Composting In Practice

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners!

Last time we looked at the principles of composting and viewed them as a form of alchemy. This week we will present how we apply these principles in the building of compost piles here at Living Earth Garden Project. These compost piles are built to provide fertility to vegetable beds and orchard trees. We will hold off describing humanure compost piles, once again until next time, as they require extra procedures. (Please review our blog from December 9th, "Principles of Composting".)

The minimum size for a compost pile to properly heat up is 3ft x 3ft x 3ft. Maximum size, with some exceptions, to keep the center aerobic is 6ft x 6ft x 6ft. We build our regular compost piles to this larger size and our first step, then, is to mark out a 6ft x 6ft square on the ground with stakes. Next, using a digging fork, we loosen the soil lying within this square to ensure adequate drainage to the bottom of the pile and thus avoiding anaerobic conditions.

The first materials to be put down are the coarsest, most carbonaceous ones. Here, we use the woody stalks of quelites, a kind of wild spinach that volunteers freely around Taos. Sunflower stalks, cornstalks, or even tree branches could be used instead to ensure that Air is allowed to infiltrate the bottom of a pile. Putting the woodiest materials at the bottom also gives them the best chance for breaking down, and eventually becoming finished compost as well.

The next step is to begin layering green materials (nitrogenous - Fire element) with brown materials (carbonaceous - Rock element). The thinner these materials are layered, the better they will mix together to form finished compost. Yet, layering too thinly makes building compost tedious, so one effective recipe is to fill 2 five gallon buckets with green materials and layer then, then fill 2 five gallon buckets with brown materials and layer that, then back to green materials, and so on. Here in our vega (meadow) land, we are blessed with lush pasture, that, at many times of the year, is at a good ration of carbon (Rock) to nitrogen (Fire) for composting. We simply cut wheelbarrow loads of our pasture and layer them that way, keeping an eye on the proportion of green to brown materials.

It is best to build an entire compost pile all at once, yet in practice, we build onto them as time and energy allow. When we reach a height of 6 feet, we call it done and top the pile off with 4 five gallon buckets of soil. This soil weighs the pile down, holds in moisture, and introduces beneficial microorganisms. Soil could be added with each layer of green and brown materials and doing so would actually introduce these microorganisms more effectively. If following a 2 green/2 brown recipe, add 1/2 five gallon bucket of your own native soil to each layer.

The final step is to drench the compost pile with Water, pouring another 4 five gallon buckets worth on top. Again, it could be more effective to add Water with each layer, fully saturating all the materials up to that level. Sometimes, piles built in this manner, with materials getting completely soaked every step of the way, do not need any supplemental Water once they have been built. Here. in our situation of high winter groundwater, we are beginning with a minimum watering approach, to see how much moisture wicks up from the ground. If a compost pile does not receive enough water, the composting process slows down or stops. and the formation of finished compost is delayed.

Once the compost pile is built, if supplemental water is needed, a good method is to treat the pile as a garden bed. Give water to the pile whenever irrigating the garden beds nearby. Aim for that 50/50 Air to Water ration that we spoke about last time. Such an approach usually produces finished compost within 3 to 6 months, and almost always within one year.

One way to speed up the composting process is to turn the pile. Although some super fast methods call for more frequent turning, I do not recommend turning more frequently than once per month, once per lunar cycle, that is. Turning a pile involves preparing another square on the ground near or adjacent to the first square with woody material also layered on the bottom. Then some kind of strong fork and/or shovel is used to move all the materials over from the first square to the second one. The top and outside of the first pile are intentionally moved to the middle of the second pile, where they will compost better, and the inside of the first pile becomes the top and outside of the second pile.

If a second turning is desired, the compost pile can be moved back onto the first square, and so on, back and forth, with any more subsequent turnings. Although turning a compost pile is optional, and we have not turned our own fruit and veggie piles, one turning can help to ensure a more even breakdown of materials by following the outside to inside, and inside to outside rule.Without turning, some materials in the pile that did not break down fully may need to be screened out or picked out by hand, and then added to the next compost pile that is built, where they will finish decomposing.

