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On Saturday, November 12th 2009, SkyDog Projects hosted a hands-on workshop that applied permaculture design ideas. Led by Andrew Leslie Phillips of Permaculture Design Solutions, we removed several existing raised beds and put in their place a mandala garden and an herb spiral. The group consisted of fellow permaculture instructors, farmers and artists, with much of the discussion focused around understanding the environment, the concepts of zones and sections, boundaries, and the application of natural forms (like a spiral or mandala) to provide efficient designs that getting more produce from a smaller footprint.
Our instructor, Andrew Phillips (right) discussing the gardening techniques with Galen Ballentine of Ant Hill Farms.
Removing the raised beds and the last remaining produce from this years garden.
The site of the mandala garden. The bamboo sticks on the ground are the edge of the spherical design, which Andrew is standing within and discussing how the walkways and keyholes would naturally fit into the new garden.
The mandala garden was created with layers of composted and green horse manure, cardboard and hay. The inner circle has a keyhole and is surrounded by a walkway and to provide easy access to all of the raised beds.
The herb spiral was created from our composted horse manure and blue stone harvested from our forests. The spiral design provides both direct sunlight and shade for a variety of species we plant next spring.
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