TURTLE FEATHER CENTRE for SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Ari Dynamic Gardening Illustration

Aridynamic Gardening!  A quick explanation might be in order.  "Practical horticulture for arid land regions practised for food production with an eye for site specific sustainable methodologies which will enhance the health of the plantings, the land, and the grower/consumer."

Simply put, Aridynamic Gardening is a holistic and simplistic approach to personal gardening which places the health of the land and the plants and the 'overseer' on equal footing.  What is good for one is good for all!

Aridynamic gardening technique utilises what I will refer to as an "aboriginal" approach to growing.  This is not meant to imply simplicity nor innocence, niether which could be no further from the truth. In fact,  early societies in Meso-America developed regional agriculture based upon terrain, available water and rain, regional plant species, and belief in a connectedness of the earth and living things as a single organism as it were.  Early peoples believed in what we call "spirits", life entities, who inhabited all living things, and as products of a "creator" or a larger entity or greater conscience all living things stood on equal ground..."peoples" as it were could be plant, animal, or human.  These practises may be viewed as "voodoo science or plant witching" by some and may be discounted and written off as such.  However, there is much more to the concept of Aridynamic gardening than syntax. 

It may be possible that some readers may deal with these concepts in a modern and skeptical manner.  This need not be the case, as the general theory is all rather straight forward.

Let us begin by taking a look at this subject in a more "scientific" manner using, for an example, a marine colony commonly reffered to as a "coral reef".  You may ask, "what does a coral reef have to do with horticulture?" In many ways, the idealogy of aridynamic horticulture is very much like a coral colony.  As we know, a coral reef as a biosphere is merely the by product of millions of small simple marine creatures who produce a solid near rock like "landscape" in which they live.  It is a complex biological community supporting other creatures ascending the evolutionary scale up to an including marine mammals, and if sea harvesting would be included, man and woman themselves.  If any segment of this "chain" of organisms is disrupted, the health of the larger entity itself is compromised.  Of course, a healthy "organism" or "community" would adapt itself in a positive manner to slight deviations in the normalcy of it's being, however, an unanticipated event in form of perhaps an irrevisble polution episode at a basic level could compromise the entire existence of the colony. 

A garden should follow the same order.  In other words, a biosphere in which all input and output are localised and utilised.  The localised system will adapt itself to timely changes in it's environs and subsequently emerge from a challenge, one would hope, with a renewed vigor! 

Rudolph Steiner introduced modern BioDynamic Farming methodologies in 1924, focusing on localised consumption and production as a "closed loop" system - using "at hand" materials for composting, pathogen control, water administration, et all.  His idea was the anti-monoculture agriculture practised throughout most of the "developed" world today, including "hobby" gardens and some so-called "organic" operations as well.  Additionally, lunar and solar cycles are taken into account for planting and harvesting, as well as an understanding that plants are living "entities" as mentioned previously.   

AriDynamics takes this general theory and expands upon it...adapting it to habitats with questionable weather patterns and a general lack of precipitation, lackluster soil composition, and hostile environments.  What may be practicle in temperate regions, such as raising chickens for manure and the composting of green wastes, is for the most part, impracticle if not impossible in arid regions.  For these reasons, the following "adjustments" may be recommended.

For instance, let us examine soils.  Arid land soils are a mixed bag of materials, very low on organic content and generally high in clay, not to mention calcium carbonate.  The latter forms what is known as caliche, which to flora is an almost impermiable barrier to deep root developement. Flora such as creosote bush and the cholla family are general indicators of caliche or "hard pan".  The depth of the "hard pan" is not constant.  In alluvial soils it may be metres below the surface of the terrain, in the flats it may be any where from the surface to two or more metres.  When rain occurs in arid lands, the water absorbed by the soil travels downward until contacting this hard pan layer, then simply travels along it until a breach is reached, such as a tree or well casing or perhaps an eroded cut.  Needless to say, if one where to practise orchard farming, the excavation in which the stock was planted would have to penetrate the hard pan layer.  Additionally, a large diametre excavation would be neccessary to allow the lateral root system some room as well.  With that said and done, what about the poor quality of soil mined from the site?

With heavy clay content, the soil will need to be "lightened" as it were, with ammendments to allow water passage, root penetration, and plant growth minerals.  In a conventional garden scenario, this is accomplished by introducing material such as animal manure, green waste, and other organic material.  In arid lands, these products are generally in short supply.  The enterprising participant of Aridynamic gardening would use material such as creosote and native plant and grasses debris, harvester ant mound debris (from abandoned mounds of course - never from that which is occupied by a colony, as a form of respect for a creature other than one's self) which makes an excellent base with its mix of organic material and gravel, horse manure when obtained locally and properly pre-composted especially if used on young plantings, and the "last season" plant debris from annuals, known as "stubble gardening".  In other words, there should be absolutely no waste from the Aridynamic site.  Even the minimal items imported should find a secondary recyle usage within the site.  Of course, even with the forementioned practise, the soils will still require admendments which may take the form of "teas" produced with some of the materials since named.  I will elaborate on this subject a while later.

