Lasagna Gardening

Answers of the cooking terms vocabulary: BAADCBABAC

It is time again to build garden beds for spring, several has asked me what is lasagna gardening. Sounds like the cooking process one does when you cook lasagna but you are layering to the ground various substances that will help you grow things in your garden the next planting season.

The following are notes that were taken from a book I read on the topic. Other books have been written if you cannot decifer the how to's I recorded at the time of reading. I have tried it, but save up alot of papers before you attempt these procedures!

LASAGNA GARDENS: a neat and organized system of layering organic material in a raised bed that decomposes without mess or smell in your garden beds!

Compost Materials: Smaller pieces break down most quickly…so chop it up w/ blender, lawn mower or mulcher, shredder for paper
Adding carbon: BROWN, dry materials such as leaves, straw, hay
Adding nitrogen: GREEN, grass clippings, kitchen waste, lettuce, vegetable trimmings and manure (do not add fat, meat or bones, oil)

Create two wire bins (use one to build and the other in baking process). This is best done in fall when leaves are falling. Mix one part NITROGEN material with 4 part CARBON and layer to 3-4 ft high. Allow at least two weeks before the heating up process (soil will be HOT) has completed and you can use to mix with your soil. Covering it with plastic will help the process along. Fluff it up before adding to the soil in containers, when you plant the plants. Distribute using gloves. Carry in large bucket to area you need it. Collect more materials for composting with a tarp.

Layer in this order: Peat is Sphagnum peat moss
Newspaper, 2” PEAT, 4”compost, 2”peat, 4”grass clippings, 2”peat, 4”chopped leaves, 2”peat, (optional: 4” of barn litter –sawdust and manure)…..and on and on with dusting of wood ashes on top.
Sprinkle some bonemeal on pile…..it adds PHOSPHOROUS
Sprinkle some bloodmeal on pile…..adds NITROGEN
Sprinkle some lime on pile……..adds CALCIUM, raises pH level
Sprinkle some powdered sulfur ….lowers pH level

Find out pH level of soil….test it yourself or send it away for analysis. 7 is the perfect number…above is alkaline, below is acidity soil.

Draw your plan of where the garden is to go. Create it so you do not have to step in the garden to care for it. Usually 3-4 foot is enough! Use climbing plants toward the back of the bed.

To start a garden that has grass on it: Begin when soil has dried out a bit in spring. Wet a thick pad of newspaper overlapping in your design plot (this will smother the existing grass and weeds. Then add 2-3 inch layer of peat moss to cover newspaper. Add 4-8” of the organic mulch you made above. Repeat layers. Looks somewhat like lasagna. Sprinkle some bonemeal and wood ashes on top. You can plant and water the day you create the garden. Make the garden beds in fall and plant in spring is a good strategy. The method is easy and helps the plants grow healthy and big. This type of garden beds is easy to maintain. Remulch the bed in the fall after each year’s growth. A tiller is absolutely unnecessary with this method!

From weekend after Labor Day to Thanksgiving: Proceed with one marked off area at a time! 1) Lay down thick pads of wet newspaper on top of sod, 2) 2” layer of peat moss (use wood chips in area that will be used for paths), 3) 4-6” layers of chopped leaves, grass clippings, compost, manure, other organic materials and sand (alternate each layer with peat moss). You can raise the beds from 18-24” high. 4) use the wood ashes from your winter fires to top off the bed (just a sprinkle)…I believe this is an optional step. Your bed is now ready for planting in spring.

After planting: add manure/sawdust mixture to mulch in and around plants.

Climbers: tomatoes, cucumbers, scarlet runner beans, nasturtiums

Self-Sowing Flower Garden: Perennials: Yarrows (3-4 ft), Hollyhock (4-6 ft), Columbines (18-30 inches), Silver King Artemisia (24-30 inch), Sweet William (12-18”), Foxglove (3-4 ft), Purple Coneflower (2 ft), Dames rocket (2-3 ft), Blue Flax (1-2 ft), Lupines ( 2-3 ft), Rose campion (2-3 ft), Oriental poppy (3 ft), coneflowers (2-3 ft)- all can be in full sun! In the garden bed place sand lines around one kind of plant; sow different seeds in the sections; design can take on any configuration.

