The Mandala Diary
2004
I started growing organic food to stay away from 'mutant' food, but I've discovered a much more pressing reason for getting into sustainable food production. I recently discovered the world's best kept secret, (More) one result of which is going to be a big problem for world food supplies. So it's Permaculture for me - with a vengence!
March:
By way of an update, we installed a food production design called a 'Ganga Mama Mandala' just over a year ago. It's a concentrated permaculture technique. For a description of the system click .. Here
Well we had a good first season and managed a fair variety of products but not much volume. Take a look... Mandala Plants 2003
What I call the 'front' of the mandala is that side of the square marked by the palm leaf windbreak. (The picture below was taken up a ladder looking in) The 'front' faces west, looking from within. The new 'left outside bed' can be seen to the left of the pic. It's bordered with trailway sleepers and you can see two white concrete blocks in the bsd that are used as stepping stones. That side faces west. The south and east sides are enclosed by Cypress trees.
Here's the pic...
Looks quite empty, but looks can be very deceptive!
During this year we're going to start conserving whatever we can in order to see if it really is possible to feed 5 on 100m2.
What I've got now in March 04 is a few lines of oats above the Mandala as a test, with a view to feeding Donqui on it when it matures. You'll see the oats running down to the boundry of the Mandala, denoted by the line of palm branches. (windbreak) You then move into the pond thing - with a bit of history. And finally, a new coat of 'mulch' has just been spread. View
I'm expanding the growing space at the moment. I've constructed a new bed along the left outer edge of the zone. You can see the structure of the beds quite well in these pics... View
The other 2 beds are along the front end of the Mandala - both for production Here's a pic of the zone before starting (see donqui?) followed by a few more.... Zone 2
April:
It's April fools day and I've just planted the left top bed with two types of Chickpea. The first is 'Brown Popping' type and was bought from www.vidaverde.co.uk This variety is supposed to be able to be shallow fried to make a very nice snack that's similar to popcorn. I'll let you know. The rest of the bed was sown with Chickpeas from the local supermarket. I hope they work!
To be continued...