Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Lasagna Garden

Three years ago Sean bought some railroad ties from Menards and put down these two raised beds on the sunny side of the house. We bought ALOT of dirt to fill them in and had a pretty descent garden. Last year, however was a different story. The ground was pretty well packed and weeds had found a home there. The peppers, cucumbers and squash were a wash.

Well, this year I'm determined to do better and with some encouragement from Alaina and her beautiful vegetable garden I decided to try something new. A Lasagna garden. No, this is not growing ingredients to make lasagna. It is a way to layer the garden in order to cut back on weeds and fortify the soil. There are tons of methods for lasagna gardening online. We just went the simple route. We could have done another layer, but this is what we accomplished for this year.


Before. It looks like a desert. How could anything grow here?



First we laid down cardboard (newspaper would work as well). This suffocates any weeds and decomposes quickly. I made the kids lay down on it because it was so windy. Do you like the shield cut out there in the middle?


Next, we watered the cardboard well.


A thick layer of Organic Peat came next.



Then some manure was put down. I probably should have had more than this.


Finally a nice layer of mulch to top it off.

I let this garden be for about two weeks before planting. No weeds as of yet. I was amazed at how soft and rich the soil had become in that short time! We've planted tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, beets and watermelon so far in this bed. The other one will have spaghetti squash, yellow squash, cucumber and zucchini. I read in several places that the plants in raised beds do better when they are placed closer together.

5 comments:

Heather L. said...

That was so helpful to see all the steps. I think this will be next on our list (in another year).

Tara said...

That's a great idea! DH just places some plywood over the garden areas until the weeds die. Then he tills the bed, but the weeds keep coming. I'll have to give this a try. Another year.

Anonymous said...

I just forwarded this to Rog. We grew tomatoes a few years ago, but this year, Izzi wanted to plant a garden, so we did, but I've had serious doubts all along that anything would grow. I've never heard of this before. I want to try it!

Also, would you ever be interested in scrapbooking with me?

Talk to you soon, friend!

Sniz

Kathy in WA said...

This was fascinating. I've never heard of that type of gardening. Where did you read about it? Can't wait to follow your garden through the summer as you grow all that wonderful food.

kristal said...

not as tasty as lasagna...but certainly more functional. i love this idea. thanks for sharing!