Last year's garden had two main missions: build the soil and test possible crops. This year, by necessity, is somewhat more complicated. Our area--and the entire state of Oklahoma--is in the midst of a long-term drought.
My mother once told me that you can't grow good watermelons by watering. You have to have rain. I didn't understand that for a long time, but I think I do now. If plants only receive water applied by artificial means, they tend to be shallow rooted. Shallow roots lead to unhealthy plants and incomplete nutrition. Besides, surface water is quickly depleted by evaporation, leaving plants thirsty for much of the time in between watering. Most plants require an inch of water per week, but that simply isn't adequate if the soil remains dry several inches down. Open fields require heavy irrigation and yield poor crops during droughts. This doesn't have to be the case in homestead gardens. I've come up with a strategy to give my garden the best possible chance of succeeding.
First, I'm putting moisture into the soil by watering now, while there are no plants to use the water. I set up a lawn sprinkler and on cool, calm days I water for an hour or two. Then, in the areas I plan to plant in two or three weeks, I put down cardboard from flattened boxes and soak it with the sprinkler. Then I cover it with shredded leaves and pine needles. This mulch will keep much of the moisture in the soil.
Shredding leaves is time consuming and this time of year my time is better spent collecting leaves and other material and stockpiling it in a deep carpet over the entire garden. This way the moisture is held in the soil and whatever decomposition happens to the material adds organic material to the garden.
I will water at least two more times before I begin planting.
Last year I mulched my tomatoes and peppers with wet cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper and a deep layer of shredded leaves.
Leaf mold is an excellent source of organic material for the soil, although it is low in nutrients. Once spread over the surface or mixed into the soil, it will hold water like a sponge.
Now, rather than build my compost pile, I carry my kitchen bucket out to the garden, spread the compostables over the surface and cover them with leaves or pine needles. As the kitchen waste breaks down it will speed up the breakdown of the leaves and needles.
While this isn't lasagna gardening in the strictest sense, I have seen good results with this method in areas of last year's garden.
I'm spreading wood ash over the top, so the potash and other nutrients will seep down into the soil over time. I also plan to spread bone meal and composted cow manure, and I may add peat moss to lower the pH of the soil.
No-till gardening will help keep moisture in the soil, where it belongs, and sheet composting will improve the soil while reducing the amount of work involved.
Shredding leaves is time consuming and this time of year my time is better spent collecting leaves and other material and stockpiling it in a deep carpet over the entire garden. This way the moisture is held in the soil and whatever decomposition happens to the material adds organic material to the garden.
I will water at least two more times before I begin planting.
Last year I mulched my tomatoes and peppers with wet cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper and a deep layer of shredded leaves.
When I raked back the remaining mulch a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the cardboard had broken down completely over about six months time. I've used cardboard by itself as a mulch before and, while it did break down, it didn't break down to this degree.
I've done extensive reading (and video watching) on the topic of lasagna gardening, often referred to as sheet composting. Lasagna gardening is a no-till method in which an area is covered with wet cardboard or several layers of newspaper and that in turn is covered with alternating layers of green and brown compostable materials such as leaves, straw, grass clippings, coffee grounds and vegetable peels. These garden beds are usually built in late summer or early fall and allowed to break down over the winter. The problem I have with it is that it requires a stockpile of materials so that the layers can be built all at once. I always have either green or brown material in a given season, so trying to build all of the layers at once isn't practical.
Hot composting is an excellent way to produce finished compost quickly, but only produces relatively small amounts and let's face it, involves moving the same stuff several times. Lasagna gardening certainly seems less labor intensive and nutrients from decomposition are released into the very soil that you'll be planting.
The term "sheet composting" seems a better fit for the process I'm using. In the area where I'll be planting tomatoes, I buried coffee grounds and vegetable scraps several inches deep. By now the layer of raw compost has decomposed and, I hope, attracted earthworms.
Pine needles are good for both mulch and composting and they break down fairly quickly. I've been spreading them around the garden in deep layers. When it comes time to plant I will rake them back, plant my seeds and transplants, run my soaker hoses and then reuse the needles as mulch around the plants.
Oak leaves are a good source of brown material for composting, but they break down slowly unless they are shredded or provided with green material to add nitrogen and turned regularly. Since they are already in the garden, I can bring in the lawn mower and shred them in place, thereby saving time and effort over using the chipper/shredder.
Over the past year we finished off our big pile of kindling. When we raked back the leaves we found a deep layer of leaf mold and rotted wood.
Now, rather than build my compost pile, I carry my kitchen bucket out to the garden, spread the compostables over the surface and cover them with leaves or pine needles. As the kitchen waste breaks down it will speed up the breakdown of the leaves and needles.
While this isn't lasagna gardening in the strictest sense, I have seen good results with this method in areas of last year's garden.
I'm spreading wood ash over the top, so the potash and other nutrients will seep down into the soil over time. I also plan to spread bone meal and composted cow manure, and I may add peat moss to lower the pH of the soil.
No-till gardening will help keep moisture in the soil, where it belongs, and sheet composting will improve the soil while reducing the amount of work involved.
Next month I am going to build a "Hugelkultur" bed and I will photograph and write about the process. As the growing season progresses I will write about the plant foods and fertilizers I use and share the results.
In two weeks I will begin planting potatoes, onions and peas. It seems like the break between harvest and sowing gets shorter every year!
Stephen
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