Permsteading.com

I saw this information on another permaculture site and thought it was worth sharing here. I though about Boo and our other friends Down Under fighting the intense heat as well as draught situations. This raised bed key hole garden with a small compost area in the center seems to hold the moisture for the plants to feed and the key hole design makes it easy to reach all of the plants easily.

http://www.texascooppower.com/texas-sto ... -gardening

Here is a video showing how they make the key hole beds in Africa. You can make the out side walls from what ever you have handy, it does not have to be brick or stone. Making the key hole indentation for easy picking, and having the compost area in the center of the circle seem to be the key elements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykCXfjzfaco

Thanks for the good info, Guy. I have been considering putting in a keyhole garden here in town. Think of the space that I wouldn't have to mow!!

I think all I need is some blocks for the outside wall and a load of horse manure. I've got plenty of cardboard, newspaper & leaves, as well as some old tree that didn't get turned into a hugelbed last year. I'm sure I can get access to a quantity of coffee grounds and egg shells at the restaurant where my son worked for so many years. A keyhole garden should keep me well stocked with salad vegetables and might even have room for a few strawberry plants. What about cucumber? If I put in a trellis ... and perhaps some peas ...

While I was at YouTube, I took time to watch a few of the videos on making self watering planters. Since I spend my time in several different places during the growing season, lack of watering is my biggest drawback. Time to rummage in the garage to see what sorts of containers I have that can be repurposed. I know there is an old dresser that I was planning to lay on its back and fill with dirt, while setting the drawers in various spots as planters too.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle, those 3 basic principals make sense in everything we do. If you can reuse your broken old dresser as a useful planting raised bed I think that is fantastic. When it rots in the future it can be put into a Hugelbed to help hold in the moisture. WIN, WIN, WIN, I love it, There is no end to the new uses that we can find for what other people throw out as junk. Don't forget to save the drawer pulls, I am sure you can find a good use for them at some future time,

Many people live in card board boxes Dave, but I don't think Quaker Oats makes a Large size variety that is quite that Large, I am sure we could find a lot of uses for a strong card board cylinder of that size. Maybe a shelter for the sheep and goats. or perhaps a sturdy chicken coop.

Thank you so much for the awesome info pa_friendly_guy - guess what I'm making tomorrow

I thought about you when I posted this information Boo. It seems to work well in dry weather because of the mulch core. Good Luck with it in your Homestead.