Garden details:
Location: South Central Vermont.
Dimensions (octagonal): Side length: 20 ft. Perimeter: 160 ft. Area: 1,931.4 ft^2. Why an octagon? Simplicity, efficiency, beauty, and as a sensible alternative to/rejection of row-gardening.
2016:
May Got free 3-4yds of wood chips from local tree-trimming crew.
June Planted some blackberry, raspberry and blueberry plants, mulched with wood chips.
2017:
April Five large unhealthy pine trees cut down and chipped into giant pile of wood chips.
2018:
April Began planning for garden
May - Put in fence posts (centered around berry plants, the sunniest location); moved remainder of first pile of wood chips to garden area.
05/31 Began moving second pile of wood chips to garden area.
06/08 Nearly finished moving second pile of wood chips. Entire garden area would soon be covered with up to 12 inches of wood chips.
06/21 Giant pile of wood chips long gone. Just to see what would happen, bought six tomato starts and two zucchini starts, and planted them amongst the mulch surrounding the berry plants. Simply move wood chips aside, dig 4 to 6 hole, depending on size of seedling container, add organic mycorrhizae fertilizer and composted cow manure, plant seedling in hole with amended soil (no additional fertilizer, compost or soil amendment would be added at any time).
07/18 Tomato and zucchini starts are doing well. Volunteer cantaloupe plants have begun sprouting from recently moved pile of unfinished compost. 111 dead and dying pine trees cut down and chipped into dozens of piles of wood chips (for ongoing garden support and conversion of lawn into low-maintenance greenscape i.e. wildflowers, herbs, edible shrubs, fruit trees, etc.).
(to be continued)