Amy Gardener

Thank you all for the suggestions for cleaning up the shop. I did employ many of these ideas, specifically,
1. hooks behind a closet door for the mop, broom, telescoping duster and other long handled tools
2. boot mat next to the door
3. large recycled peanut cans for various hardware categories
4. trips to the thrift store

Organizing the shop has taught me that I’m not a tidy person. Lots of labels and jars kind of freak me out because I have to organize too often. I like general categories and containers that hold a broad variety of stuff in that category. I like flat lidded trays that stack so I can rummage through possibilities and see things. We all probably have a personal relationship with order and mine is loose.

Now to be really honest, I will share the habit that had the biggest impact on organizing the shop: tearing up paper then soaking it in compost tea.

As a member of a pre-digital generation, I saved about 30 bankers-boxes full of paper. Those who remember typing essays, writing letters, journaling, and receiving written documents probably know what I’m talking about. The paper world was vast and I saved most of it in my shop. Before paper can be thrown, it needs to be thanked, then torn, then soaked in something organic so no-one can ever read again.

For me, a long-term commitment to regularly tearing paper then soaking it in a half a bucket of compost tea, then dumping it into a compost pile for 4 years has made the shop usable again.

This is what really worked for me. There is no beautiful photo of this system, nothing to buy. But all those paper memories have become compost which feeds soil, plants, and animals. I feel lighter.

Are you packing the stones densely around the plant to create semi-continuous protective shield?
Densely packed could also deter gophers from emerging near the main stalk and chopping it off.

Thanks for your curiosity about this approach, Cristobal. My practice has been to densely pack the stones about 1' tall around the perimeter of the bed then randomly place the stones on the top surface of the bed. The goal is to place the top stones further away from the plants as the roots get established. I want airflow. The surrounding frame is a variation on the Zuni Waffle Garden. My waffles are much more curvy than the traditional beds.
The gophers have stayed out so far. I add new layers of stones as the edges submerge and some of the edges are as much as a foot underground.
Gathering stones for the garden is my favorite winter pastime. I hope this works for you!
P.S. Growers in my area frequently protect young grape vines with 2 curved pieces of hardware cloth (like a forward C and backward C) to form an overlapping circular barrier around the stem, above and underground: (O). As the stem grows, the C's can be pulled apart. The mesh pieces are removed when the plant gets woody. This works very well for protecting young plants from rodents.

In addition to the very helpful responses here, I'd like to add one approach to Maryam's question to Cristobal, "I'm curious, have you found a way to keep the soil moist without attracting too many pests?"
Many indigenous farmers in the desert regions of New Mexico have used stone mulch to prevent soil moisture from evaporating. For several years, I have been duplicating this method with success. In areas of full sun, I use only white stones to reflect the sun's light (growth spectrum) onto the plants. Black rocks absorb heat so I only use them in winter where this is needed. In areas of dense plantings, and/or northern exposure, the color makes less difference. The stones do not absorb water and heat like typical dark mulch shown in those enviable images from regions with consistent rainfall and naturally rich topsoil. Instead, the partially submerged, fist-sized stones function like a protective scab over the fragile moist roots and microbial life below.
It is important to keep the stones away from the stem to prevent abrasions on the growing plants that may occur from heavy winds.
In my experience, this ancient desert strategy of using light colored smooth stones as surface mulch has led to less sub-surface evaporation and fewer problem pests.

It has been a hot dry summer here in New Mexico, USA. Despite the difficult weather, I have an ongoing compost pile that works well for my needs. It is a mound shape about 4' tall now. It is constructed in layers of 1:1 carbon rich: nitrogen rich material plus a bucket of water or compost tea. After adding about 1 - 5 gal bucket of each type of material, I cover the top of the mound with an inch or so of sandy silt OR charcoal bits if available (burning brush piles is possible for only 2 months here in winter) for an odor cap. I repeat this process about 2x weekly - all seasons - using what is available for each bucket: carbon, nitrogen, liquid. Like Anne mentioned, (and your situation in UAE), earthworms would have to be imported and supported so I don't use them. The upper interior of the pile gets very hot from microbial activity with new material plus high altitude sun. I harvest the soil (mix of sand, biochar*, and compost) from the bottom of the pile.
If bioactivity stalls, I add a bucket layer of locally sourced compost before capping to jump start the pile.
To summarize:
1. How do you keep compost from drying out in very hot weather? Cap the moistened new contents with sand &/or tiny charcoal bits (which will become biologically activated over time inside the pile and help hold moisture
2. What's the best way to prevent bad smells and insects? Same as above
3. Is there anything you'd change or add to my infographic? Replace earthworm images with magnified images of soil microbes
Good luck with your hands-in-the-soil learning Maryam!

