What started as a grid of straight rows and furrows is now a 60’ diameter mandala garden. Keyhole bed approach, popular in permaculture, did not work for us, so the planting spaces are shaped in concentric circles with paths throughout.

Narrow path are demise for any garden, in Arina’s opinion, who likes to be able to move through with a friend, or a load of mulch, all without getting entangled in plants. The paths are all at least 24” wide, with thick layer of sheet mulch: a combo of weed-suppressing cardboard (or newspapers) with a layer of free wood chips from the local landfill.

The garden, while still mostly dedicated for annual plant production, has a beginning of a perennial polyculture ecosystem. A few fruit trees are carefully planted in the areas where their shade is welcomed in a hot day, while a windbreak adds protection from the elements. Mixed in are perennial herbs and plants, for food, medicine, forage, mulch and to shelter younger annuals from sun, wind and exposure.

The entire land holding is registered organic by the NM Organic Commodity Commission. The registration (unlike the certification) means that there is no commercial production of agricultural commodities (we don’t sell our surplus outside of a small group of friends), it is more of a symbolic gesture of adhering to organic practices. The organic movement has been receiving a lot of criticism lately, with its blatant departure from such values as local economy, preservation of biodiversity and protection of soils, so our registration has some questionable component in it and speaks mostly to our neighbors about not using chemicals around the farm.

Why Mandala Shape?

Besides its aesthetic appeal, non-linear gardens have greater productivity due to the fact that there is simply more gardening space when using non-linear geometry. Linear gardens have their origin in division and ownership of land (easier to mark and measure), and in use of mechanical soil cultivation (easier to drive a horse or a tractor down a straight row). Since neigher one of these elements applies to a vast majority of home gardens, there is absolutely no need to make them straigth! Any shape that respects the landform, works with the flow of water and with the way humans move make more sense.

Mandala Garden as a permaculture design approach is overused, just as is the Herb Spiral. The reason for this statement? Permaculture is not about cookie-cutter solutions that fit all conditions. If you are gardening on a gentle slope, your mandala will not look like mandala anymore (if you are paying attention to the flow of water, and your orientation towards sun) - the shape of the beds will follow the contours, resulting in a geometry both more beautiful and functional. Mandala Shape worked in our conditions, though, and is very beautiful.

Practices We Use

Our area receives 9” of annual precipitation, so gardening must be done with focus on building soil and eliminating water waste.

Soil Building
To create and maintain soil fertility in an arid environment, we need to build sponge effect in the soil. Spongy soils have a lot of humus, and as a result they can absorb and keep moisture in the root zone of plants, instead of allowing it to escape (roll off, or percolate through). Humus is added to soils with compost, by mulching the surface, and by creating a massive root system in the soil and encouraging life underground.

In our garden we use goat bedding for mulching planted areas, while wood chips cover the paths. There is no open soil surface to be found in the garden. Mulch allows to conserve soil moisture, keep the root zone cool, and is a host for a number of good critters. Mulch also protects compost and other nutrients from frying in the hot intense sun of high desert.

Water Conservation
Drip irrigation system made our lives easier. We live in a high desert climate, where evaporation exceeds precipitation, therefore water is very precious and its loss needs to be curtailed. With drip, plants are watered in the darkest hours of night, there is no water loss and not too much evaporation. The garden has recessed beds, which capture and hold any natural precipitation - which is a complete opposite of raised beds used in humid areas. Such dished out gardens were once used by the native people of the Southwest - such as Zuni tribes with their waffle gardens.

Other inputs
Only open pollinated seeds are used when starting veggies, herbs or flowers, which allows us to perennialize most of our plants (i.e. let them reseed and keep going following their natural inclinations). Top reseeders are dill, calendula, amaranth, arugula, cilantro, basil and carrots. Lots of flowers are encouraged, to draw pollinators and beneficial insects, and some of the flowers are the blossoming veggies themselves (i.e. carrots, dill, fennel etc).

Birds are invited to the garden by offering perching places that double up as plant supports or shade structures. Vegetarian songbirds raise their young on nearly exclusively meat diet, meaning that doting parents will gladly keep your garden pest free.

Not much time is spent in the garden - the mulch allows to suppress most weeds, there are no pests to fight, no need to fertilize, and the activities are evolving around harvesting, occasional weeding and giving tours to admiring friends.

Plants We Grow

Besides the assortment of veggies, we grow a number of other plants that work to keep the garden pest-free, productive and full of life. These are plants that open the soil with their root system (amaranth, mullein, daikon radish, lamb’s quarters); mineral-mining plants (comfrey, stinging nettle, purslaine); pollinator forage perennials and shrubs (spirea, cardoon, carrot & dill flowers, yarrow); habitat plants for beneficials (comfrey & rhubarb). These are interplanted throughout the garden, and also have their own dedicated bed that surround the entire garden. There, they are standing guard against winds, weeds and pest.

As to actual veggies, we focus on growing things that match our micro- and macroclimate, and our resources (time, money, quality of soil, amount of water). The point in sustainability (and in having a garden for self-sufficiency) is to understand that there is no need and no way to grow and produce everything you need! Grains are ill-suited for fragile environments of arid and semi-arid regions. No need to push your garden to produce grains. Happily buy these, and focus your energy and resources on growing what really grows well. 

An important thing for drylands cultivation is to understand that perennial polyculture is by far more sustainable than annual production of food. Therefore, focus on establishing orchards & food forests. Garden only in wet years, and in dry years support your local farmers situated on richer soils with ample water.