Hello friends! Perhaps I haven't had enough coffee this week. Keyhole gardens have stumped me. To build, you place a wire mesh basket in the center of a circle and fill with your greens (kitchen scraps). Around the basket you build a 3' radius enclosure that is also 3' high. The width is the distance that the nutrients can travel, the height is perfect for not bending over. You fill the enclosure with all of your browns and make them wet. Cardboard, straw, phone books, everything soaked in water. You cover with topsoil, plant your veggies and mulch. You water weekly by pouring your water into the center basket. It seems to me like it's just container gardening with an elegant system to hide your compost bin? From my attempts at composting, I always thought it was the "lasagna" layering of browns and greens that promoted composting, allowing air so that the kitchen food didn't compress, rot and attract bugs. What if your kitchen scraps pile up in the center - do you climb up there and turn them? Wouldn't the top of the planting area sink down as the browns compact, creating a constant need to fill with more dirt? Has anyone done a keyhole and shown benefits beyond an attractive raised bed? Thank you.
