Urban Farming Externship - Week 8

This was the final week of work on my first wicking bed. I began by adding the compost and worm castings that we had, then I began sifting the native dirt I dug out for the reservoir to finish filling my bed. After filling it, I realized that I didn't have enough compost in it - the consistency was still very sandy - so I bought a bag of organic "Amend" soil to bring it to the consistency I wanted:

The final breakdown of the substrate looked somewhat like this:

• 5% Worm Castings (from our worm farm)
• 10% Organic Compost (a mix of our own and a store-bought bag)
• 10% Organic Plus Amend Soil
• 75% Native Arizona Soil (sifted)

After filling my bed, I sat and mixed the soil and compost with my bare hands. I did this for quite a while; connecting and feeling the dirt and watching the life all around it. It was a very zen-like experience, and a great way to relax after all the shoveling and sifting!

Next, I dug tiny little rows with my fingers and planted my cover crop seeds. I mentioned it in a previous post, but the cover crop I chose is a green manure mix from Johnny's Selected Seeds. It's a mix of winter rye, field pea, annual rye grass, hairy vetch, and crimson clover. The instructions say that it's great for mid to late summer seeding and that it'll germinate in 5-10 days. 

I filled the reservoir with water until it began to drain out and wished my little bed luck. 

I'm honestly a little nervous at this point. The worrier part of me keeps thinking "What if nothing happens?" or "What if I did something completely wrong and it doesn't work?" The optimistic part of me is super excited for all the organic vegetables I'm going to grow!

Thanks for following along with me during my little project! I'll post an update next week of how my bed is doing and what new projects or volunteer work I'm up to. 

Right now, my bath tub, lavender essential oil, and Epsom salts are calling my name. :)