Tami's backyard permaculture oasis

The site before.

Lawn that will changed into a food woodland.

Another angle of the site before the project.

The permablitz begins!

Digger water harvesting earthworks.

This is a water harvesting trench build exactly level, called a swale.

Look at all the roots! We didn't want to hurt the tree so they were not cut. But it took ages to dig it!

The foundation of the first herb spiral and it's associated swale and pathway around it.

The area where the pergola is to be built.

The construction begins on the pergola. The concrete mix is drying with the posts held level.

The pergola under construction!

The pergola nearly complete. Only the cross bracing to be added.

The first rain tank stand under construction, and the wicking bed construction just beginning.

The support frame of the wicking bed, which will hold a heavy load of water and soil.

Wicking bed well underway.

The wicking bed frame complete. IT is 10 ft. long by 3.5 feet wide. It makes a great seat as well!

A heavy duty impermeable liner being installed into the wicking bed frame.

First herb spiral being built.

Blitz ahead full rudder!

Cheri building the herb spiral. She took on and managed the construction of both of them. Thanks Cheri, they look awesome!

The swale and pathway around the first herb spiral being filled in. We filled the bottom half with gravel and a weeping tile.

Cheri building the second and larger herb spiral.

Nearly completed rain tank stand in place, and a diversion drain to handle overflow from tank and wicking bed, leading to garden

The piping buried on a 2% grade, and subsoil being added and compacted into a pathway.

The finished second herb spiral!

Prairie hardy mainly dwarf fruit producing bushes filled up much of the growing space.

View toward the west of the nearly completed system.

Here you can see both herb spirals and the path linking them with garden beds on either side.

The finished garden freshly build and put to bed for the winter!

View of the finished project facing west.

The finished garden beds. Beds under the straw mulch will be planted to annual veggies, flowers and other herbaceous plants.

 Project Summary: This is a food woodland containing mainly dwarf prairie hardy fruit bushes and a 6-graft apple tree. The system also includes in-ground garden beds for perennial and annual vegetables/ Thee are two herb spirals as well as well-drained beds for prairie and culinary herbs. Other garden beds are positioned in semi shade ideal for some medicinal woodland plants. There is a berm n basin below an existing spruce tree designed to capture water and create the conditions for a series of blueberries to fruit. The system also includes a pergola to revitalize and add structure to an under utilized area as well as provide vertical growing space for sun-loving food producing vines including hardy kiwi and grape. Structures for rainwater capture and storage have been build including elevated rain tanks totalling in 2000 litres of water storage, and a wicking bed - a raised garden bed with its own built in 3000 litre rain-water reservoir. The existing patio on site has been removed and all bricks re-used for garden elements. The space created from the patio was used for garden beds, but some space has been kept for patio but will be planted with a walkable ground cover. 

After to full days of permablitzing, here are some shots from our latest project! Tami and Chris, the homeowners, wanted something much more than a lawn and patio, so they went ahead with us to design and permablitz their yard! 

Existing on site was a bricked patio which Tami and Chris chose to remove, which provided a whole bunch of bricks to use throughout the project. Thee were some difficult parameters to work around on this project as well. Firstly, a gas line ran between the house and the garage and it was only a foot deep, and it ran through the centre of the project site. Secondly, the roots of a70-foot cottonwood tree stretched through the entire site. The garage has pronounced flooding issues, and the house itself had a history of water in the basement as well. All of these factors combined made storing water on site very difficult in the design phase. 

However, every site also has opportunities! The flood prone southwest wall of the garage was a perfect place for a wicking bed! The area with the gas line makes for a perfect place for drylands herbs. Plus, these challenges made for some fun design for capturing and storing water that expanded my own ability as a designer.