The Lab: We’re Digging a Waffle Garden

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a breakfast bush that produces syrup-laden confections (though the BBC did air a good spaghetti-tree hoax in the 1950s) — but we are making waffles in our garden, nonetheless.

Inspired by traditional, sustainable farming methods in the arid Southwestern U.S. (such as the Zuni Pueblo waffle gardens of New Mexico), we are creating a grid of sunken beds to better hold water and nutrients.

The first phase has involved a lot of digging and bringing in organic matter from wherever we can find it. That has included gathering old potting soil from around the property and making trips to the local horse barn to shovel stall bedding.

(By the way: These types of  barns pay to have horse manure shipped away and so they love local gardeners stopping by. It’s a free way to get more nitrogen into your compost pile!)

We’re not sure what we’re planting yet, but stay tuned for future Lab posts to find out...