Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi I'm Tricia, an organic gardener and I grow organically for a healthy and safe food
supply
for a clean and sustainable environment
for an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Did you ever wish that there was a no dig way to prepare a great garden bed
well there is
it's called sheet layering or lasagna gardening
your gonna like this lasagna.
Lasagna gardening is a slow compost process with no tilling
you can start your lasagna garden any time of the year but you wanna make sure
that the vegetation underneath the site is short or mow it short
one of the great things about lasagna gardening is you don't have to pull out most
kinds of weeds
if you have something really persistent like bind weed, blackberries, crab grass or
morning glory pull those out before you start
lay down four to six layers of overlapping newspaper or cardboard
this is a light blocking layer that will kill weeds and then compost them into
rich humus or soil
on a windy day you can sprinkle it with a little bit of water so that the
newspaper doesn't blow away.
The next layer is the nitrogen rich chicken manure
from my chickens
other nitrogen rich materials include blood meal, soybean meal, grass clippings,
food scraps, coffee grounds that have been already used you can even use weeds
as long as there are no seed heads
now we're gonna layer some carbon material these can include things like
pine needles, dried leaves, sawdust, straw.
This method of gardening is easy but the tradeoff is that it isn't quick.
Expect your bed to take between three to six months sometimes as long as a year
to be fully composted
plan accordingly
the bed I'm making in early spring will be perfect for fall planting
my old cornstalks
just add water to your lasagna garden as you go
and now another nitrogen layer
keep layering like this in alternate layers until your bed reaches eighteen
inches to three feet
again you don't have to do this all at once you can build your lasagna
garden
uh... as you go, as you get materials
if you have a hard time finding materials you need for your lasagna garden
go to the store lots of local coffee shops and even some local grocers will have
the nitrogen sources that you need
edible lasagna ends with cheese
we're gonna end with a carbon layer here to make sure that we keep the
moisture in and the flies out
and also water at the very end
you can build your lasagna garden in a casserole dish
just build a raised bed for more information and options about that watch
our raised bed video
you can put burlap over your lasagna garden or if you live in the area with
high rainfall or you're worried about critters
you can use this Compostex
compost cover
this can be used for any kind of compost pile
the cover is great for keeping your bed moist while shedding rain and snow melt
and to help keep your bed from getting too wet
an alternative method if you wanna plant in your lasagna garden right away
forget the compost cover, put three inches of compost right on top of the straw and
you can plant right away
to maintain your bed simply add more layers
and you can be
a garden chef. Make your lasagna garden and grow organic for life!