Our terrace is a cleaner, more spacious space now, with our garden getting a new look thanks to the crates we got made. All our earlier beds (except one in the corner) have been shifted to the crates. And suddenly we realised that our garden had shrunk - maybe it would be more manageable now - we'll get to know soon.
In filling the crates, we have done a few things differently in the different crates.
In the first few that Shirish filled, he simply started filling it with some coarse matter like coconut shells, coconut fibre, sugarcane bagasse, twigs and the like followed by some dry leaves, some compost and then topped with the soil (actually composted veggie matter +soil) from our earlier beds on the floor. In some cases, there were plants growing well in the beds and so these had to be transplanted gingerly with as much of the root ball intact. A delicate task, done patiently by Shirish.
By the time we reached our 3rd, 4th crate, we realised that not lining the crates from inside with something non-permeable may result in a lot of soil and water waste - since there ware sufficient gaps between the planks in the crates. This would not serve one of our objectives of moving to the crates - which was to prevent soil loss during monsoons. Further, the crates would deteriorate faster, as they were in direct contact with the soil and the organisms in them. So now we started with a layer of old tarp or plastic sheets that we had lying around the house - these were not in pristine condition, but we figured that would help in drainage of excess water yet preventing too much soil loss. But we weren't extra careful about covering every inch of the crate and the sides - sometimes the plastic covered only the bottom, sometimes the bottom and the length sides but left out the width sides.
After 4-5 more crates were filled, we again stopped to think - we just don't seem to be able to think when we are 'doing' - they always seem to alternate :-). We observed that even the second method was resulting in lot of water and soil loss and though some parts of the crates were protected, there were others which were not. So now we decided to be more thorough and started overlapping sheets of used plastic (we still didn't go for brand-new store-bought thick tarpaulin sheets as suggested by Niranjan, as this just did not seem like an eco-friendly option) in a manner we thought was sufficient to minimise water and soil loss at the same time the overlaps will provide enough outlet for the excess water. This way the crate-beds would remain moist longer, reducing the need for watering too often.
I think we are happy with the last few crates filled and are waiting for the next chance to rectify the mistakes in the first few crates. (Since there are things growing in them, we will wait before the next planting season, just before the monsoons, to effect the changes). We have infact planted veggie seeds in almost all the crates now and are beginning to see things sprout.
In over a month of use, we have also seen the wood of the crates warp due to sun and water exposure, thus increasing the gaps all over. The moveability and the lightness is a definite advantage, but we continue to ponder about better/ cheaper and at the same time eco-friendly options (these crates cost us about Rs. 1200 each, which does seem on the higher side). All suggestions welcome....
In filling the crates, we have done a few things differently in the different crates.
In the first few that Shirish filled, he simply started filling it with some coarse matter like coconut shells, coconut fibre, sugarcane bagasse, twigs and the like followed by some dry leaves, some compost and then topped with the soil (actually composted veggie matter +soil) from our earlier beds on the floor. In some cases, there were plants growing well in the beds and so these had to be transplanted gingerly with as much of the root ball intact. A delicate task, done patiently by Shirish.
By the time we reached our 3rd, 4th crate, we realised that not lining the crates from inside with something non-permeable may result in a lot of soil and water waste - since there ware sufficient gaps between the planks in the crates. This would not serve one of our objectives of moving to the crates - which was to prevent soil loss during monsoons. Further, the crates would deteriorate faster, as they were in direct contact with the soil and the organisms in them. So now we started with a layer of old tarp or plastic sheets that we had lying around the house - these were not in pristine condition, but we figured that would help in drainage of excess water yet preventing too much soil loss. But we weren't extra careful about covering every inch of the crate and the sides - sometimes the plastic covered only the bottom, sometimes the bottom and the length sides but left out the width sides.
After 4-5 more crates were filled, we again stopped to think - we just don't seem to be able to think when we are 'doing' - they always seem to alternate :-). We observed that even the second method was resulting in lot of water and soil loss and though some parts of the crates were protected, there were others which were not. So now we decided to be more thorough and started overlapping sheets of used plastic (we still didn't go for brand-new store-bought thick tarpaulin sheets as suggested by Niranjan, as this just did not seem like an eco-friendly option) in a manner we thought was sufficient to minimise water and soil loss at the same time the overlaps will provide enough outlet for the excess water. This way the crate-beds would remain moist longer, reducing the need for watering too often.
In over a month of use, we have also seen the wood of the crates warp due to sun and water exposure, thus increasing the gaps all over. The moveability and the lightness is a definite advantage, but we continue to ponder about better/ cheaper and at the same time eco-friendly options (these crates cost us about Rs. 1200 each, which does seem on the higher side). All suggestions welcome....