Herb Gardens: Use lasagna method in raised beds; likes to be mulched after planting and throughout the summer. Try some herbs like: Angelica plant from stores can grow 3-7 ft tall and 3 ft wide in cool moist soil (partial shade) shows a giant greenish white flower (this is grown a lot in France for flavoring), Basil grows to 18” height; choose Spicy Globe or Purple Ruffles as choice; pinch off shoots of basil every week or two and it will get bushier, Chives get about 1 ft tall; perennial, divide every 3-4 years; sow indoors, Dill will grow to 30” and have yellow flower; likes full sun; plant outdoors when danger of frost is over 8-10 inches apart; mulch around, Florence Fennel can grow to 5 foot from plant state 6-12 inches apart;

NEEDS SUPPORTING
Beans: plant every two weeks for 6 weeks. Blue Lake Venture, Golden Rocky or Jade Royal Burgundy are good bush beans; pole beans are climbers that grow up trellises poles or strings. Blue Lake, Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Violet Podded Stringless. They grow up anything! Beans grow best in pH level of 7-7.5 or 6.5. Have the trellis in place when planting. Beans grow best in HOT weather. Don’t plant beans or peas in the same place two years in a row to avoid buildup of soil dwelling pests and diseases.

Peas: plant in cool area of garden that drains well; add bonemeal and wood ashes; can grow in cool weather; add supports (every 3 foot) for vines; stake each end with string from pole to pole and zigzag to top string and ground; keep by a plant that is south of this plant to keep it cool; mulch, keep weeded; help vines to grow up poles; keep them picked every day. Good choices are Oregon Sugar Pod 11, Mammoth Melting Sugar, Dwarf Gray Sugar, Sugar Snap, Sugar Daddy, Sugar Ann.

Cucumbers need good drainage; plant on mound so can drain; needs rich soil with manure; do not plant in same spot as year before; a HOT loving plant; plant indoors 3 weeks before planting; set seeds 1 inch apart; have poles for support in place; no cultivation necessary; keep soil moist (1” a week); picking the fruit keeps more fruit coming. Lemon and Marketmore are two good choices.

Squash: need good drainage; plant on mound so can drain; one to two planted in a hill; need 3 foot square for growth; start indoors with two seeds per peat pot; sow in garden three feet apart; check daily for harvesting of flower to 4-5” growth. Good choice is Early Prolific Straightneck or Hybrid Jackpot or Hybrid Crescent.


ROOT VEGGIES
Beets: prefer full sun; pH level of 7; likes bonemeal; do not like manure; plant 2” apart; plant short rows every two weeks; give them plenty of mulch; do not allow to dry out. Kleine Bol or Little Ball, Monopoly and Chioggia Striped and Golden and Sangria are good beet choices. Similar care to that of a bean!

Onions: keep well drained; like 6-8 hrs sun; plant bulbs one inch deep with 4-6 inches apart. Onions like to have their tops out of ground; keep mulching and weed free; spray with water if you find little black bugs; harvest when leaves are just turning yellow; cure on top of soil after pulling for a few days; clean off dirt. Perennial Welsh onions are dependable and prolific; Egyptian onions are another good choice.

Shallots: keep well drained; use as edger; plant depth of 1 inch 4-6” apart; sprouts in two weeks

Radishes: keep soil evenly moist; likes cooler weather. Plant one inch apart 2” depth in a short row every two weeks; use fine mulch around plant when you see 1-3 leaves. Easter Egg variety is a nice choice.

