As escavations go, garden mounds are not the least bit photogenic. As
soon as you say, 'show us your best side' -- the contour seems to
flatten out or its bumpiness is drowned in greenery.
So these images are suggestive rather than scenery you could base a map on.
And they're messy. Higgledee piggledee. Poly plus mix of plants. Any
old china plate on top. Wood ash and mulch smeared everywhere. ..
But the main thing, the takeaway impression, is that the mound garden
grows. I don't think I have lost a plant despite the angle I'm growing
them on.
I've thrown a lot of different plants into the mix so here goes...In another few weeks the mounds will be hidden in jungle.
The long strips of mulch are stuff I got from guys trimming shrubbery
at the local tavern. I wanted to lay down mulch stuff over all the
cardboard and paper that's carpeting the valleys between the mounds.
Not neat and not quite in forest floor mode. But the thing is my
mounds are more verdant than my beds. There is a qualitative difference
in activity.
So going with the verdant flow, I've got carrots and radishes planted
among all this stuff. Roma pole beans are in there too, and I've just
dropped down some jute twine from a cross-garden aerial line above.
Obviously tubers like mounds -- sweet potato, potato,
sunchokes,purple yams (and oca/NZ yam is in there too). So too do
cucurbits. In the mix is choko, pumpkins, zuchini. There's spring
onions, root veg, pole beans,Chinese broccoli
...For cover : coriander, dog bane, Indian shot canna, pigface,
nasturtiums, Brazil spinach and Warrigal Greens.... In the valleys,
tomatoes --only because if they were on the mound summits they'd take
over the whole hill.Flower essentials: sunflowers and marigolds.
Elsewhere quinoa is coming up, but that's another story (they're on
my ridges) I've also planted some pigeon peas out of season among the
mounds to see what happens.
The adventure of garden mounds...the thrills come from all that up and down.