Having stated some of the advantages of turning a compost pile, now let's look at simply letting a pile sit. While turning does speed up the composting process by introducing more Air between all the layers of material and a subsequent reheating of the pile to a higher temperature, the primary drawback is that more material, carbon especially, is burned off, oxidized, as the pile reheats each time, so that there is less finished compost as a result. A compost pile left unturned may retain as much as one-half of it's original built volume when finished. On the other hand, a frequently turned pile may give us little as one-tenth of its' original volume. To use a cooking analogy, this would be the difference between letting one pot of soup simmer, after an initial boil, and keeping a second soup on high hear, or continually bringing it back to a boil. The second soup will boil down much more quickly and yield less food overall. Water could be added, but the flavors (nutrients) will not meld together as in the first soup. Once again, we find that having patience is indeed a virtue!

Having now presented Composting in practice, next time we will look at the extra steps and precautions that need to be taken when composting humanure.

As before, we welcome your questions and comments.

With best wishes for these Winter Holidays.
Gardener Machei
Taos, New Mexico

Principles of Composting - Living Earth Garden Project Blog VII

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners! Last week we looked at Sawdust Buckets and completed our survey of Composting Toilet Systems. Thank you for your questions, comments and shares! We have now addressed the first 2 of our 4 Secondary Design Elements/Support Systems of our project. Let's review the list:

• Well - for access to clean drinking water
• Compost Toilets - to capture nutrients and avoid waste
• Solar Shower - to rinse off sweat and dust
• Compost Piles - for maintaining soil fertility

Although we have looked with some thoroughness at Composting Toilets, we have really only addressed the first half of this process: the capturing of nutrients and the avoiding of waste. The second half is about transforming this would-be waste into a beneficial product that can increase soil fertility. This process is composting, and we will skip down to the 4th element of our Secondary Design/Support Systems list : Compost Piles.

Let's begin with regular fruit and vegetable composting, and hold off on humanure composting until we have some basics down. Composting is ultimately a process that involves Alchemy. There are many methods and recipes out there, some of which you may already be familiar with. At the highest level, success with any of these methods is a result of keeping in balance the 4 traditional elements:

• Fire
• Air
• Water
• Earth/Rock

The 4th element, although commonly referred to as Earth, I prefer to think of as Rock. This is to keep in mind that we are not speaking about the entire Planet Earth in this case, just the densest, coarsest, most solid material found on her surface: Rock. Weathered rock is the parent material for all soils, but to form good fertile soil, the elements of Water and Air are needed and Fire to spark biological activity. Let's see how each Earth Element is represented in the compost pile:

Rock - the densest material is represented by brown, fully matured carbonaceous plant matter. Usually, when composting, it is found in the form of straw, but anything that has hardened and is biodegradable can potentially be used: fallen leaves, twigs and branches, wood shavings, animal bones. Carbon materials give a compost pile its' substance.

Fire - the element of lowest density, is represented by green, supple plants containing high percentages of nitrogen. Nitrogen is what sparks biological life and plant growth in our gardens. Nitrogen sparks microbe activity in the compost pile. Although represented by lush vegetative growth, any plant matter that has been cut while green, even if allowed to dry, can be used as a fire element: hay, grass, clippings, tomato and potato vines, green leaves. Similarly, animal manures are also high in nitrogen and both fresh and dry manure can be added to compost piles.

Water - is represented by the water we deliberately add to our compost pile, by rain we allow to fall onto a pile, as well as by the moisture contained in the plant and animal materials that we build our piles with. Too much water creates an anaerobic condition. In general, soggy anaerobic conditions can produce harmful bacteria and should be avoided. Not enough moisture and the composting process stops, too much Air.

Air - is represented by the open spaces within a compost pile. Certain materials, such as branches, are very effective at keeping air pockets within a pile, while other materials, such as grass clippings, tend to mat down and resist air infiltration. In general, it is more important to ensure that Air has access to the bottom and center of the pile. than it is to the top and sides of one.

