Lasagna Gardening--yummy

 Has anyone heard of this book or this method?? I wonder what your thoughts
are?  As I get older, contemplating the massive amount of work that gardens
require made me a little sad that I might not be able to always do
everything I wanted to do, so I bought this book.  It's a lazy man's garden
as far as ammending the soil, but the writer has used the method many times
with great success.  I've only tried  one application of this method for an
Asparagus patch, but it worked well enough, the soil under the Asparagus is
awesome and they grow well.  Unfortunately I will have to move them from
their East TX patch back here to Garland since my Dad can not keep up with
them.  He did not go out and pick the spears every day this Spring and they
are all growing into new plants.  Geez, what's so hard about going out every
morning and picking a few spears.....Sigh

Rita
Garland, TX 7b-8a

 

gardens

I have seenthe book is all over the internet and mentioned in home &
gardening magazines. The method is sound, I used a derivitive on my gardens.
The recipe does not have to be followed with religious observation, most
combinations of organic rubbish will do. I built one garden with a
combination of grass clippings, spoilt hay with a topping of compost and
poop and a layer of earth over the top. You can either store the material up
until you make the garden and plant straight in or slowly add it in to the
garden as it comes to hand, let it settle and then plant, like I did. Grew
some nice potatos on it the first time around.

rob

 

Try doing a google search on "no dig" gardening, "sheet composting", "Ruth
Stout" or "Esther Dean".

The term "Lasagna gardening" is just a new term for decades old ideas and
seems to be seems to be unique to the US as far as I can make out.  The idea
of no dig gardening/no till/sheet composting has been around for at least
3-4 decades that I can make out and is well known in such systems as organic
gardening and permaculture gardening.

 $VU4.30334@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:


You'll find out as you get older...

 

   No, it's not lazy :-). I've used a variant for many years, (my emtire
current garden was made that way) and  can assure you that the energey
saved by not digging, is still required to fetch and spread the vast
amount of material required to first make the beds and then keep topping
them up.

 I use whatever free materials are closest to hand for that. Starting
with free cardcartons colected from various local businesses.  In my
last garden, I used dead bracken, and green nettles and willow herb.
Just across the road there were several  rough acres of all three,
shoulder high, which I could  cut, harvest and carry by hand. In my
current garden, what I have to hand, is vast amount of seaweed dumped on
the shore during storms. which has to be gathered, fetched and spread.
Since lasy November, We've gathered fetched and spread more than 200
plastic sacks of seaweed (the sort of sack that holds 56lb of compost) .
Plus, several tons every year, of lawn grass clippings.I am using my own
and my neighbours , plus large amounts delivered by two local lawn
contractors. They dump trailer loads of it in my driveway and I still
have to move it to where it's needed and spread it. In addition to that,
I make many tons of compost every year, which also has to be dug out and
barrowed to the beds.

   It's a great way to garden, building fantastic soil and fertility,
and reduces weeding, but don't ever imagine it's "lazy". You'll still
need a strong back, stamina, and lots of energy.

   Janet