You guys are so awesome! The suggestions have slowed down here, so I just wanted to come back and say thanks again. this thread is such an inspiration for me. I look forward to taking all of your suggestions to heart over the next few months.
The big action I've taken is that there's a empty lot by our house, and I've started a guerrilla garden there. Guerrilla in the sense that I'm basically sneaking in and starting a vegetable bed.
http://foreignperspective.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/guerrilla-gardening-in-adana/ shows some pictures of me starting it off. Below is a summary of all I've done.
Remove all of the weeds and vegetation in an approx 2 meter by 2 meter square.
Break up the topsoil with a hand spade
Cover the ground with a ton of freshly chopped down weeds and vegetation
Covered it with 3-4 inches of soil
A few weeks later, I did the following:
Put down 3 or so layers of newspaper
Cover with 2 inches of dirt
Cover the dirt with about 6-8” grass clippings (the only thing I could find for “mulch”
My plan is to just let that sit over the summer and not do anything with it, I’m hoping that some good rich soil will be built up over the summer as it composts. I also made a big huge heap of weeds and grass clippings in another spot that I’m combining with kitchen waste in hopes it'll make compost.
The trick here in Turkey is that there's NO rain for four months in the summer. The bed I made (above) did get a few rain falls on it, but I'm curious how the compost pile will do with no moisture going in over the summer. We'll also be away for from mid june - mid September (the Mediterranean calls.)
This is all inspired in part by you all. I've also gotten the big permaculture book and the Gaya's Garden book to read over the summer which I'm super pumped about.
Thanks again for all of your ideas?
I’d love to hear any feedback on anything you'd do to that vacant lot before leaving for the summer that would prepare it to be a better spot for planting in the fall.