Keeping a proper Air to Water ratio is one important key to composting success. Good, loose, friable garden soil can be used as an example. This good garden soil contains ~50% pore space. Ideally, this pore space is half-filled  with water and half left open to air. Of course, in practice, the water content in both soils and compost piles, is constantly fluctuating between one extreme and the other. Our job as Gardeners is to keep this 50/50 Air to Water ratio as best as we can (with some adjustments, in certain situations). Compost piles should be managed with the same goal in mind: keep that 50/50 balance as best as we can, over time.

The other balance to keep in mind when composting is that of Rock and Fire, that represented by carbon and nitrogen. In general, if carbonaceous materials and nitrogenous materials, as defined above, are added in equal parts, by volume, again a 50/50 ratio, by volume, this will keep an effective Carbon to Nitrogen in balance in the pile. This 50/50 ratio of Rock to Fire is more difficult to achieve than that of Air to Water because there is much more variability in these carbon and nitrogen materials. However, the truth is, that as long as the Air to Water ratio is kept fairly well-balanced, the microbial life in the pile will transform almost any combination of carbon to nitrogen materials into finished usable compost within one year's time in most locations. So, please do not be hesitant to start composting by what may seem to be, at first, an overly complex process. The microbial life within the compost pile will find the food combinations that they need. The only question is one of efficiency, and that we can improve through practice. Speaking of  microbial life brings us to a final analogy.

The compost pile can be seen as one large stomach, a giant digester. When we build a pile, we are feeding the microbial life in that pile, the 'bioherd'. This microbial life prefers a balanced diet, just as our own bodies do. Nitrogenous materials (Fire) are analogous to us living on a diet of fruit and salad vegetables. Fruit, especially, gives us quick energy to get going, but does not sustain our activities over time. Carbonaceous materials (Rock) are analogous to a diet of grains and root vegetables. Grains give us energy for the long haul, but without some Fire accompanying our meal, these foods can leave us feeling too heavy to get started. Likely, I believe , that we have all gotten by on an imbalanced diet for a time, until learning better habits from the experience. Both kinds of energy, fast and slow, are necessary for our bodies and for the body of the compost pile.

Well, there I go again, using up all our time and space, and just getting through the basic principles of composting. Let us know if there is too much detail , or not enough! Next week, we will continue by describing how we actually apply the principles presented today to the building of compost piles here at Living Earth Garden Project.

With best wishes for this week,

Gardener Machei

Taos, New Mexico

Sawdust Bucket Composting

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners! Last week we looked at Composting Toilet Systems in general. We noted that the composting of our own bodily wastes is an uncomfortable subject for many people, and this was acknowledged during the week. We revealed that there have been many different humanure composting systems developed that range widely in terms of complexity, cost, and user-involvement. We finished by considering that it is fairly safe and simple to begin with composting our own urine, even in a town situation. The book, Liquid Gold, bu Carol Steinfeld, shows various other ways in which to capture urine and then recycle its' nutrients for the benefit of plant growth.

Before moving on, allow me to note that although composting toilet systems are currently optional and voluntary, they are likely to become required of all of us in the future. Every time we flush a toilet, we are not only wasting good water, but we are also sending soil nutrients and organic matter out into our waterways, eventually, in most cases, to be deposited into our oceans. Those nutrients and organic matter need to go back into the soils that they were removed from. Current estimates, including those from the United Nations, predict that at present rates of soil depletion, we humans will have no farmable topsoil left on Earth in 30 to 60 years time.

Okay, having said that, let's move into the particular method of human manure composting that we have chosen to use here, at least for now. This method is known as the sawdust bucket system and is described in detail by Joseph Jenkins in his book, The Humanure Handbook: a guide to composting human manure. When starting on a land-based project, knowing what to do with our own bodily wastes can be an immediate barrier. In Wilderness Areas, we are directed to dig "cat holes", 6 or more inches down, and then cover our deposits thoroughly to keep wild animals from digging them back up (in their search for nutrients). Unless one has a very large tract of land, and is willing to walk to a different place each time these "cat holes" would soon accumulate beyond the ability of our land to absorb them.

