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Fall 2000 - We decided to turn part of the field in front of the house into a garden. Lasagna gardening is done in layers on top of the ground, with a thick pad of wet newspapers as a base to smother existing turf.
Layers of peat moss and other organic materials are built up. We used wood chips as pathways around beds.
We learned that using wood as forms held the newspapers down while we worked, and made for a neater outline.
We collected over 200 bags of leaves from curbsides in town. We used a lot of them in the fall, but saved some for spring, too
Lots of water was used to dampen the newspapers, moisten the peat moss, and hold the leaves down as we got the beds ready.
Cleaning out the sheep pens provided large quantities of fertile organic matter. We can hardly wait to see the squash grow.
Mike could not resist the opportunity to read the newspaper. Fortunately, I was able to divert him from the crosswords or we never would have got this far.
We had to leave the garden in early November after several warm dry days of excellent gardening. There are bags of cocoa bean mulch and lots more peat moss waiting for spring.
When we returned from Florida on November 27, the lasagna garden was covered
with a blanket of snow. For the winter ahead, the only gardening was to
be in our minds. We eagerly anticipated spring.
The first day of spring 2001 saw the garden re-emerging. We were soon starting seeds with big plans for fruit, vegetables, and flowers. On the next page, you will read how things have progressed.
