Lasanga Garden Prep

Lasagna gardening, for those who might not know, is an easy way of preparing soil for planting.

1. Begin by spreading a layer of either cardboard or newspaper over the area in which you will be gardening. I'm doing some of each - we have a fair amount of cardboard boxes left over from our recent move, but I've read that the cardboard doesn't decompose as thoroughly as newspaper. I'll let you know what I find come spring when I go digging in the dirt! I only used brown cardboard...I figured if it was clearly bleached and/or dyed, or wax-coated, it probably wouldn't decompose the way I wanted. I also removed all plastic tape - I didn't mind if it pulled off the outer layer of the cardboard because I figured it would just decompose that much more quickly!

2. Layer compost on top of the cardboard/newspaper until it reaches about 2 feet high. You'll alternate layers of brown compost with green compost. I'm new to composting so I'm still trying to figure out exactly how compost is categorized: Obviously dead leaves are brown and rotten produce is green, but what about new grass clippings? Coffee grounds? Manure? I will learn these things, I have no doubt, but until then I feel ignorant.

3. Reputedly, the 2 feet high compost pile will shrink over the winter (even quicker, in fact). My goal is to take photos and measurements once a week and report to the blog.

4. When it is time to plant, all you have to do is start digging. You don't have to aerate, hoe, weed, or anything. I'm cautiously hopeful...you know what they say about things that are too good to be true...and this definitely sounds very dream-like!

We have a dog who will get crazy excited when she smells manure covering the lawn, so we are waiting to pile the compost until we've built a simple fence that should keep her out of the garden area. Our yard is big enough that she will still have plenty of room to run around, but she won't get to eat or roll in cow poop so we'll stay happy too.

Photos coming over the weekend. I think that will be a good standard - photos on Saturday.

I love comments so let me know how you prepare your garden for the winter - what technique do you use? What have you heard about lasagna gardening? What vegetables do you been plan on growing? How long have you been gardening?