The traditional toilet method on the homestead is the outhouse, or 'privy'. This is actually what I had in mind before we obtained our particular piece of land. I thought that we would simply dig a hole in the ground and put a toilet and outhouse on it. Then, when the hole was full, we would plant a tree over all those deposits to recapture the nutrients stored there, and move on to a new hole in a new spot. Our land is blessed with an abundance of groundwater. This groundwater makes possible plant growth that would otherwise be impossible in our high desert climate. High groundwater does make building more complicated, however, and one of those complications was that we had to dismiss this "outhouse/tree system" idea.

Although it did seem like a complication at the time, Joseph Jenkins shows through drawings that the old outhouse system was never all that good of an idea anyways. Unless the hole is lined and then pumped out, the pathogens in feces do leach into the surrounding soil, contaminating it both vertically and horizontally. This contamination happens in dry soil too, just not as broadly as in wet soil. The good news was that I had already been composting for 15 years, was familiar with a few different humanure systems from the farms I had worked on, and had recently taken part in a demonstration of this sawdust bucket system. I went ahead and read The Humanure Handbook thoroughly.

The sawdust bucket method is a simple system. First, we purchased a 'portable loo' by mail from a camping outfitter. They are made in Canada, but all it is essentially is a five-gallon bucket with a plastic seat and lid that snaps securely to the top rim. We then purchased some more five-gallon buckets with regular lids from the hardware store and gathered a large tubful of fresh sawdust from the local sawmill (to cover with one cupful each humanure deposit, whether solid or liquid, as well as giving each bucket and cupfuls at the bottom to start). We set up a small table and kept it supplied with toilet paper and alcohol-based hand sanitizer (which does not freeze in the cold weather). Later, we purchased another plastic toilet seat with lid in order to separate urine from feces (it is when the two are mixed together that the most disagreeable odors are created). By separating, the sawdust was able to absorb not only all of the liquid involved, but just about all of the odor as well.

As far as the 'privy/privacy' part of this composting outhouse system, we first put up a potty tent that was available through that camping outfitter, and as sunlight and wind degraded the nylon, we built strawbale walls on cement blocks around it with a wooden bond beam on top to keep the bales upright. A simple canvas tarp served as roof until it began breaking apart, at which point we replaced it with wooden slats. The doorway was left semi-open as it faced away from most activities and out onto 50 miles of open plateau with buttes and mountains on the horizon. All of this makes walking out to our 'composting potty' to make a 'time deposit' (with interest guaranteed)., a beautiful and unforgettable experience!

That is all anyone essentially needs to get started. While our approach reflects the realities of our land and climate, the underlying principles will remain the same anywhere. The outhouse structure, in particular, that we built around the toilets is well-suited for our high desert climate of  low rainfall, strong winds and extreme temperature swings. This kind of structure may be inappropriate, or need modification, in other bioregions.

Now, what to do with all the stuff in the buckets? Well, that is where some level of skill and knowledge are required. We will begin on that next week, when I will address Composting, both with humanure and with regular garden debris. As usual, please send us your questions.

With best wishes for this week!
Gardener Machei
Taos, New Mexico

Composting Toilet Systems

This is the 5th entry, since we got back on track!

COMPOSTING TOILET SYSTEMS

Tuesday, 24 November

2nd Quarter Moon

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners! Last week we began looking more in-depth at the Secondary Elements/Support Systems of our Project, by focusing on water access. Let's refresh our minds by listing again all 4 secondary design elements:

• Well for access to clean drinking water.
• Compost Toilets, to capture nutrients and avoid waste.
• Solar Shower, to rinse off sweat and dust.
• Compost Piles, for maintaining soil fertility.

