A Peep Through The Keyhole…
By Andrea Peck
This year my garden is overgrown and wild. Today I saw new dandelions. They must have grown to eye-level during the night. I suppose that is their job. I did get in one good weeding session this weekend. My son and I cleared a pathway. Slowly we dug, snatching out recalcitrant grass and big-leafed, taprooted freeloaders, our gloved hands searching for the broken concrete edges that mark the beginning of a bed. I resist removing any greenery; the enhancement of green growth is so lovely, weeds or not. Now they have outgrown me. My hens, which have mutated from a group of 8 to 12 in the last half-year have been given free reign. They help by tugging grass tops and digging little hollows in the soil. Then they lie down and fluff themselves in the loosened dirt. Okay, they don't help that much.
Now that I have made a start, my motivation has skyrocketed and I've begun restructuring the garden in my mind. It is something I do that irritates my husband and makes little sense to stable people who prefer the status quo. Nevertheless, my imagination moves garden beds like little Lego buildings, as I mentally recreate my garden Nirvana. Between florid daydreams and reality, I happened upon the topic of keyhole gardens. I have seen the term bandied about here and there, but I had no idea what this type of gardening entailed. I soon found out that keyhole gardens are circular raised beds (about 6 feet in diameter). They have a break in one section that allows access to the center (hence, the name “keyhole”). Inside the center is the real genius: a compost bin. The compost bin is 1' – 1 ½' in diameter.
The structure of the keyhole garden is different from raised beds in that the soil is sloped slightly so that the center is highest. This allows moisture and nutrients from the compost bin to feed down into the soil. Greywater can be used to moisten the compost bin and indirectly irrigate the plants. The outside edges of the keyhole garden are made of anything that is solid enough to hold in the soil. Cinder blocks, broken concrete, wood, brick, even sandbags and straw are options. The hard, outside rim is higher than the soil in order to prevent runoff. Before planting, the interior of the keyhole garden is layered with cardboard, newspaper and compostable materials. Where soil is compacted, rocks may be used at the lowest level to create additional drainage. The top layer (approximately 6 inches) is filled with appropriate growing medium.
Initially, plants must be watered. But, as they become established, watering is done at the compost bin. This encourages roots to grow towards the compost bin and benefit from the nutrients in the compost.
The beauty of the system is in its functionality. Compost is immediately useable, greywater can be incorporated, the height is easily accessible and the quality of the soil allows you to grow more plants in a smaller space which creates a mulch-like effect that inhibits the growth of annoying weeds.
One word describes it: amazing.
If you'd like more information, plus a visual, check out the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlDKr0IySEw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqaKG9eey1E