Life in the Hill

Living on a 35 acre property means there's always space somewhere to do something new.  A few weeks ago, the hill in the picture below was nothing but molasses grass and piles upon piles of pebbles.  Well away went the weeds, the pebbles are slowly being used to ornament other gardens, and say hello to the food!

Digging with a pickaxe was like quarrying for minerals.  I made some level surfaces, approximately 1m x 1m each, and then mixed together some different soils and nutrients to add some life back to this hill.  The large amount of soil you can see on the bottom of the pile is organic garden mix we got (10 barrels full) from Wards Landscape Supplies.  On top of that is about two kilos of Biochar that we purchased at The Living Earth Festival.  Also in the mix is about a kilo of organic Dynamic Lifter.  Mix it all up, and you have a perfect combination to add as a base layer for any plants you want to put in.

My friend Nino gave me some zucchini seedlings.  I have to admit, zucchini had never seemed to do so well here (anywhere I've tried it on the property) so I was a bit reluctant to accept these, but nevertheless I thought they would be a great ground cover while this soil is being reinvigorated.

And finally, one of my favorites, Jap Pumpkin seedlings are just starting to come up.  I planted about 12 seeds, not knowing how well they would take to this soil, but it seems they've all decided to come up and I might have to spread some of them apart by creating more level planting surfaces along this hill.

For now, I'm happy knowing this hill is still alive and is ready for more of my gardening efforts!