trench+mulch, revised plans

this is one I have been working on last year as a way of trying drastically increase water infiltration and reduce evaporation for my veggie garden so I came up with this design that evolved from previous experiments. One interesting thing I noticed was when all the organic material of chopped leafs completely decomposed I couldnt see the trench, it had fill up with a soft gritty substance that had the consistency of finished compost. I am also integrating comfrey to supplement as a chopndrop for this system.

It seems like you could use that trench as a kind of compost factory to keep enriching the bed by scooping all of that nice decomposed organic matter out and putting it on top of your beds then starting over again. I like it, sort of a Emilia Hazelip (sp.?) style system.

Dave Dahlsrud wrote:It seems like you could use that trench as a kind of compost factory to keep enriching the bed by scooping all of that nice decomposed organic matter out and putting it on top of your beds then starting over again. I like it, sort of a Emilia Hazelip (sp.?) style system.

I have also thought of using that stuff as a medium for making potting soil as well, when I had dug up this years trench bed I saw all the roots from the squash was running all through the bottom of trench absorbing all the soluble matter. I should have had pics of the growing results but didnt, all I can say is it worked very well and all the vines spread like crazy.

merely widened the trench to allow more room for root growth, so heres more pics.