Five rings and Plant Guilds

It's been hot for weeks. Up in the hundreds, dropping some nights only to the low eighties before going up again.

The tanks are empty. The apricots are long gone and the plums and early grapes are coming on. Not quite ripe yet, but almost there.

It's full summer. The squash are producing, the corn has tasseled, the tomatoes are turning red and I'm a little melancholy today. It's too hot to plant, and there's nothing to harvest so I have to be content with a little weeding. Except this morning I was watering the almond and I noticed that the water was just running away from it, down the hill. So I mounded up the soil into a semi-berm to hold the water. Then I planted beans in and around the berm.

I was thinking the other day about five circles as part of a plant guild. A plant guild is a group of plants, usually centered on a particular tree, that is supportive in nature. Plants that attract pollinators, plants that clean the soil, plants that put nitrogen in the soil, and so on. So I've got the beginnings of plant guilds but I was working on designs and came up with five rings--tree, protective ring, annuals, perennials, and herbs.

Many of the trees I have in my yard are fruit or nut trees, which are susceptible to bores. Each spring (as early as I can work the soil) I go out, dig down along the fruit tree and try to kill any bores that have overwintered there. Most of my life I've been a traditionalist, because that was how I was raised, but traditional isn't doing it. Traditional is bare dirt around any tree. But the bores lay their eggs in the dirt around the tree...Traditional is dry soil, but the bores need dry soil. The larvae then dig in to the tree and overwinter there.

So last year I planted chives around the trees. They still got bores, but I noticed that most of the bores were on the bare side of the tree, where the chives hadn't grown yet. So...circumstantial, but possible.

This year I expanded that, planting chives, garlic and tansy around the other trees. It'll take two or more years to know if it's working, but I'm hopeful. So that's the 2nd circle. Protective.

The third circle is the human care circle. Technically the whole thing is, but this circle is annuals--tomatoes, beans, beets, whatever I choose to grow. They will be in full sun during the spring, dappled shade during the rest of the summer so productivity might suffer a bit...but they will be a little protected from the full heat of the summer sun, so I think that will offset the losses. Less burn, less evaporation, etc.

The fourth circle is the other trees or bushes in the guild. Planted probably at or close to the tree's drip-line (the edge of the tree where the drips stop, not the soaker line that brings water to the tree) these would be the perennials that support the tree and are supported in turn. The tree provides shade, mulch (in the form of leaf-litter) and in turn is cared for by these plants.

The fifth circle is other perennials that fill out the guild. Medicinal herbs, insectaries to attract pollinators, nutrient accumulators, etc.

It's a slow process, but necessary. This small yard has to take care of itself, and me, and still maintain soil fertility and increase nutrient levels without outside input. No fertilizers, no herbicides or pesticides. I bring in bags of leaves in the fall. Other than that, the main inputs are water and light. Soon, soon I hope, water use will be reduced. That's another topic.

I'm learning as I go.

Low-cost gardening

Plants need basically three things. Water, light, heat. Anything beyond that adds to how healthy the plant will remain as it grows. A seed is self-contained food storage for the baby plant. The seed is large enough to get that plant growing and keep it healthy until it can sink its roots into the soil it assumes will be there.

So the seed won't start until the circumstances are right. Some plants need no light, or low light, or bright light for germination. Some need well drained soil, some need sand, or compost, and so on. But at the beginning they're all the same--light, water, heat.

In order to start a seed, you need to provide those three things.

Call me crazy, but I collect toilet paper rolls. Cut in half or thirds, they make perfect "peat pots" without the chemicals or the need to buy expensive specialty items. Stuffed with sphegnum moss (apx $3 per bag on sale, and a bag will last me at least two years) they create a place for the seed to rest, out of the water. The moss soaks up the water and keeps the seed evenly moist, as long as there is water in the tray.

My main tray for starting seeds is a rectangular cake tray from a grocery store. The base is black, the top is clear and it snaps on tightly enough to keep the water in. There are also no holes so bugs can't get in. A little water in the tray keeps my seedlings happy but not waterlogged. At full capacity it can hold about forty planting tubes.

The secondary seed nursery is also a cake tray, but this time slightly deeper. I can put the top on, but usually I use this one (or one like it) when the seedlings have secondary leaves and are ready to leave the sealed environment.

There they can grow until they are between four and six inches tall, depending on what I'm planting.

At that point I transplant them, into pots (saved from previous years) or into the ground. If I have two plants in each tube the tube is composted and I carefully separate the plants, keeping half the moss for each. Otherwise I plant the seedlings right in the tube. I have yet to lose any transplants this way, as the moss retains water even in the ground.

Gardening doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be difficult. By starting your own plants you know precisely what seeds are being used, whether or not fertilizer is used and what kind, and whether or not the plants are safe for your family.

The Second Medicine

There are three things the human body requires: Air, water, food.

The body can survive for about 7 minutes without air, 7 days without water and 7 weeks without food. Not easily, or comfortably, but it can survive.

As infants we start out in an enviroment where our every need is supplied even before we understand it. Then we emerge into this odd space where we have to express our needs.

Saying "I need" usually results in something being put in an infant's mouth, resulting in crossed signals--as infants, we learn that "I'm hungry" and "I'm thirsty" are interchangeable. Later, we discover that "I'm hungry" tastes better and "I'm thirsty" is no longer consciously recognized. As adults, for the most part we assume "hungry" when we're thirsty because those first few months of life taught us that they were the same thing. So we eat instead of drink, never satisfied because we're not feeding the correct appetite.

Many diseases, from strokes to headaches and on through some forms of cancer and dementia, can ultimately be traced back to dehydration.

The body relies on a liquid conduction system. Like a wet cell battery, if the liquid level is too low the current drops. When the current drops the body thinks "drought" and goes into survival mode. Everything that is not absolutely essential (skin, digestion, and immunity to name a few) goes into maintenance mode, where the least energy and resources are used.

In the short run, people who do not drink enough are prone to (the short list) muddled thinking, emotional rollercoasters, exhaustion, elimination problems and headaches.

The problem with "drinking" is that many people consider any kind of liquid to fit the bill. So they go for coffee, tea, sodas, all of which increase urination (they're diuretics). Drinking a cup of coffee may actually make you get rid of more water than is in the coffee, so it doesn't work. Same with alcoholic beverages. Any time you add anything to water, it's adding chemicals that are going to have a reaction with your body, either positive or negative.

As we age our bodies fail to adapt to shortages as easily, and the habits of a lifetime catch up to us. Dry skin, brains that don't fire as well as they used to, cell elasticity problems and many others can be traced ultimately back to a lifetime of starving our bodies of one essential nutrient--water.

If you know you're breathing properly and you still have whatever problem you're trying to figure out, drink water. It's not going to be as immediate a solution as breathing correctly. If you're breathing incorrectly it will take about seven minutes for the effects to start showing. If you're dehydrated, it may take a week or more.

Water is the second medicine.




The First Medicine (Air)