As further examples of creative trellising and with a desire to create natural spaces used for food production, we are building curved bamboo structure to allow plants to grow up. The garden is on a slight incline that previously had a fair bit of water runoff from higher parts of the farm. With the circular beds, the water now enters on the western side of the gardens and then is effectively trapped to soak in rather than making its way swiftly back to the river.
Over time we have grown a selection of vegetables in this garden and all have done well. By increasing the organic matter in the soil we are also seeing increased microbial life which is helping to increase the fertility in a younger garden ecosystem.
The first construction across the garden lost its strength and resilience due to no treatment on the bamboo. With the rebuild we are planning however the construction material will be treated to provide better weather protection and longer life.
The circular beds were designed in this way to provide ongoing examples of multi purposeplantings and the productivity increases each year. From an efficiency perspective, the beds are easy to work and irrigate however it is less efficient than straight beds.
There are certainly benefits from a pest management perspective due to companion planting and microclimates resulting from intensive plantings. We also noticed less pest damage due to the fact that insects don’t really move in circles but can easily move down a straight line much faster. The health and vigour of the plants and resulting crops demonstrating good fertility was another positive
sign.