Rev. Lawrence shared some ideas about "lasagna gardening":
Something I just learned about recently and am trying this year is called “Lasagna Gardening.” I learned about it at a home show expo and found it interesting because the concept involves no working of the soil. (I’m a disabled vet, so I’m limited in how much physical labor I can do.) http://www.lasagnagardening.
I used flattened cardboard boxes as my “smother layer” followed with layers of compost, wood mulch, grass clippings, dry leaves, cheap dog kibble, and garden soil from last year’s garden (we moved the garden to a new area in the yard). The guy from the Garden Club who taught the class showed us photos of a garden with peas growing over 5 feet high and corn over 8 feet.
Kathleen was kind enough to share her blog address with us, where she has several gardening posts listed. Click here to check out the gardening posts!
An anonymous commenter also shared some ideas for square foot gardening:
I love the New Square Foot Gardening. You can grow a huge crop in 20% of the space of traditional gardens, and you use a special soil called Mel's Mix that is perfect for plants to grow in. There are few weeds to worry about with this method, and you can grow food in three different seasons. You can reuse the soil and frames from year to year.
There is also a technique called "wintering over" where you plant seeds in soil in 1 gallon milk jugs (with a small flap cut in a top quarter of the jug for easier planting). You set the jugs outside in the cold (even when it's snowing) and when the seed has grown to a few leaves above-ground, they can be transplanted to their designated garden spot. Because the seeds grew in adverse conditions, the plants will grow in cooler temperatures of late winter.
Square Foot Gardening also has a method for growing food in the cold months.
There is also a technique called "wintering over" where you plant seeds in soil in 1 gallon milk jugs (with a small flap cut in a top quarter of the jug for easier planting). You set the jugs outside in the cold (even when it's snowing) and when the seed has grown to a few leaves above-ground, they can be transplanted to their designated garden spot. Because the seeds grew in adverse conditions, the plants will grow in cooler temperatures of late winter.
Square Foot Gardening also has a method for growing food in the cold months.
Thanks Rev. Lawrence, Kathleen, and Anonymous for your tips. Good luck to everyone with your gardens this year! We'd love to hear about how they go!
4 comments:
I don't have any tips to share, even after trying gardening on and off for many years, I still get excited when we're actually able to eat something LOL
I bought 2 strawberry starts to see if they'd grow ok in self-watering container from Walmart - shaped like window boxes. They actually grew nicely and after a few weeks I had white baby strawberries. So exciting!
I went out everyday to watch for them to turn red, so when they were pink with a bit of red, I told hubby he'd probably get a home-grown strawberry tomorrow.
I went out the next morning, it was GONE! Reapeat same story over and over, sigh! Hubby finally saw the enemy - mocking bird (I thought squirrels).
So do any readers know a somewhat simplistic and frugal way to grow strawberries in containers that will protect against critters?
Thanks!
Hi Shreela,
Try tying an aluminum pie tin to a piece of string near the strawberries. The wind blows it around and makes noise that frightenes off the birds.
Rev. Lawrence
http://illegiblecontent.blogspot.com
I think of my gardening as going to college. Gladly, we don't have to live on what we grow, but hopefully if we ever do need to, I will have already learned what I need to know to have a succesful garden. I learn a little something every year and every year am a but more succesful.
Lasagna Gardening sounds delicious. LOL! Kidding aside, the idea itself sounds nice. I might add it on my to-do list once I get myself a new house.
Post a Comment