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Sat, Dec 18, 10 at 14:17
| I recently read an article in Organic Gardening about layered mulching -- using a succession of newspaper, bone and blood meal, hay, compost and straw -- as a means of amending poor soil. (Which we have -- acid, sandy clay in what I think used to be wooded swamp.)
I'm attracted to the idea...but it seems like quite a project for a 24' by 24' garden, even one broken up into plots. Has anyone had luck with a modified version of this type of soil amendment? I think the model discussed in the magazine involved eight or nine layers...again, a lot of work to me. Or is this more gimmick than tested/true gardening method? Thanks for responding. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardengal48 (My Page) on Sat, Dec 18, 10 at 16:59
| It sounds very similar to lasagne gardening or what is essentially sheet composting, layering various types of organic material to decompose in place. It is not a gimmick at all but rather a pretty efficient way of creating a fertile planting bed out of formerly poor soil. There are many on this forum who use this method almost exclusively and with good results. As to how much work it might be, I guess it depends on one's alternatives. Building raised beds and filling them with imported soil, compost and whatever other OM you choose is another option, as is simply working to improve soil fertility and tilth by incorporating OM through more conventional methods, but all involve some degree of time and effort and labor. Improving soils is not an easy, slam-dunk or immediate process - anyway you go about it will require some effort on your part. The rewards are in the results. |
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| Yes it is "lasagna gardening, a type of sheet composting". I have done the sheet composting & cut it under,heap composting with turning & watering. Trench composting, even pile it up & forget it composting ( no that's not a smart*** remark). They all work, some faster then others. Make it light on your self, do what you can. I now have 1600 feet of organic soil, good thing, cause I am getting old & will not be able to work in the sun all day. As for Organic Gardening, I am 50 yr. old & they were doing this before I was born. |
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| Sorry, I should have said: 1600 square feet of organic garden soil. 3 Beds in 4 or 5 feet wide & 40 feet long. The rest is sheet compost, with leaves,a few pounds of manure,and lots of coffee grounds & coffee chaff. I turned it with a 2-row tractor some years back, but use a hand tiller & a shovel now. Oh my 16 year old son, who helps his old man on week ends. |
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| Lasagna Gardening evolved from layering mulch material, sometimnes called sheet mulching which some of us have been doing for many years. You would add Bone Meal or Blood Meal only if a good, reliable soil test indicated the need to, just as you would add any other fertilizer only after a soil test showed a need. Large, 24 x 24, gardens evolved from the need to work up large tracts of land. In the early days, when the males were out in the fields all day and the women tended the vegetable gardens they were most often several 4 x 4 or similar plots to plant in and not one humoungus tilled bed. It was not until the men started tending the kitchem gardens that they became much larger. Several 4 x 4, 4 x 6, 4 x 8, etc, planting beds are easier to maintian and tend then a 24 x 24 garden and you can get more, and better, yields from that type of garden. |
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| If you think composting is hard work wait until you put in the garden lol. Good luck. |
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| Gardens were small when we grew our on grain,meat & lived on the wild. Their has been a back to natural/ Organic garden movement for over 60 years. Many home owner with an acre or more, grow year a round & can everything. Some have 12'X6' greenhouse for winter growth. These people use less meat, mostly small animals(chickens & rabbits),only buying meat from large animals when needed. |
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| It's pretty much how I manage my gardens and yard. I don't call it Lasagne Gardening, which uses soil and peat moss layers. I call it deep mulching or the Ruth Stout method. I pick gardens or areas of yard and I cover them with newspaper, seaweed, hay, and leaves. I plant in the soil underneath in some of those areas. Some are unplanted, yard areas and I just dump deep mulches there to keep them fertile and semi-weedfree. I hope to eventually control what grows in my unmown yard. I just mulched a horrible weedy section of my yard with cat feces, kitty litter, newspaper, seaweed and hay. It was all blackberry thorns, and now it's a nice flat mulched area. I'll keep it deeply mulched until the blackberries succomb. I don't know which I love more---composting or mulching. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener (My Page) on Mon, Dec 20, 10 at 21:13
| If things seem to be too much work for you, then you either don't want a garden or you should hire someone to help you get going. I don't want to be mean, but gardening/composting/etc does take some work! I think that's half the fun of it! I'm in my mid 50's with a bad back and still get most of it done myself. The exception is starting a new raised bed. Moving in the railroad ties and getting the wire connected to deter the gophers is the main deal. I have several compost bins, but am thinking of starting the new beds I want to start with a lasagne garden method. It seems like much LESS work than hauling W Barrow after W Barrow from the truck to the yard! Good luck! NT |
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| AMEN, no I do not mean to be hateful myself. But if I am lucky & do not die in my sleep, then in my garden will be just fine with me. May that be many bell pepper plants from now. I have a good back for now, and a good son, who would rather be on the phone, then helping his old man.But he helps with out a fuss, I must have been a saint in a past live or lives to have two great children.About the gophers & that new bed. You could get a trencher to cut 24" deep & bury a 36" fence in the trench to stop the mole & gophers. Then nail the top of the fence to the ties. You may have to put out some coin for the trencher & fence burying but it will last 10 maybe 20 years. |
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| After several months of adding materials and calling it lasagna gardening we were adding coffee grounds one day last spring when our 5 year old grandniece said, "Aunt Corrine, I'm not eating that." I don't think she quite understood the lasagna part. You're right that it is quite a bit of work to do the hauling & spreading. Gathering materials & layering as you go is a bit less work. Works both ways as layers and as mixing it all up to compost in place before planting. This time of year the process is slow, but you have time to gather & layer before spring. There are many ideas on this forum for the types of materials and how to find them. It's not a gimmick, but it's a bit messy. Burlap bags as a final layer keeps it moist, dark, and inviting for worms as well as presents a more finished look. Just make sure you explain to your little garden helpers what you're really doing. |
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- Posted by nancyjeanmc (My Page) on Tue, Dec 21, 10 at 17:01
| LOL. Love your grandniece's perception. I'm just a tosser. And since it's not visible to the outside world, I don't even cover it. Just dig right into it come spring, and then I cover what's exposed, just to block the weeds. I love lasagna gardening. So gratifying.
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| LOL, I love it too.But she may eat it in some form in months to come.How long does it take for the burlap to rot to nothing & not be in your way. I use burlap bags as quick mulch. But they take 4 to6 season to rot away. How do you deal with the bags. |
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- Posted by nancyjeanmc (My Page) on Tue, Dec 21, 10 at 21:04
| Where do you get burlap bags? What comes in them? I know I can buy burlap by the yard...but it's a challenge for me to spend as little as possible! |
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