This week we will focus on 'humanure". Human manure is an uncomfortable subject for many people, especially those of us living in the overdeveloped parts of the world. In The Humanure Handbook : a guide to composting humane manure, by Joseph Jenkins, describes this condition as fecalphobia - an irrational fear of handling our own bodily wastes. Let's be honest about the current situation : an elaborate and expensive system of plumbing has been designed and built so that we can avoid the responsibility of dealing with our own crap. This system is not only elaborate and expensive, but it is also not that effective, nor is it efficient. Plumbing just moves the stuff out of our view and out of our thinking. The real insanity, as Jenkins points out astutely, is to be defecating directly into our precious drinking water. Excuse me for going off a bit on this point. It is important that we shift the paradigm strongly on this issue, so that we can overcome our own inhibitions regarding humanure-composting. I can attest from experience, that it does take some time to overcome fecalphobia.

Now, the good news is that there have been many different composting toilet systems developed. The Composting Toilet System Book, by David del Porto and Carol Steinfeld gives an exhaustive overview of all the choices available. The systems presented range widely in their levels of complexity, cost, and user involvement. This range is broad enough that I would think anyone could begin humanure composting at their current level of comfort.

The composting system we have chosen is known as the sawdust bucket system, and it is fully described in The Humanure Handbook.  Let me hold off getting into the details of this particular system until next week. While it is a simple system, it does require a certain level of skill and knowledge to do properly, so I will need more time and space to present it adequately.

Instead, let me describe how I started humanure composting back when we lived in a conventional house with flush toilets connected to a municipal sewage system. I focused on capturing and recycling my own urine while continuing to use the flush toilets for fecal matter. Most experts agree that urine from a healthy person is sterile. You may have even heard of people using their urine medicinally, even drinking it. I myself, once used my own urine to treat poison oak effectively, keeping the oils from spreading until I could get some medicinal cream. 

To recycle urine back at that house in town, I would fill a 5 gallon bucket full of loose straw and keep it in the storage area where my garden tools were. Whenever I was working in our garden (which was most of the time), and needed to urinate, I would use this straw-filled bucket. At the end of the week, when it came time to build onto our current compost pile, I would create a 'bowl' in the straw at the top of the pile, empty the urine-soaked straw into it, then add any plant debris and all food scraps generated that week, and finish with a  new layer of loose straw on top of that (which would receive the following week's urine-soaked straw). This method, which I used for many years, never produced a stinky compost pile.

There are many possible variations to this method, as well as the usual details to work out when beginning a new practice. 

Please contact us with any question you may have! Or leave comments about this information!

With best wishes for this week,

Gardener/Visionary Machei

Taos, New Mexico

Water

Tuesday 17 November

1st Quarter Moon

WATER

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners!  This is HeadGardener Machei at LivingEarthGardenProject.  Last week we went through the Secondary Elements/Support Systems of our Project.  Let's begin this week by reviewing these 4 design elements:

     Well - for access to clean drinking water

     Compost Toilets - to capture nutrients & avoid waste

     Solar Shower - to rinse off sweat & dust

     Compost Piles - to produce soil fertility

This week we will focus on water access.  Access to water is a primary consideration for any land project.  There are many potential ways to provide for this need.  Here is how we have approached water access on our land.

The hiring of a professional well driller has been the only job we have contracted out for.  The drilling of a 100ft deep water well was also the very first job we had done.  We gave water access top priority both for our personal needs & for what would be the future irrigation needs of our plantings.  Jim Fennell, the well driller, said to me upon job completion: "First you got the Land, now you have the Water!"

When faced with the decision of what kind of well casing to install, we decided on steel, even though Jim was telling us that we could use pvc.  We had researched the effects of polyvinyl manufacturing and found that factories producing polyvinyl compounds were primarily located in poor communities and contaminated these places with toxins.  We also felt skeptical that pvc pipe was truly safe to drink from, despite EPA assurances.  We paid ~10% extra for steel, but kept to our principle of low-impact non-toxic development, which includes caring for other lands, not just our own.

Groundwater in our vega [meadow] bottom land is high and, as a result, well water, even though it is coming up from 100ft, rises to just below the surface.  This effect is similar to that of placing a straw in a glass of water.  When I saw the well water at ~2ft from the top of the casing, I said,"that water looks easy to reach".  Jim suggested trying a 'pitcher pump' to gain access.  We did.  We found a supplier in town and installed it ourselves.  Pitcher pumps are short and pull water up by suction.  As long as our well water stayed within reach of the drop pipe, and it did, we had access to our good clean drinking water.

