Farm-To-Table Garden @ Wind and Sea
Scope: 1/4 Acre Mixed-Use Terrace Garden + 1/4 Acre Orchard
Budget: $25,000
Timeline: October 2017 - October 2018
Talk about a dream. This project came to being while I was managing an off-grid wedding venue in Big Sur. The property owner thought it would be great to have an on-site garden that grew delicious veggies, herbs, and flowers for the guests and chefs to use. We also we able to share the garden with local schools for pre-k and high school programs.
The 1/4 acre of land designated for this garden had already been terraced and plumed for irrigation. There was an additional 1/4 acre of gently sloping land next to the terraces, with space for an orchard and chicken coop.
During a time when the roads were still closed in Big Sur, local friends came together to get construction materials on-site to build eight container beds all measuring 8 ft long X 3 ft deep X 2ft tall. The boxes where lined with hardware cloth and then filled with a variety of ingredients to build complex consistencies and nutrients in the growing medium. Some sand, some soil, some mushroom compost, and a handful of red wigglers build the perfect soil home for a variety of plants to grow.
During this time we hosted a local pre-school teacher who offer garden exploration programs for the handful of local toddlers also living on “the island” between the landslides.
Plant starts were either purchased from nurseries in Monterey, grown from saved seeds, propagated from local plant cuttings. Some of my favorite non-store bought plants grown from seed or cuttings included pepino melon, purple basil, milkweed, borage, sugar snap peas, onions, and tree dahlia.
Next to the terraced mixed-use garden was a small orchard where a chicken coop was built. Orchard plantings included ginko, goji berry, avocado, pomegranate, pear. The chicken coop project once complete, ended up housing a happy flock of quail.