3. The ‘Back To Eden’/Treadit Method
The Project currently consists of 2 beds of around a 6m2 area.
| Calculations | Details |
|---|---|
| Project Start | March 2019 |
| Ongoing? | Yes |
| Original Setup Cost of Project | Around 50p for screws the other materials were recycled the woodchip was free and the soil was local. |
| Labour time in project’s initial setup | Around 11 hours including construction. |
| Annual labour time in soil prep | 20m watering and weeding. |
| Labour time in maintenance between planting and harvest per m2 | m – Weeding, watering and ‘other’ |
| Annual total labour time per m2 | m |
| Annual Prep Cost (no labour costs) | £20 seeds |
| Total Time Per Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2 hours | Coldframe planting 4 trays and watering (2m x 6weeks) |
| 1:30 hours | Planting |
| 10m | Any watering in the garden beds |
| 20m | Weeding |
| 5m | Other |
| 1 hour | Harvesting as needed |
| 20m | Adding any additional woodchip. |
| Total of 5:50 hours per year |
Project Journey
These Gardens were built in a section of bramble infested field using the ‘back to eden’ gardening method with some of my additional treadit methods particularly using the paths and raised beds. I cleared the ground of brambles, nettles and grass before making the beds out of old railway sleepers that had made up the floor of my family barn. The soil I took for these gardens were from two main places, under an old bomfire pile and from under a chicken pen which were both very nutrient rich sources and both relatively free of weed seed. Unlike the garden I started previously I found the only source of weeds I was getting was from bits of chopped up dandelion root that were still contained in the bed filling soil which were very easy to remove. So with no weed problem I could really see the development of the crop. The crop was late going in however grew at a constant rate. The crop was not boosted beyond normal however it was not limited by normal garden issues so the crops were quite abundant. With the gardens protective qualities I have no memory of any plant failing. In a year that was typically poor for carrots in my area my carrots were protected and grew well. The beds were extremely well protected, had constant moisture without the need for watering, they took a little effort to setup but far less work to maintain. I knew the produce was healthy but if I had employed the forest debris and compost into the setup of these gardens then the time it would take to accumulate minerals and nutrients in the soil would have been much less. I expect the produce from this garden in future harvests to be extra-ordinary due to it’s accumulative capabilities.
| Garden Type | Soil Prep | Fertilising | Planting | Watering | Weeding | Pest Control | Harvesting |
| Cultivation with machinery | |||||||
| Hand-Dug Garden | |||||||
| ‘Back to Eden’/Treadit | |||||||
| ‘Treadit’ Garden | |||||||
extra info, with 500 treadit beds the hours would calculate to 1458 so far but i believe this to be far smaller in reality.
On average with cabbage as an example to plant a square meter would take 15m
on average with planting transplanted broad beans a square meter would take 25m
Treadit Gardens 