Spiral Herb Circle and Gravity Flow Wash Station

I have no parents: I make heaven and earth my parents

I have no home: I make awareness my home

I have no life or death: I make the tides of my breathing my life and death

I have no divine power: I make honesty my divine power

I have no means: I make understanding my means

I have no magic secrets: I make character my magic secret

I have no body: I make endurance my body

I have no eyes: I make the flash of lightning my eyes

I have no ears: I make sensibility my ears

I have no limbs: I make promptness my limbs

I have no strategy: I make ‘unshadowed by thought’ my strategy

I have no designs: I make ‘seizing opportunity by the forelock’ my design

I have no miracles: I make right action my miracles

I have no principles: I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles

I have no tactics: I make emptiness and fullness my tactics

I have no talents: I make ready wit my talent

I have no friends: I make my mind my friend

I have no enemy: I make carelessness my enemy

I have no armor: I make benevolence and righteousness my armor

I have no castle: I make immovable mind my castle

I have no sword: I make absence of self my sword

A warrior’s creed- anonymous samurai, 14th century

The spiral garden pictured here is actually one swale and berm curled up on itself. Some of the inspiration has come via Gaia’s Garden and similar designs at Bayer Farm. The swale has a polytubing micro sprinkler setup buried underneath the wood chips. The berm was broad forked and raked, seeded to cover crop, and dusted with compost to bury the seeds.

Water to wash produce is across a small street, so filling the square tote above with water periodically seems like a decent work-around. It always seem a huge hassle to try and adapt old sinks into wash stations. I bypassed the whole adaption process and just decided to get rid of the top plumbing. The plumbing is mostly polytubing, with single adapter of some kind to take it from pvc to hose thread. All those spigots have simple shut off valves. Future improvements could include putting in rain-water catchment system tie-in and maybe pressurizing the system with a solar powered pump. Sink drains into a swale behind the processing area.