StackerKen
3rd April 2010, 10:01 AM
My wife wrote this here
(Please click for her)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44)
http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1011/1011988/470_1011988.jpg
Turn Your Trash to Gold
We live in the foothills and trying to have a garden is challenging to say the least. Between the deer, rabbits, squirrels, gophers and birds it was pretty much a no win situation. The fact that our soil is made up of
mostly decomposed granite didn't help matters either.
Last spring, while surfing the internet trying to find ways to beat the odds, I stumbled upon something called Lasagna Gardening. Lasagna gardening is basically layering materials that are biodegradable such as paper products, cardboard, leaves, straw and whatever else you may have lying around, directly into the garden rather than heaping it into a compost bin and waiting for it to break down. When I told my husband my plans he had his doubts.
Gophers were our biggest challenge so we decided to take some old railroad ties and build a raised bed. We placed wire netting on the ground, then built our raised beds on top of it to keep the gophers from being able to tunnel underneath and eat all our vegetables. Then we started layering.
We started by placing thick cardboard on the bottom to help keep any weeds from growing through. We have a horse, a goat and chickens, so we didn't have to go far for our source of fertilizer. We purchased a few bags of top soil and mixed it with manure from all of the animals. We placed a thin layer of this mixture over the cardboard. On top of this we threw a layer of household paper waste products that would normally have gone in the recycling bin and hauled off. This included paper towels, paper plates, coffee grounds and filters, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, all paper products such as junk mail, pages torn out of old catalogs, magazines and telephone books, and all vegetable and fruit scraps. Over that layer we placed another layer of the manure/soil mixture. And we continued layering this way until it was full. It will settle quite a bit as everything breaks down, so fill it up to the top and water each layer before placing a new layer. We topped it all off with a layer of pure top soil.
In addition to some of the things already mentioned, you can use lawn clippings, leaves, straw, wood shavings, peat moss. I even mixed in some perlite and vermeculite that I had on hand. Don't use any weed clippings,
trailing grass clippings such as bermuda, or grasses that are going to seed. You don't want those sprouting in your garden.
Once the lasagna garden was finished, we built a fence around it to keep the deer, rabbits, and squirrels out. We watered it well, let it sit for a day or two and then planted our garden directly into it. This is where my husband had his doubts. While we were making our lasagna garden he kept saying that all the cardboard and paper I put in it would take years to break down and nothing was going to grow in it. I kept telling him to just wait and see.
Within just a few days of seeding our garden we had sprouts. Those sprouts grew into lovely plants which then gave us some very good fruits and vegetables all season long. Our lasagna garden was a success! I even canned some delicious, if I do say so myself, dill pickles, and also some pickled watermelon rinds. Don't knock the pickled watermelon rinds, they taste much better than they sound.
Once the season was over we placed a layer of straw over the top and let it sit. Now, here it is, planting time again and time to get the gardens ready. We had two small lasagna gardens that we decided we didn't need so we decided to move the soil from those to the larger beds. My husband was dreading having to try to dig through all that paper and cardboard to move the soil over. Well, guess what? There wasn't a piece of paper or cardboard to be found anywhere. No sign of there ever being any paper in it at all. It was all transformed into beautiful soil which was loaded with beneficial earthworms. And this is like gold to any gardener. Give Lasagna Gardening a try. Not only will you get a wonderful garden, but you'll be recycling and making your trash work for you.
(Please click for her)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44)
http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1011/1011988/470_1011988.jpg
Turn Your Trash to Gold
We live in the foothills and trying to have a garden is challenging to say the least. Between the deer, rabbits, squirrels, gophers and birds it was pretty much a no win situation. The fact that our soil is made up of
mostly decomposed granite didn't help matters either.
Last spring, while surfing the internet trying to find ways to beat the odds, I stumbled upon something called Lasagna Gardening. Lasagna gardening is basically layering materials that are biodegradable such as paper products, cardboard, leaves, straw and whatever else you may have lying around, directly into the garden rather than heaping it into a compost bin and waiting for it to break down. When I told my husband my plans he had his doubts.
Gophers were our biggest challenge so we decided to take some old railroad ties and build a raised bed. We placed wire netting on the ground, then built our raised beds on top of it to keep the gophers from being able to tunnel underneath and eat all our vegetables. Then we started layering.
We started by placing thick cardboard on the bottom to help keep any weeds from growing through. We have a horse, a goat and chickens, so we didn't have to go far for our source of fertilizer. We purchased a few bags of top soil and mixed it with manure from all of the animals. We placed a thin layer of this mixture over the cardboard. On top of this we threw a layer of household paper waste products that would normally have gone in the recycling bin and hauled off. This included paper towels, paper plates, coffee grounds and filters, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, all paper products such as junk mail, pages torn out of old catalogs, magazines and telephone books, and all vegetable and fruit scraps. Over that layer we placed another layer of the manure/soil mixture. And we continued layering this way until it was full. It will settle quite a bit as everything breaks down, so fill it up to the top and water each layer before placing a new layer. We topped it all off with a layer of pure top soil.
In addition to some of the things already mentioned, you can use lawn clippings, leaves, straw, wood shavings, peat moss. I even mixed in some perlite and vermeculite that I had on hand. Don't use any weed clippings,
trailing grass clippings such as bermuda, or grasses that are going to seed. You don't want those sprouting in your garden.
Once the lasagna garden was finished, we built a fence around it to keep the deer, rabbits, and squirrels out. We watered it well, let it sit for a day or two and then planted our garden directly into it. This is where my husband had his doubts. While we were making our lasagna garden he kept saying that all the cardboard and paper I put in it would take years to break down and nothing was going to grow in it. I kept telling him to just wait and see.
Within just a few days of seeding our garden we had sprouts. Those sprouts grew into lovely plants which then gave us some very good fruits and vegetables all season long. Our lasagna garden was a success! I even canned some delicious, if I do say so myself, dill pickles, and also some pickled watermelon rinds. Don't knock the pickled watermelon rinds, they taste much better than they sound.
Once the season was over we placed a layer of straw over the top and let it sit. Now, here it is, planting time again and time to get the gardens ready. We had two small lasagna gardens that we decided we didn't need so we decided to move the soil from those to the larger beds. My husband was dreading having to try to dig through all that paper and cardboard to move the soil over. Well, guess what? There wasn't a piece of paper or cardboard to be found anywhere. No sign of there ever being any paper in it at all. It was all transformed into beautiful soil which was loaded with beneficial earthworms. And this is like gold to any gardener. Give Lasagna Gardening a try. Not only will you get a wonderful garden, but you'll be recycling and making your trash work for you.