*When the compost microbes fill (activate) the tiny charcoal bits, the combination is called biochar. Biochar helps retain moisture.

Judith writes,

Was runoff/erosion a problem at all or were the depressions deep enough and the soil porous enough to take the deluge?

The short answer is, there were no problems at all: all water stayed and infiltrated. Here is some more detail:
The ground here is porous. The road where I live was originally a natural channel to the Rio Grande and is prone to flooding during monsoon season. Home builders are required to create low spots for extreme weather events. Unfortunately, these depressions fill up over the years with blowing sand, silt, clay, seeds and clutter. When the rains do come, most of the water in this neighborhood runs down the roads and never infiltrates the land. The majority of water and debris runs into the Rio Grande. The biggest polluter of the river is top soil!
Here on this property, I've kept the original water-catchment basin functional. When the rains come, most of the water originally went to that one spot leaving the rest of the yard dry under the surface. The purpose of the little basins explained above is to infiltrate water throughout the landscape as opposed to a single low spot. The extensive shallow basins enable a much wider distribution of rainwater AND (for the basins by the road) the catchment of other peoples topsoil on its way to the river.

The Southwest US region has made national news with our recent floods following a brutally hot and rainless summer. I am eager to share how this small easy project saved my property from record flooding.
During the extreme heat period of June through August, I had to find a way to channel my despair about desertification and water guzzling data centers. As a regular practice (small project) I worked through the anger by dimpling my yard with ~3' circular depressions. One dimple takes about a half hour to fill up two wheelbarrows with silty-sand then rake the bowl smooth. Over the course of the dry pitiless summer, I cut out these bowls nearly every day to retain water if it ever came again. Over time, some of the bowls linked together to form chains of bowls. In a matter of about 10 weeks, the whole acre became dimpled. The cut-dirt went around trees to form raised basin edges.
When the 215 thousand gallons of water arrived over the past 8 weeks (that's 2/3 of an acre-foot), the bowls, chains of bowls and linked tree wells took all that water.
The small easy project of "manifesting depressions" and releasing anger in a positive way when all seemed out of my control helped me get through a really difficult period.

This research seems very important to us permies. No need to justify our work with fear-based rationale such as apocalypse, food shortage, economic collapse.… Working in the garden is fun and joyful!
Right now, I’m creating a strawberry bed with 40 plants. It will take 2 years, much care and protection from hungry predators for these plants to produce. The effort is considerable.
Four pounds of cleaned, trimmed, individually frozen strawberries cost about $12 at the local warehouse store. I buy 6 bags of these organic berries per year ($72). Why would I create this garden when I can easily have the berries on my table with a visit to the store once every 2 months?
From now on, I will simply respond, JOY!

I'm new to biochar and probably just over the experience level of the kids at your school orchards. I do have a 20 gal dark green garbage can on my south wall that is full of biochar and the special liquid inoculant that I have concocted. Any floating char is weighed down with a smaller garbage can lid with a rope for pulling the lid out. I don't rinse the biochar with water; just mix the dripping stuff into the garden.
The liquid is not freezing on our mid-twenties Fahrenheit nights. This could be because I followed your suggestion to add fermentation liquid to my inoculant which probably has a little alcohol in it (rotting fruit from my fruit trees and unusable corn) thus lowering the freezing temperature slightly. But mostly, I attribute the no-freeze results to the very dark 20 gal garbage can. Even on a cold day, the dark container absorbs the heat of the New Mexico sunshine so by late in the day, the container body is actually quite warm to the touch. Like you John, I harvest the biochar at the end of the day with the heat radiating from the south wall.

Thanks to all the volunteers!
Like Douglass, I donate excess produce and I'd like to participate in some kind of community with human contact. In addition to reading the permie experiences that are shared here, I learned so much from the experiences given in the ~half hour documentary, Together We Grow: The Story of Common Unity by Happen Films.
This window into the lives of volunteers and recipients was mind-expanding and very moving to me. The film also offers an alternative model - The ReMakery - to traditional food banks.
IMO, well worth watching!

Thank you for your suggestions, John and Doug. I am integrating the ideas offered and appreciate your thoughtful replies.
Consistent with Doug's experience, I did harvest abundant corn, beans, and squash from last year's 200 sq ft garden next to this new 200 sq ft plot, despite the high ph. The soil with added horse manure compost (soil organic matter) has produced well. This new plot will have biochar and compost so I am interested in comparing the results.
The older garden did require an exceptional amount of water so I hope that John's experience with the water holding capacity of biochar comes true for this desert garden.
I'm learning more each season!