The Lasagna-ish Garden

I did my garden in a different manor than most. I used lasagna gardening, but, not quite. Limited on supplies(gardening season was fast approaching, tilling is a pain, and leaves are all but raked and gone). I used my hoe to till the ground, only a little, not too much. From there, I put peat moss, coconut coir, top soil, potting soil, mushroom compost, and unfinished compost. Some I purchased, but most of it was things I already had. I tried to keep spending to a minimum. I use the hoe and rake to even it out as much as possible(unfinished compost just has no intention of moving much or evening out).

From there I topped it off with newspaper and cardboard, to prevent weeds. This I watered down, constantly. Then I added more peat moss, top soil, coconut coir, using up my remaining amount. Then I put cedar mulch all over the garden, as it was on sale at Home Depot.

This gave me a different, albeit good looking(thanks to the mulch) garden. I've fertilized, but I doubt it's been as necessary. I know next year it will be unnecessary, although I shall continue thanks to my compost and my vermicompost. As I pull weeds and cut vines I now let them fall onto the garden to dry out and rot. They are to provide even further compost for next year's garden.

So it was somewhere between lasagna gardening and tilling. It wasn't as high as most lasagna gardens, or as deep as most tilled gardens, but somewhere in between. I've sprayed with compost tea once, and plan to again once my vermicompost is ready.

When I take down the garden at the end of the season, I'm going to let the plants fall, probably cut them, so that they can rot and be compost for next year's garden. In-garden composting, yeah!

I've had very few weeds, although I ran out of cardboard and newspaper in some places, and other weeds need little dirt to germinate and cause problems. The cedar mulch will remain as well, although I plan to layer leaves over it and more newspaper before winter, allowing it to remain in place and prepare for the new year and new gardening season.

For now though, my corn is above waist high, and I've got at least 20 tomatoes out there, and more coming.