Some call this Back to Eden

Some folk asked me to publish BTE (aka Back to Eden)
The summary

What I did has many names permaculture, lasagna beds, BTE depending who one talks to. Bottom line I use a lot of wood chips on the property and sheet mulch alkaline soils.
Why? Ones who do not (neighboring properties) get soils torn 2 feet deep with 2 inches (5cm) deep cracks in the soil. Now think what will be torn from a tree...
I almost lost one of my big ponderosa's this way. And to massive amounts of fertilizers and other conventional landscaping methods (rumor has it it cost previous owners 250$ a month in maintenance alone not counting water costs and fertilizers and other materials).

Among the neighbors it was kind of ... from 'gone bunkers' stare to all kinds of other looks regarding wood chips piles to the point how one can use that many wood chips. The looks never stopped, they just changes from 'this is odd' to amused to curious to never expected ... now I go by ask your garden question lady because people stare at tomatoes 'weeds' that fruit till it freezes and grow taller than a human ... well I simply sort of run out of trellis so I simple throw them over on the other side.
More mulch was delivered was able to mulch entire orchard and add chickens. I guess I did change at least some of my used to conventional landscape neighbors look at gardening and landscaping ...kind of. Some were saying it's impossible and soils are clay and alkaline, some believed it was nuts and nothing will ever grow.
What this deep mulch method does is shown from here
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/spring-part-2-and-so-on…
in particular this photo is how it started, 2 existing raised beds covered with what ever chop and drop there was.

to this

planted raspberry (transplants were moved, when it's free one takes these, and adds what can)
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/and-here-is-our-spring-…
the building lasagna and making a bit of mounds because planting over the weeds s a challenge
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/we-do-not-plant-till-mo…
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/gardening-and-building-…
to these garden updates for first year or this method of lots of mulch and chips
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/20…/…/garden-update-1.html
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/20…/…/garden-update-2.html
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/20…/…/garden-update-3.html
to June
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/2014/06/end-of-month.html

to this
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/summer-garden-update.ht…
and that's when people in the neighborhood stomped across something that sort of turned their garden thinking from 'odd lady' to 'we do not believe it, but...t is there'
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/heat-and-rain-equals.ht…
to tomatoes bushes
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/…/harvest-some-more.html
and a good problem to have
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/good-problem-to-have.ht…

Doing it on larger scale cause I got mulch hog heaven :), no one is laughing anymore for couple of years by now , some are observing with interest now.
Changed some folk's ways how they look at gardens. Not many followers so near by, but many observers. I showed local close by folk what I did, but never did a group post like that before telling the story.
Hope it fits BTE, even if it's not by the book, I never seeing the book to be honest, it was easier to get the soil built in our arid climate this way and conserve water. Now we have more water rights I can do and doing more, I just never got to describing it all, but started next chapter
http://russianfibers.blogspot.com/…/winter-earth-work-and-c…


Next I'l introduce my quiet work forces

thanks