Back to Eden is a term by Paul Gautschi who developed a garden method that uses the natural growing environment, the way God intended. After watching the documentary and sharing it far and wide with friends, we decided we had to give it a try. Here’s how our first year went with the Back to Eden garden.
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On the right track…
In 2020, we tried our hand with our first raised bed garden bed. My poor back was killing me from weeding multiple 30 foot long rows alone with just a garden hoe.
That lone bed quickly morphed into many more and the design changed.
We learned a hard lesson from that first bed which was NOT to only fill it with prebagged soil.
Instead, use the layering method.
Some call this lasagna gardening, permaculture, hugelkultur-inspired methods.
The same idea applies to the Back to Eden garden method.
For a much neater explanation, please watch the video.
Back to Eden Garden Bed Design
In June 2023, we began our design by marking off where in the yard our Back to Eden bed would go. Then began weed-eating the grass then burning it down. We have Bermuda grass which is invasive so we wanted to kill back as much of that as possible.
Next we layered cardboard boxes to suppress grass and weeds making sure to overlap the edges to prevent growth between the boxes. Wetting the cardboard helps it to stay in place when the wind is breezing. This also kickstarts the carbon breakdown that will eventually take place.
Then we added homemade compost to the cardboard before covering it all in about 6 inches of wood chip mulch. We got this mulch provided by a friend who owns a landscaping and tree service company. They chip a lot of trees and are always looking a place to offload it. I happily accept!
Pro Tip: call your local tree service or landscaping companies and ask about free wood chip delivery
An Important NOTE About Wood Chips:
Yes, wood chips are a carbon that require a tremendous amount of nitrogen to break down and will steal it from anything providing nitrogen in order to break down.
First of all, the wood chip mulch is a combination of tree trunk, bark, leaves, and pine cones which all break down at different rates. It’s not just the chunks of wood.
Secondly, the wood chip mulch will need months to break down to add carbon to the layers which will feed the soil and the microbiome below. This is why we started this bed one summer knowing full well we wouldn’t be able to do anything with it for almost a year.
Third, the wood chip mulch is a TOP DRESSING. It is NOT to be mixed with the compost or any other soil should you choose to use wood chip mulch as a soil covering. When you are ready to plant in your bed, use a trowel to move the wood chips out of the way, plant, then dress again with wood chips when the seedling is tall enough.
Checking on the Back to Eden progress
In October (so 4 months later), I was able to see soil being made from the decomposing wood chips, pine straw leaves, and bark.
As we would get rain, that would contribute to the decomposition process.
Closing in the Back to Eden bed
Paul’s Back to Eden beds do not have an edging or a closure around them. He keeps his beds in pristine condition!
Again, we have Bermuda grass which spreads rapidly underground by “runners”. We wanted a way to try to prevent the grass from sneaking in during the spring and summer rapid grass growth season.
In December we sought some free concrete blocks to close in our Back to Eden bed.
What to do in the long wait…
Let God handle it the way He designed it.
Think about trees in the forest. Each year they produce leaves then they lose their leaves. The leaves flutter down to the ground around the tree, essentially covering the roots of the tree. Here they will break down over time and add carbon back to the soil for the tree to use as nutrients to grow more leaves. And the cycle continues.
Same with dead limbs. They fall below the tree and rot away, becoming carbon to be added back to the soil.
No fertilizers ever used. No one coming to check on the tree’s water needs every day. Just a mulch covering and the Good Lord’s rain and time.
Next time you’re in the forest, go under a tree and move some leaves off the ground, dig about two or three inches into the ground. Check out the color, even the smell, of that soil there. That’s some of the best soil you’ll ever find.
While the Back to Eden bed is in its waiting period, use a metal rake to fluff up the wood chip mulch top dressing every few days. This will help the chips not become compacted and adds oxygen to the mix which helps the decomposition process.
Time to plant
In May of the next year (so almost one year since we broke ground on our BTE bed), I troweled out wood chips to transplant 32 tomato babies, a few herbs, and pepper plants.
The only fertilizing I did at all for these tomatoes was a sprinkle of repurposed eggshells in each hole for a calcium boost. Also a sprinkle of Espoma Plant-tone All Purpose Plant Food to give the seedlings a beginner’s boost.
In 2024, we had the best tomato season we’ve ever had, getting tomatoes fresh off the vine from July until November 27th. We ate a ton, preserved a ton, gave away a ton, sold some on our Farm Shelf.
Tomatoes were the sum of our 2024 garden (oh and these flowers by accident!)
Do you need to water a Back to Eden garden bed?
Paul will say no.
Wood chips do this miraculous God-given thing where they will hold in moisture to save it for when the root system below needs it. Or the chips will soak up water when too much has been given to the soil.
In summer 2024 North Carolina had a bad drought where we didn’t get a drop for many weeks. Right in the middle of the highest heat. Farmers thought their crops were doomed. Gardeners lost many of their plants.
Our wood chips not only helped provide moisture but the chips sealed off the direct blazing heat to the root system of my plants.
Later in the summer, I added shade cloth to my tomatoes over the cattle panels where the tomatoes were attached. Where our garden bed is in the yard receives 16 hours of direct sunlight every day with zero shade offering. Even sun-loving plants like tomatoes need a break sometimes.
I’ve seen the damage sun stress puts on my tomatoes and the decreased yields in harvest when tomatoes not given at least some shade each day.
Has it been worth the wait?
Has it been worth the long wait to work with our Back to Eden garden bed? I’d have to say yes.
Summer 2025 will help us decide if our first year was a fluke or if there really is something to this no fuss Back to Eden garden method.
Wrapping up Harvest 2024 and putting Back to Eden bed to rest
When my tomatoes finally gave up the ghost per a freeze just at Thanksgiving, I was able to cut down each plant at the soil level to leave the roots intact.
Then our son shoveled in more homemade compost and wood chip mulch top dressing to protect the soil from:
- wind and rain erosion
- weed seeds that have settled on top and trying to grow
- and adds more nutrients to the soil for our 2025 garden season
And now she rests for the winter.
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