Creating Perfect Holes
Work on our new cannabis garden has officially begun. The excavator man came with his huge Jurassic-looking machine last week and dug 72 holes in the shape of a giant Sri Yantra (Hindu sacred geometry) out in our sunny meadow. Of course, we have no idea yet how many cannabis plants we will be allowed to grow this coming season, as our Mendocino Board of Supervisors continue to ponder the question. (Come on guys – the girls won’t wait forever!) But regardless, the garden’s going in even if all the holes won’t be growing ganja.
Great news is that the soil he dug up is fantastic! I’m not the gardening expert in the family, but I knew it is beautiful pure soil when he only found three small rocks in the whole area. No wonder our gophers and ground squirrels are so happy here with no obstructions on their subterranean highways. But squirrels be damned – hardware cloth has now been laid carefully on the bottom and wrapped around the sides of each hole. Much thanks goes out to two young visitors from Michigan for that laborious chore.
The next step is to fill the holes back in, and we are grateful that Cassie, our webmistress, is passionate about permaculture and has encouraged Swami to make the leap. Hence, each hole will be layered with chunks of decaying oak and dead oak leaves and then topped with the sweetly aged soil from the old Smart Pots in the garden. A tasty brew of compost teas & worm castings should make the perfect mixture – that’s what we are praying for.
It sounds so easy the way I have explained it, but clearly it isn’t. The concepts are simple but it will take much more work to get everything ready for our beloved girls. Today, six energetic young folks pulled old oak branches and fallen trees from the woods and piled it on the trailer and then hauled it to the garden. Now there is a pile out there so big it looks like a giant cremation site and the fire is about to be lit. (Only someone who lived in India, like I did, would think of that when looking at a pile of wood… it could have been for Joan of Arc just as easily!)
Clearly this will be a longterm project – hopefully for years, as the soil grows even richer and requires less water. Cassie is also raising a large family of worms to help feed the soil – we plan to luxuriate our ladies in the dankest soil and sweetest water and compost teas and lots of love and attention. They really do respond to the personal attention. Like the old Motown song said, “Try a little tenderness…” it works everytime.
We’ll keep you updated on the progress of the new garden – and if you have any ideas to share please send us a message at nikki@swamiselect.com.