After ~3yrs of continual use, the leathers on this short pump began to wear out.  We needed to make a decision.  After looking at different upgrade options, we chose another hand pump, a tall one with a bulb in its body to force pressure and a spout adapter to connect farm hoses.  This amish-style pump also has different pin settings to adjust the lever to more volume & resistance per stroke or less volume & resistance.  It works by pushing water up from below, from where it enters through a check valve into a brass cylinder, and is then lifted upward with each stroke.  A fine example of sophisticated low-technology that we were also able to install ourselves.  While pumping water up with the pitcher was not difficult, carrying the water to where it was needed could be tedious.  This amish-style forced-pressure hand pump makes moving water horizontally easy also, and allows us to pump while standing up!  Daily tasks become truly pleasurable when the tools needed are well made.  We look forward to adding on more farm hoses in order to move water farther about our 3 acres of land.

Even though we have focused all of this week on water access, there are still many details that I have left out due to space & time considerations.  If this approach to water seems like one you may like to try for yourselves, please do not hesitate to ask us follow-up questions.  "The devil is in the details" or "God may be found in the details", depending on one's choice of deity.

With best wishes for this week,

Gardener Machei

Taos, NewMexico

Sustainable Design Elements at Living Earth Garden Project

Greetings! This is Visionary and Head Gardener, Machei at Living Earth Garden Project. This week I will return to presenting the Design Elements of our project. Let's begin by reviewing the list from 2 weeks ago:

• Border - extensive planting of small trees and shrubs
• Tipis - as simple, but durable and effective shelters
• Orchard - fruit trees at this time, with treenuts in the plan
• Yurt - as more substantial, but still simple shelter
• Vegetable Beds - for diet and nutrition
• Outdoor Kitchen - including ramada for shade and other miscellaneous structures

These are the Primary Design Elements that we have begun work on.

There also exist Secondary Design Elements which are systems that support the Primary Elements. Many of these Secondary Elemnets were actually in place, out of necessity, before the Primary ones. Our list of Secondary Elements/Support Systems is as follows:

• Well - for access to clean drinking water
• Compost Toilets - to capture nutrients and avoid waste
• Solar Shower - to rinse off sweat and dust
• Compost Piles - to produce soil fertility

The term 'other miscellaneous structures after 'Outdoor Kitchen' on the Primary Elements list refers to the various installations we have made to make our Secondary Elements/Support Systems functionable. Here follows a short description of each:

• WELL - includes a professionally drilled hole 100 feet down with steel casing installed and an Amish style forced-pressure hand pump with farm hose adapter on top.
• COMPOST TOILETS - is the sawdust bucket system as described in The Humanure Handbook , by Joseph Jenkins. Aside from the necessary buckets, seats, lids and sawdust we have built a rough strawbale shelter with wood slat roof to contain this 'compost potty'.
• SOLAR SHOWER - has gone through a few variations. Our current attempt involves using the tipi tripod design principle. Three long poles are tied together near their tops with a clove hitch knot and a shower bag is hung down.
• COMPOST PILES - are of two kinds now. The first type of pile that we began building was our 'humanure compost' that receives material from the sawdust bucket system as well as kitchen food scraps, some plant debris, any papers or fabrics that will biodegrade, and lots of loose straw. The second type of pile we now build is our 'fruit and veggie compost'. These piles are simpler in that they require no containment and can be built directly on the ground. So far, they have received our own pasture cuttings primarily.

How many of you have any experience with these kinds of systems? By addressing water access and 'waste' disposal, they are enough to get a land-based project started. Some of these systems can be learned on-the-go, while others require special training beforehand. I will go into each of our Support Systems more deeply in the weeks that follow.

With best wishes for this week!

