kind of.
my roommate would be so proud of me. for the last three years, she has planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. she’s tilled it. weeded it. harvested in. kept it under control.
but last month, she moved out.
and with her gone, the backyard was starting to look, well, sad.
i couldn’t stand it to look that way. mourning her absence.
so i decided to do something about it. and plant a garden myself.
plus…come july, i’ll be missing all those tomatoes she’d grow and pass my way.
.
i didn’t want to have someone come out and till the ground. and i certainly didn’t want to get down on my hands and knees and pull out the grass and weeds for hours on end. i mean, who would?
so i decided to take my dad’s recommendation. and do some lasagna gardening.
what’s lasagna gardening, you may ask? pass the tomato sauce and the noodles, cause i am gonna tell you!
according to wikipedia. which we all know is the MOST reliable source on the internets.
lasagna gardening is: Sheet mulching is a gardening and landscaping method that allows planting into or on top of the ground and is a form of no-dig gardening: the process of covering any base or unwanted plant material including weeds, old lawn or open ground with layers of material known as the “barrier”.
.
sounds good. right?
and now you ask how to make one. i am going to tell you. so let us begin.
look around your yard for the perfect spot for your garden. i chose mine to be atop this yard’s previous gardens. though this year’s will only be approximately 1/3 the size of last years. i must spend my money on food for today instead of investing it in food for tomorrow. deep. i know.
clear away any sticks or tall, thick weeds. and cover your area with newspaper. or cardboard. quickly, so the wind doesn’t get ahold of it, cover the newspaper with your compost. i used dried leaves and debris that i’d cleared out of my flower beds.
if you don’t have leaves. peat moss works too. or so they say.
once you have your papers completely covered, start layering down manure, potting soils, and top soils. tip: look for the broken bags at your local garden store. usually those are marked half off. and they only get your car a little dirty!
smooth out your dirts.
and now it’s time to plant! yippee!
dig a hole through your layers of lasagna until you have cracked through the papers. you don’t have to dig down much past the papers, just through enough to let your roots take hold.
pop in your plant. and you’re good to go.
note: if you are using cardboard instead of newspaper, you might want to let it soak for a while before trying to plant. this will allow you to be able to tear into wet cardboard more easily.
once all your plants are in. ask yourself: to mulch or not to mulch. that is the question.
i’m a pro mulcher. and proud of it.
now class, let’s recap the benefits of a lasagna garden over the traditional tilled. shall we?
1. it’s easier. no digging is always good.
2. theoretically, there should be no weeding. the newspaper or cardboard acts as a barrier to the weeds. i’m down with that.
3. your soil becomes richer and softer. the earth worms are attracted to the compost you’ve layer above the newspaper and make their way to the top. this breaks up your soil and creates a more fertile growing environment. so says the experts.
4. moister stays closer to your plants longer. the compost and the mulch hold in the moister, allowing your plants to withstand the smoldering oklahoma {or where ever you are} summers.
.
so mama mia! lets get those plants to growing!
and when they do. i’ll cook us up some real lasagna.