When soils are being prepared for plantings, they should be done, whenever possible, without the use of mechanisation.  Machinery compacts the soil, pollutes the immediate environment, requires maintenance and fuel and additional expense, not to mention  spoils any "holistic" atmosphere.  The latter should not be discounted, as the "spirit" or "vibe" of a garden site has an effect on the gardener at the least in the form of noise and scent pollution. As for the plants themselves, even if it is no more than electrical readings which are not fully understood or agreed upon by modern sciences, the effects exists none the less.  A garden is, or at least should be, a "labour of love".  A plant, just like any other living thing, will respond to both positive and negative environmental stimuli.  It may seem over simplistic or even metaphysical, however, an environment planned and executed with genuine concern, or perhaps if you would like "love", is a healthy environment for the plantings and the planter as well.  If we treat living things with respect for their being, they in turn will respond appropriately with vigor and long life.  The gardener themself will also benefit from the positive occupation of the experience as well.  Getting one's hands dirty, kneeling on the ground, and operating at a slow pace connects one's self with the land under cultivation.  One will notice slight changes in the plants as they mature.  The appearance of a pathogen will become apparent before it blossoms into an epidemic of sorts.  In a slower world, the observer is not overwhelmed with information and or stimuli, hence adjustments may be made with little fuss in accordance to it's importance.

The selection of crop should coincide with the conditions available such as water restrictions, amount of direct sunlight, wind direction and velocity, frost or cold zones, to name but a few.  A good question to ask one's self may be "what did aboriginal peoples cultivate in this immediate environment?" or "what did these people harvest from the wild?".  Many arid land plants have medicinal and nutritional value equal and surpassing introduced "domesticated crop" species.  For example, the domesticated nightshade, the tomato plant, is commonly cultivated in arid lands and most will assume, rather incorrectly, is an arid land crop.  This is not to be the case. A tomato will flourish in an arid environment only when lavished with unsustainable amounts of water.  Since in Aridynamics, we view water as a precious resource and not a mere commoditiy, it would make sense to make crop selections based upon it's use.  Perhaps a pepper or naturalised tomatillo would be a more practical selection, both as an example for water use and climate.  Of course, maze and corn use water as does amaranths, however, their water requirements are more in line with Aridynamics as they are in fact, naturalised plants of an arid environment.  With this in mind, a good crop selection for a small Aridynamic garden would perhaps be amaranth (as both green and grain), tomatillo (garnish or vegetable),blue corn (staple and grain), squash (vegetable), chia (grain, garnish,herb), sage (herb), lavendar (herb), favo beans (staple), ajo and garlic and Mexican onions (garnish,herb,vegetable),"tuna" cactus (the pads after removing glocids and the fruit are edible), not to mention a variety of native plants such as the mesquites and acacias along with introduced orchard stock such as pomogranites. Although it is not a desert native, all parts of the common dandelion are edible, as are their desert cousins, and chicory makes a coffee substitute. The forementioned are but a short list of low water requirement food plantings which thrive in arid and hot temperature zones with relatively poor soils.  They are attractive plantings as well and most can be tended year round, except at higher elevations.

The garden site should be selected for more than moere convenience.  It should be well drained and have good southern exposure, and if possible, some shelter from the north and west winds.  The site should be made secure against marauding creatures using the most natural processes as possible.  These would include, however are not limited just to, use of benefitial preditors when applicable, and a good sturdy fence to keep the larger animals from entering the garden.  A good arid fence would be of Athel posts sunk into the ground using gravel and earth as fill, with perhaps smaller branches as "stakes" or perhaps palm branches if available.  Ocotillo and cacti both make excellent living fences if resources are adequate to support them.  A rather clever "trick" is to plant some type of "green" about the parameter of the fencing which will feed and distract the marauders from the garden proper, thus acting as a form of bait.  This may be mulched and used as a form of green waste for composting at a later time.

Training the plantings to survive and thrive on limited water is possible.  Naturalised plants, once established, use surprisingly little amounts of water. With practise, one may regulate watering as to allow the plant to grow rather slowly, thereby allowing selective harvest of it's parts.  Amaranths and dandelions will acquire a "bitter" taste from the greens as the leafy parts of the plant grow larger, so, with astute watering, one may effectively  regulate the size of the plant to one's requirements, and to a point, schedule as well.  Reduced watering additionally controls "bolting", which causes the plant to reduce greens production in favour of setting flower and then seed.  In the case of an annual, this generally means for the expiration of the plant as well.  Remember, even at this point, it is simply left in the ground for next crop's fodder.

Water may be delivered by conventional means such as bublers, soaker hoses and drip irrigation.  Plants also appreciate an occasional overhead irrigation, and some arid land species have adapted their physiologies to this type of watering so it is good practise to utilise in those instances.  Flooding a "sunken" bed, prepared lower than grade with a small berm placed around it for wind protection and flooding as well, is the best choice for arid gardening.  This practise reduces rainwater runoff waste and minimalises dehydration due to wind movement.  Although not the most popular view, overhead watering with a can or low pressure sprayer benefits the plants in several ways.  The application of water help cleans the plant of dust and clays and pathogens.  Although some water is lost through evaporation, this method helps cool the plant as well and signals moisture which allows the plant to process the water nearest the roots.  Watering performed in the morning reduces evaporation loss and hydrates the plants so they may face a day of higher temperature and dryness.  Watering at night for the most part, replaces water lost during the day to plant hydration and evaporation. As one observes the plants throughout their daily cycles, this becomes most apparent. Additionally, this method allows the gardener to observe the plant rather close and also takes up a bit of their time as well, which has a therapeutic effect as well which circles back around to the factor of contentment and "love" which I discussed previously.

Remember, there is a plant grower harvester cycle which requires constructive input on all levels by every member.  This is the ideology and practise of what I call Aridynamic agriculture.

Please be patient, site under construction.