Analyse & Assess

When planning and designing the contour gardens there were a number of different factors to be taken into consideration;
Soil in the monsoon tropics is notoriously infertile*, torrential downpours in the monsoon season tend to wash away all the nutrients and organic matter (*on land cultivated or frequented by man where inevitably poor agricultural practices such as deforestation, and burning have taken place.) Often leaving soils devoid of life, stagnant and barely able to support healthy plant growth.
Conversely the dry seasons are long and hot creating drought conditions which literally bake the already depleted soil. During the dry season water is often in short supply and irrigating gardens can prove difficult or impossible.
Designing around these factors offered some complex and challenging elements.
Soil in the monsoon tropics is notoriously infertile*, torrential downpours in the monsoon season tend to wash away all the nutrients and organic matter (*on land cultivated or frequented by man where inevitably poor agricultural practices such as deforestation, and burning have taken place.) Often leaving soils devoid of life, stagnant and barely able to support healthy plant growth.
Conversely the dry seasons are long and hot creating drought conditions which literally bake the already depleted soil. During the dry season water is often in short supply and irrigating gardens can prove difficult or impossible.
Designing around these factors offered some complex and challenging elements.
- The natural slope of the land was a major consideration, so designing the beds in a way that maximised vertical penetration of water (water percolating through the soil profile and recharging ground water supplies), and prevented run-off, overland flow and consequent erosion was a high priority;
- I decided to Construct the beds on contour (following the natural contour of the land) to help prevent water flowing over the beds and causing erosion and nutrient loss during heavy rains.
- The beds had a lot of compost added to them and were heavily mulched, providing the dual functions of increasing the soil fertility and micro-organism (MOs) populations which will in-turn help to improve the soil profile and vertical penetration. The mulch helps to keep the soil at an ambient temperature avoiding extremes of heat which could harm the MOs, it also stops the soil surface from becoming baked and crusted in the hot tropo sun.
- I decided to combine Raised beds, sunken beds and ground level beds into the design in order to improve the resilience of the garden and maximise growing areas / conditions throughout the differing seasons.
- Access, water and path to bed ratios were important considerations.
- The contours were planned at approximately 5.5ft (1.65m) intervals, in order to allow 4ft (1.20m) for the beds and 1.5ft (45cm.) for the paths. Naturally the contour lines deviated from this distance somewhat and myself and others designed in keyholes and smaller beds where necessary.
- Constant thought, observation, contemplation and discussion took place after mapping the contours in order to place the paths in such a way as to maximise the path to bed ratios (path to bed maximisation involves reducing the amount of path area to the minimum whilst still being able to access all areas of the beds, having room to move and work/harvest the beds whilst at the same time maximising valuable growing space).
- The garden beds were all fitted with drip irrigation under the mulch, providing moisture right where it's most needed; at the plants roots, rather than losing much of it to evaporation. The beds were also fitted with individual valves providing better control and less wastage; the flow rates for individual beds can be controlled or shut off meaning you don't have to water plants unnecessarily as different plants have different water requirements. The drip irrigation vastly reduces time and energy input which otherwise would be considerable.
There are also Four pre-existing water spigots around the garden, which can be used for spot watering individual plants, filling up sprayers for liquid fertiliser or hosing one another down on a hot day!
- Designing the gardens in such a way that they were aesthetically pleasing and performing multiple functions; i.e. obtaining a yield, catching and storing energy, producing no waste, relax and recharge.
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Water Systems
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I incorporated drip irrigation systems into the beds, with separate valves allowing for full control. Some beds can be watered deeply whilst others are receiving less, which will provide optimum conditions for crops as well as reducing time and labour inputs dramatically.
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The drip lines are buried under the mulch and provide water right where it's most needed, at the plant roots. This technique will avoid watering the weeds instead of the veg, vastly reduce evaporation and help Panya to conserve a lot of water.