A wicking bed is an excellent technique for growing things in environments where water is scarce. It’s got two main parts: the bottom half is a contained reservoir filled with gravel and water and the top half is filled with soil, mulch and plants. By periodic flooding of the deeper half of the bed, mature plant roots get a big drink. And because it’s contained, that water gets a chance to ‘wick’ upwards into the soil, hydrating the soil of the bed and the smaller roots within.
Pretty simple, really, but amazingly effective, very water efficient and ripe for endless variation.
Below is a photo essay outlining the process of creating a wicking bed using everyday tools and materials, which took 5 people about 4 leisurely hours to make. It features the efforts of our awesome
PDC students in Alice Springs earlier this year, led by Nick Ritar who also designed this particular wicking bed system..
Read More »
February 14, 2010 – 10:00 am
Drylands greywater kitchen garden at Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center, Arizona
In the course of researching for our upcoming Permaculture Design Course in Alice Springs this April, I’ve come across quite a few great new resources for food security and regeneration for desert environments.
And it would seem to me, as is usually the case, the main blockage between most modern drylands habitats becoming abundant places to inhabit is the time-worn problem of access to appropriate knowledge.
Fortunately, and somewhat mysteriously, our species has a very long history of living in seemingly inhospitable environments the world over. Traditional techniques that served previous generations with food and housing are not always possible in todays world, and so much knowledge has been lost in the last century with the arrival of industrialized (and colonial) everything. Read More »
A wicking bed is an excellent technique for growing things in environments where water is scarce. It’s got two main parts: the bottom half is a contained reservoir filled with gravel and water and the top half is filled with soil, mulch and plants. By periodic flooding of the deeper half of the bed, mature plant roots get a big drink. And because it’s contained, that water gets a chance to ‘wick’ upwards into the soil, hydrating the soil of the bed and the smaller roots within.
