Mount Loretto Apartments Terraces

This is a project of the Sustainable Communities/Organic Gardening Meetup Group.  Mount Loretto Apartments has five 160 foot long, four foot deep irrigated terraces desending a south facing slop to a water settlement basin.  The terraces were originally planted to a wild grass flower mixture.  We are using a sheet mulching technique to kill the grass and prepare the soil for planting this spring.  As of this writing we have prepared about 30 feet of bed - so there is lots of room for additional participation.
 
These are no weed, no water, no till, deep mulched, sprinkler system irrigated permaculture bed. Once established, we will need significant participation only three times a year: planting, mulching, and harvest. With no till and deep mulching, the soil will improve each year with no weeds. With no tilling, we can include in the design perennial herbs and things like rhubarb and horseradish and bulbs and flowers. With drip irrigation no daily attention is required and we save water. The area not in beds will be planted to grasses, legumes, trees and shrubs for wind break and to provide habitat for beneficial insects, native pollinators and birds. Many features supporting the productivity of the whole.
 
 
The plan for participation is somewhere between an individual growing food for a living, as in community supported agriculture, and many individuals tending a plot in a community garden. In this model anyone can contribute whatever time, materials or money they choose and we will share the produce based on relative contribution. It will be community generated food production.  Community Generated Agriculture (CGA).
 
 
 

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