First we created winter pig pens using pallets that were freely available at many warehouses in town. Then we fed the pigs old vegetable waste from town throughout the winter, then covered the left overs with leaves. Many squash and tomato seeds from the food waste germinated in the spring and sprouted up through the mulch. The abundance of fertility in this location provided much plant food, and the leaves helped keep them from drying out during the summer.

We never planted, irrigated or weeded these “spontaneous gardens” they were literally planted by our pigs! In a few more weeks we’ll harvest and store as much of the abundance as we can, then send the pigs back in for the winter and they’ll finish off whatever we didn’t get! Thus completing the magical cycle of nutrients in a very hands-off, ecologically regenerative way. Woohoo!