAMCOD projects. There are already a good representation of various techniques and tools used: hugelkulture, row garden bed, using scythe or big machinery etc. In my case, I do biochar, composting, double digging with hand tools, cover cropping and vertical gardening.

There are many others don't have a dedicated thread on GAMCOD. Would you like to share in words what techniques/tools/plants for your project? Anybody doing Ruth stout? Wood chip gardening?

I haven't started yet as the area I have in mind is still under snow and ground frozen probably over 3 feet down.

The tools I am planning on using are a shovel to remove sod and a hand sickle to collect plant material for mulch. Possibly a broad fork depending on exactly how I go about making beds or mounds.

I am planning on mulching deeply with both browns and greens, also making weed teas and imo concoctions for fertility.

I use a Ruth Stout/Back To Eden method in some areas of my garden. Especially for perennials. But I have to bring in lots of outside mulch to do it. Straw and wood chip and sawdust. Local sources, but not strictly off my property. I'm struggling now to find enough mulch-y materials for the 2-6 inch layer of mulch with which I like to dress my soil. Hopefully, Rabbit poo tea, comfrey tea, and grass mulch from my lawn will be enough for microbe fertility this year. Everyone's starting with sucky soil, right? Showing our styles of building soil is part of what Paul wants us to show off, isn't it? Grasping here, because I feel like I'm naked. or my garden is naked, at least! And it makes me uncomfortable. Man, it's crazy how--in the three years since my PDC-- I've changed so much as a gardener!

Marc Dube wrote:I haven't started yet as the area I have in mind is still under snow and ground frozen probably over 3 feet down.

Hi Marc, when summer comes, your long day and warm weather will make up for the short season I am sure. Look at those the potatoes grown in Canada!

Although I have a head start, it gets hot really fast and plant growth will pause in the heat of July and August with the ground turning into concrete. Each place has its own challenge and that's part of GAMCOD.

Rebekah Harmon wrote:Everyone's starting with sucky soil, right? Showing our styles of building soil is part of what Paul wants us to show off, isn't it? Grasping here, because I feel like I'm naked. or my garden is naked, at least! And it makes me uncomfortable. Man, it's crazy how--in the three years since my PDC-- I've changed so much as a gardener!

Yes we are all starting with crappy soil. I plant things that are more resilient so at least I will get something at the end of the project. In good garden soil I would expect 10 times the yield vs input for bulbs and tubers. In the GAMCOD garden, I am hoping for a 3-5 ratio. It could go wrong I may not get the 7.5 lbs of sunchokes back! And it will be all recorded! I feel a bit nervous too but tell myself it's an experiment and there's nothing judgmental no matter what the outcome will be.

I'm still rolling around in my head what I want to do.

The premise is to show people that you can garden with a few tools and a few basic techniques. Double dig is a no brainer in my mind but I see a bunch of people also have the same thought. Nothing wrong with multiple people doing it but I might try and put a twist... what that twist is, I'm not sure!

I'm planning on utilizing BASIC tools. Shovel and rake mostly but I know that I have rocky soil so I might have to break out a digging bar.

I'm going to try a simpler way than normal for me.  Plus it's trickier due to no cardboard...  I'm thinking deep mulch and not much digging.  I was going to do a triangle garden to fit my space but since we can only do rectangles or circles I'm making due.  The snow left last week so I can start to take some footage soon.

I'm doing a hugelkulture and I am soooooooo excited! We are filling up the trench with wood this weekend!

I'm not sure if we will get to to a proper Paul/Sepp height with it only being 4 feet wide but we will get it as tall as possible.

Did I mention how excited I am?