So let's talk no till gardening. Now I've never owned a Rototiller or been able to get my hands on one so I can't compare methods but I can tell you what I know about no till/no dig gardening. In particular I'm talking lasagna gardening also known as sheet mulching, sheet composting or sheet gardening. Seeing as I've never had access to a tiller no till gardening was a no-brainer who wants to hand turn a 20x40 foot plot? Now I love to dig, you should see the duckpond I dug by hand, but I do not want to dig that much garden up. So when I wanted to expand my veggie gardens, and I mean a serious expansion, I went with a lasagna garden, actually three, then another two and then just one more (insert a crazy smile). The term lasagna garden comes from the layers that the garden is made of. First a layer of cardboard, followed by layers of the manure, soil, mulch, straw or hay (straw is preferable because it lacks seeds), bedding from my chicken coop and whatever else I could get my hands on for free or cheap. If you had lots of grass clippings those could be added. If you had lots of leaves litter that could be added, get creative. I even add partially composted yard waste (pulled weeds), and kitchen scraps. The order of the layers isn't really that important save for the first and the last. Always start with the cardboard, it's what prevents the grass and weeds from growing up into your garden. Over time it will actually kill the grass and your garden will be connected to the soils below. Your final layer should be something that you can work seeds or seedlings into easily, my preferences are aged wood mulch and aged manure or of course soil. I cover the soil with mulch after I plant. If you add partially composted materials to these layers it's not going to smell too pretty until it's covered up with that final layer. In my experience building a number of lasagna style beds once it's covered it won't stink. I've also built lasagna style mounds on top of already established beds for heavy feeding crops like pumpkin and squash which really enjoy the nutrient rich ingredients of the mound.
1 Comment
|
Gardening info
here you will find how to info from us and around the web Archives
March 2017
Categories |