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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2008 March 29 & 30, Saturday & Sunday

Work continued on the garden house. This shed will have several different uses in the future (temporal dwelling, store room, guest house) but very important is the opportunity it offers to use and familiarize ourselves with the materials and methods we intend to apply in our future house: natural stone, straw bales, cob and wood.
We have kept the design relatively simple, partly because the maximum permitted surface for such a shed is only 20 m2. It will match nevertheless the future main building with similar angles (for roof and walls) and materials. An additional function will be the support for the solar panels. These panels are all but aesthetically pleasing and it is a real challenge to incorporate them satisfactorily in a building.

Blanca performing the 'tamp-dance' to tamp the bottom for the foundation.
Saturday 15:26

A layer of gravel for drainage. An additional trench takes the water to the lowest point in the terrain.
Saturday 17:27

The first layer of stone which will subsequently  receive lime mortar. Total stone wall height will be 50 cm.
Sunday 17:05

To stop mortar entering too much in the gravel layer, we put gravel in openings and crevices.
Sunday 17:06
 

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We made an interesting discovery when we analyzed the excavated soil (and samples from other parts of the terrain). It contained a much higher percentage of clay than I had expected. The typical tests with jars, worms, rings and bricks were all promising. Our intention is to use this earth for the plastering of the strawbales (that will serve as 'bricks') and also to erect south facing walls completely

out of this material (with the so called 'rammed earth'  technique). Earth has a very good capacity to store heat in winter and freshness in summer. The garden shed will offer nice experimental opportunities but I will also start to plaster some loose bales with it and make some bigger bricks.

A small brick made from some sampled earth. It only broke after applying some force.

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Apart from the garden house we had to take care after the plants we planted two weeks ago. It had been relatively cool lately but without any rain. The Rusty back ferns (Ceterach officinarum) on the terrain clearly showed signs of drought but the subsoil I excavated showed nevertheless some humidity.
Before leaving on Sunday we watered all the planted plants, only to see the rain coming down heavily  one hour later..

The 'drought mode' of the Rusty back fern. Compare with 12 January 2008.
Sunday 9:43

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To give an idea of the planting and the general state of the terrain these days, here a showcase of some species which can be recommended for gardens with similar conditions as ours, that is to say summer dry, calcareous soils with mild winters and hot summers.
After the failure of 4 or 5 plantings last season I have taken more care to choose relatively protected, unexposed places for most plantings: near hedges, in the shadow of some higher trees or terraces and making use of stones to help maintain soil humidity.
Refer to this map to have an idea of the position in the terrain.

We planted 5 Common barberries (Berberis vulgaris), just sufficiently away from a bramble hedge to control the brambles.
Sunday 9:32

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) with at the back a wild Cherry tree (Prunus avium).
Sunday 9:32

A real beauty that should be present in every Mediterranean garden. We planted 5 White-leaved rockrose
(Cistus albidus) in a transition zone with the wood.
Sunday 9:04
 

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After the bad result of the first Common hazel (Corylus avellana) planted last year, we choose a more protected, shadowy site near the wood.
Sunday 9:06

8 Specimen of a personal favourite: Retama sphaerocarpa, a promising species for land restoration. Endemic for the Peninsula and north-west Africa.
Sunday 8:58

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In the pond the Yellow flag (Iris pseudoacorus) is doing fine. I read somewhere that it doesn't grow well on calcareous soil which I hope I won't be able to confirm.

About 40 plants of Yellow flag in the pond.
Sunday 9:21

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The following two species represent something more of an experiment. Their light green colour seems already to indicate that these are species that require perhaps some more humidity than can be offered on this site. I am talking about Goat willow (Salix caprea) and European spindle (Euonymus europaeus). The Goat willow is not so demanding with respect to soil humidity as many of its relatives and has beautiful catkins in spring.  European spindle grows well on calcareous soil and it's known that these soils can partly compensate a lack of humidity. European spindle has nice red (poisonous) berries and leaves in autumn. Both (6 specimen) were planted in the half shade near the water deposit.

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These Common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale sl) appeared of course spontaneously and had escaped somehow my attention last year. This subspecies with its short stems is clearly adapted to a regime of  mowing.
When I further compare the present state of the vegetation with the situation in March last year, the present absence of Small Alison (Alyssum alyssoides) is striking.

I detected some plants at the point of flowering but nothing to do with the abundance of last year. Last year's frequent rains and higher temperatures will probably be the reason.

Common dandelion on the lower northern terrace, looking west.
Sunday 10:28

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2008 Apr 12
<< 2008 Mar 20