Gardener Machei

Taos, NM

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners! This is Head Gardener/Founder, Machei at Living Earth Garden Project. Nyna and I were discussing some of the logistics involved in responding to your questions and comments during the week. I begin writing each week's blog entry on Tuesday, adding and revising through the week until it is ready to post on Sunday. As such, there may be a two week lag time between question and answers. Nyna tells me this is generally considered too long to keep the attention of blog readers...The way that we have decided to approach this problem is by doing our best to answer all of the more simple and direct questions during the week, as they arise, in the time that we have available to do so. Longer questions and comments, requiring a more thorough response, will be put off to the following week, where they may play a role in determining the blog entry's theme. There might not be a fine line between these 2 kinds of questions and comments. Let's just see how it goes for now. Please tell us what you think of our idea.

Before moving on, allow me to suggest that anything worth doing, takes time to do well. Similarly, anything really worth discussing, takes time to reflect upon. Knee-jerk reactions and one-size-fits-all answers are, in part, responsible for the current economic/ecologic mess that we humans find ourselves in worldwide.

As for this week. I will continue with the theme of introduction and background, focusing now on the "Garden Project" idea. After finishing the Program in Ecological Agriculture at Evergreen College in Olympia, WA, as well an internship at Evergreen's Organic Farm, I met Nyna at the Olympia Food Co-op, where she was a staff member, and together we moved to Ukiah, county seat of Mendocino, on the North Coast of California. I completed a 3 year apprenticeship on different farms and gardens around Mendocino County, where I leaned many different methods and techniques. This period may more properly be called a "journeyship" because of the diversity of experience involved. One thing that stayed common throughout this period and beyond, as I pursued more learning opportunities, is that almost all of my teachers and mentors had been themselves students and/or apprentices of a man named Alan Chadwick.

The story, as it has been passed down to me verbally, from different sources, is that Alan Chadwick was born on an estate, where he learned to garden by watching the peasants work the land. Later, as a young man, he is said to have apprenticed on a BioDynamic Farm headed by Ehrenfeld Pfeiffer, a student of Rudolf Steiner. Alan was told that for the first year of his apprenticeship, he could only watch the work on the farm, not participate in it, nor was he allowed to ask any questions. (This forgotten technique, I believe, was designed to hone the students observation skills, and actually save the farm time and labor in the long run.) Alan was also trained as an actor, and later in hi middle years, worked in that field, rather than in agriculture.

After the Second World War, Chadwick was so disturbed by the experience that he focused his energies on discussing with his colleagues and contemplating for himself, what would need to done to avert such a disaster in the future. His answer finally came as, (I am writing here by memory) : Only the Lifeforces inherent in Gardening, can overcome the Death Forces inherent in War.

Chadwick developed a system of gardening that he called the BioDynamic/French Intensive method, where he synthesized what he learned during his apprenticeship with techniques used by market gardeners around large European cities at that time, and maybe by his estate's peasant servants, as well. In the late 60's, Alan was invited to be a kind of 'artist in residence' at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He was invited by the Philosophy Department, not the Agricultural Department. The garden that Alan dug and grew there, out of an infertile hillside, was the first "Garden Project". This garden continues to be maintained today, and his teaching has grown into a full University Program, within the Agriculture Department now, based on his original work, in that first garden.

This first garden is where many of my teachers and mentors,as well as many other farmers and gardeners, first met Alan and began to learn from him. His influence on Organic Farming and Gardening cannot be overstated, especially in California, but also across North America as well. John Jeavons, for example, learned directly from Alan at this beginning time, went on to simplify the teaching, shorten its name to BioIntensive, and write what has become possibly the best book on truly sustainable food production, How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Land Less Than You Can Imagine. John's current "Grow BioIntensive" method is practiced all over North America, and in many countries around the World as well.

What impressed me most about Alan Chadwick's garden, when Nyna and I visited Santa Cruz in the late 90's, was how it grew in three dimensions. Up until then, most of the gardens I had seen were 2 dimensional, rows and rows of vegetables, mostly. His garden had vegetables in broad beds with fruit trees and other perennials growing in between these beds. It had a vertical element right within itself.

