Alex Vainio

Thanks for the tips! I am indeed planning my first garden at the moment. It will be relatively temporary, as I know I will be moving out of my parents' house within a few years and nobody will garden after me, but we have the space and resources so I'm giving it a go.

Contrary to your suggestion, I am planning and building in the early spring and hoping to grow during the same summer. I am in Southern Finland, the climate is between temperate and cold. I can only build in one spot, which will be at the back of the property, zone 2-3. It is well protected from wind (next to a forest to the north and a barn to the west) and even though there's a big birch tree blocking some sun in the south-east, it will hopefully receive enough sunlight. The spot was previously used to grow potatoes (in the ground, conventional style), but as my grandmother had no idea about soil life, crop rotation etc., the soil and yield became very poor. It is slightly sloped, so the back of the beds will be 40cm and the front 30cm. We get 40-75mm of rain each summer month, a total avg 200mm per summer. If I need to irrigate, there is a long hose from the barn (own well) and I can also collect rainwater from our house roof. The only animals that might visit are rodents, moles and rabbits, (excluding the obvious insects and birds etc.) but I'm hoping to live in peace with all of them without a fence.

I will contruct a raised bed from old planks found in the property to experiment with no-dig and mulching. (There will also be a hugelkultur in another location and a Ruth Stout No-Work behind the raised beds.) I created two quick SketchUp drawings to give you some idea, actual real-life photos will follow in a few weeks or so. The inverted S path shape works for the location and will make more sense irl.

Any further suggestions or questions? Did I forget something important? I'd be forever grateful for comments.

Thanks for bumping the thread Ruth, I'll tell a few words about myself as well. I've been reading lots of amazing threads here so it was time I registered.

My name is Alex (she/her), I'm 19 years old and from Finland. I am currently living with my family - parents and two younger brothers - in a peaceful semi-rural spot in a big house with fields and forests. My dad has lived his whole life in this house and his parents and probably grandparents are from this area, so I feel a strong connection to the land. My family is very conventional, and their negative energies and superficial lives are making me feel unwell, but it's the price I have to pay for now. I myself left the traditional system life in July 2018 in search of some freedom, when I left Finland to volunteer in Europe. I returned home a month ago to "unschool" myself in my own pace and to get ready for my first growing season.

My dream is to spend this lifetime in balance and peace with myself and all the rest of the nature, not draining the recources but adding to them (I'd also like to make up for all the damage I have done in my traditional childhood). To be truly sustainable, my aim is to live outside the monetary system, only using materials within a walking-distance. This means that what I or someone in my area cannot craft from local materials with simple/primitive tools, I will live without. Of course I am only starting out now, and what you are hearing here is only my current direction and motivation. There are so many open possibilities and as I learn more, I can just completely change my opinion in a matter of moments.

My interests seem to range from nature to spiritual stuff to freedom and beyond. I learn about anything that could help me in my journey, and happily skip over any information that is not relevant or interesting to me in that moment. I have some basic theoretical knowledge about permaculture and eco building etc., but I am seriously lacking real-life experience. I have never successfully started a fire without a match (although I did burn the crap out of a damp leaf with a magnifying glass), or grown a single vegetable. But that's the fun of the game called life, and I am looking forward to testing and failing with these this coming summer!

You can see my face and blog URL in my profile page. I'm very excited to meet you all, lots of love folks. <3

Hey, amazing we are getting more permaculture stuff close to Finland. I will explore everything on my own this year, but if the growing season doesn't go well then I will definitely seek some help. Do you know if you will be arranging a similar course next year?
Have an amazing month!

- Alex