THE INTEGRAL URBAN HOUSE

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Another important time-saver is keeping the ground covered with a thick mulch of organic materials to whatever extent you can. Mulch keeps down weeds and, by maintaining a friable ground surface, makes it easy to pull out those that might get a root hold. Mulch can be of many materials, both organic and inorganic. Best are those that will gradually decompose and provide plant nutrients . . . hay and straw (although these may have much grass seed in them), dried leaves, and—most important—compost.

Sawdust makes an excellent mulch in pathways where no plant growth is desired. Because of its high carbon content, nitrogen will be taken from the top inches of the soil by the decomposer organisms where sawdust is placed, retarding weed growth . . . thus the sawdust acts as a natural herbicide. However, sawdust should not be used as a mulch on the beds close to the shallow-rooted plants unless it has been composted first, because there the decomposer bacteria will rob the plants of the nitrogen they need.

When summer irrigation is necessary, designing your system to reduce hand watering is another important time-saving strategy. Where overhead watering is preferred, this can be handled by setting up sprinklers on timers to cover the entire area—at regular intervals—for the period necessary to deliver the amount of water needed. Plants in containers can be linked up to a drip-watering system, which also can be attached to a timer and fully automated, saving both time and water.

Another time-saver for mild-winter areas is letting certain vegetables seed themselves in. The many seedlings that pop up in the spring can then be thinned out as if they were weeds. At the Berkeley house we have done this with nonhybrid carrots, parsley, coriander, upland cress, New Zealand spinach, chard, onions, fava, beans, and leeks. The seeds blow about (lettuce), or the plant topples over (chard, leeks), and eventually seedlings emerge wherever the seeds landed on the mulch. These can then be transplanted or used for food to thin them out. "Nonhybrid" is stressed here because hybrid plants produce seeds with the various characteristics of their mixed parentage, and thus may not result in the kind of plant you desire.

A caution about methods that save time: You may find that environmentally safe techniques take more time than those in vogue in the larger society. Managing wildlife by nonpesticide means is a perfect example. One of the appeals of pesticides is that they appear, at least at first, to take care of things quickly. Any method substituted will probably take more time and attention in the short run. Eventually, however, by establishing a better balance of natural controls in the garden, nonpesticide methods may reduce the overall time that needs to be spent in pest management.

At the integral urban house there are several pathways for the utilization of waste products. The organic leftovers from growing, preparing, and consuming human food may go into the waterless toilet to provide additional carbonaceous material, as well as promote superior aeration, for the process of decomposing the human fecal wastes. Or, it may be stored in sawdust or crushed dry leaves until it is combined with other materials in a batch in the compost bins. In either case the end product, compost, ultimately goes to the garden. Here food is raised, not only for human consumption but for small stock—chickens and rabbits—as well. However, where there is a choice, kitchen and garden scraps are a better source of animal feed, since this pathway conserves more energy and nitrogen. Where chickens are on the ground or raised in wire cages above the ground, organic kitchen wastes may be fed to them directly, and garden wastes (weeds, tough outer portions of garden vegetables, prunings from ornamental plants) may be fed to the rabbits. Additional food from commercial sources is imported: alfalfa for the rabbits and grains for the chickens. Insects, principally flies, may be trapped or raised on wastes and also fed to the chickens. The manure from the animals is then used in the compost, which helps to grow the plants or, in the case of rabbit manure, may go directly to the soil around the plants as a fine, well-balanced fertilizer.

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