What impressed me next about this garden, was that the 'artist studio', a modest cottage of sorts, where Chadwick lived, worked, and taught, was completely within the garden. Alan's home, then, was not detached from his work, nor from his teaching, as commonly happens nowadays. All primary aspects of Alan's life were tightly woven together. He was following the First Law of Ecology (Everything is Interconnected) on a personal basis and was gaining the corresponding economic benefit of having low maintenance costs, so that he could pursue what had become his primary purpose in life, teaching by example.

So, when we use the term "Garden Project", as in Living Earth Garden Project, it is to honor Alan Chadwick, to honor his work, his first brave students, and the lineage that has passed down since his time. I hope that I have been able to convey, then, how broadly we are using the term 'Garden'. Many, if not most, people, upon hearing the word 'garden', still think, as I did once, of not much more than straight rows of vegetables. Perhaps we are even using the term 'Garden' more broadly than Alan intended in his time. I hope so, for that would only be fitting to honor his vision.

I will finish with a passage from Voltaire's Candide, that is a favorite of John Jeavons, as I have heard him say this on so many occasions, and again from memory: "All the world is a garden, and what a wonderful place this World would be if only all of us would each take care of our own part of this Garden."

So, when I refer to all of us as "Gardeners", it is in this broadest sense of the word that I do so. Gardeners of the World unite!!

I ask anyone reading this who has better recall of Alan Chadwick's life story, to please feel free to make corrections and/or additions to what I have written. As already mentioned, I have written from memory a story passed down to me orally and emphasized what I feel are the important points for us today. One final reflection to offer, as it occurred to me while writing, that Chadwick's life was much within the tradition of Leo Tolstoy: born to nobility, yet refusing to place themselves among the common people.

With best wishes for this week!
Gardener Machei
Taos, New Mexico

From Founder, Machei Matysiak

Greetings, Living Earth Gardeners!

My name is Machei (pronounced 'Ma' as in ma and pa, 'ch' as in church, 'ei' as in vein or reign, and with stress on first syllable. I am Head Gardener & Project Director at this Living Earth Garden Project. Nyna, my wife, and I decided that as a means of gathering interest for our Project, I will begin writing weekly entries on this blog page, describing some of our activities and experiences here on our land, located in Taos, New Mexico.

Aside from gathering interest for our project, this blog will help us to begin fulfilling our mission of becoming an Educational & Demonstration Center. With this in mind, I hope to engage you all in thoughtful discussion. I will do my best to answer all questions and to address comments that I receive between these weekly entries. I invite you to participate in this discussion.

In this day and age, key words and catch phrases have increased in importance. Many people type such words and phrases into their computers and almost instantly receive a list of corresponding matches. The obvious risk in such a method is that it can lead to superficiality and a glossing over of deeper meaning and substance. Yet we cannot ignore the necessity of positioning ourselves in such a way that those who are looking for us can actually find us. With that in mind, I asked Nyna about a phrase that would honestly and accurately describe out experiences during these first 7 years, as well as to act as a guide for future growth and development. She agrees that the following phrase is honest and accurate: 

DEEP SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH RADICAL SIMPLICITY.

Please understand that Living Earth Garden Project is a work in progress, very far from finished. This is the work of a lifetime, if not many generations. One of my farming heroes, Wes Jackson, has said, "If you are only thinking about what you can do in your own lifetime, you are not thinking far enough ahead!"

As an introduction this week, I have decided to list all the parts of our Project that we have begun work on. Of course, all these 'parts' are interconnected, yet for not it may be easier to address them one at a time. These are listed roughly in the order that we have started on them:

• Border - extensive planting of small trees and shrubs
• Tipis - as simple but durable and effective shelters
• Orchard - fruit trees for now, with nuts in the planning stage
• Yurt - as more substantial, but still simple shelter
• Vegetable Beds - for diet and nutrition
• Outdoor Kitchen - including ramada for shade and other miscellaneous structures

I look forward to hearing your responses and will use them as a guide in determining the direction that this blog takes.

With best wishes for this week,

Gardener Machei

Taos, New Mexico

5 years?!!

WoW! 5 years have passed since we wrote anything about our project? I don't quite understand how that happens!! We are committed to sharing our experience with sustainability and our project, so we will be updating and upgrading this blog...stay tuned!