LIKES COOLER WEATHER; DOUBLE HARVEST
Broccoli: prefers full sun; can start indoor 4 weeks before planting; they can grow in colder climates; plant 18-24” apart; make a 2” deep trench along the rows, adding a sprinkling of bonemeal to the trench, and cover with soil. Add a 2” layer of mulch, and lay a sheet of floating row cover over the plants to protect them from the cabbage looper moth.

Spinach: like a more nitrogen rich soil; likes cool environment; wilts down a lot when cooked; plant seed ½ inch deep and 2 inches apart; thin plants to stand 4” apart; water in dry season.

Turnip: plant early spring on peat moss/seed/ more peat; Water with fine mist; thin plants to 3” apart; add more mulch to keep soil cool and moist; water more in dry weather; harvest greens when 4” high; root at 3 “ round.

Endive: easy to grow! Plant in partial shade or sun; Make good border plant; plant near end of frost date; thin plants to 8-10 inches apart; keep constant moisture; mulch heavily; water once a week; harvest outer leaves first when few inches long.

Lettuce: like cooler weather; plant indoors ¼ “ deep in early spring. Can double crop this in garden! Thin to 10-12 inches apart; harvest in early morn or late evening. Good choices are Italian Red Perella, Merveille des Quatre Saisons, Red Oakleaf, Rouge, Rubens Romaine.

Radicchio: does not like to stand in water; grows in cooler shaded area; space 8 inches apart in transplanting after sowing; keep soil moist with grass clippings. Tamp soil down during sowing.

Potatoes: Place your potato bed in full sun; avoid too much lime; lay the wet newspaper down, then pototoes then cover them with layers of hay through the summer. Use halfed 30 gallon garbage cans and plant 4 containers of potatoes for planters in SUN; place drainage holes in the bottom
PLANT LAST

Rhubarb: Plant in a depression in bed and set in roots; Fill in around the roots with compost to cover them. Give them lots of water in FULL SUN; mulch heavily. ; First year, do not pick harvest; second year pick half to harvest; next year you can harvest all of them; Never take more than 1/3 of the stems at one time. Allow for 3 ft spread for plant!

Tomatoes: buy the plant to save time or sow 8 weeks before planting indoors; wire cage or trellis in place for growth and tie for support on extra weight of tomatoes; continue to add more mulch; keep it watered; use liter pop for dripless watering system; add fish emulsion diluted according to package directions; harvest in 55 to 100 days after you set plants in garden. Good for cool climate is Sub-Artic Plenty, Oregon Spring, Prairie Fire, Cold Set or Stupice. Midseason ripeners Carmello, Porter Improved, Delicioius, Long Keeper, Big Beef Beefsteak, Taxi. Others Old Flame, Oregon Star, Sweet 100, Sweet 1,000 or Sweet 1,000,000

Pepper: they like HOT radiant weather; sow indoors or by plants; add bonemeal and dolomitic limestone to soil; plant when night temperatures reach 50 degrees; plant 2 feet apart; water well when planting, then mulch. Add black paper to go over plant in soil, add aluminum foil circle at base to reflect heat to the leaves on mulch as base of each plant; if in windy area, you may stake; needs steady supply of water; likes the drip irrigation. Put a pinhole in bottom of empty plastic milk jug and plant near the plant; top of milk container shows at top and can refill with water in opening; leave stake in container to measure fullness; keep the cap off; refill weekly using funnel; could poke four holes for four plants at each corner and just refill more frequently.

Carrots: scatter seed evenly; do not crowd; takes long time to mature. Baby Spikes and Little Fingers can grow in normal planting season. They have short roots.

Eggplant: plant in FULL sun; well drained soil; make add some sprinkles of dolomitic lime; don’t plant all plants in one area in garden; plant after no chance of frost. Give extra compost when the flower appears. Little Fingers and Rosa Bianca are good choices.

Kale: full sun; pH7; likes dolomitic lime; space 12-18” apart; keep soil mulched, cool, moist and weed free. Red Russian variety is pretty

Mini Pumpkins: Need full sun; plenty of water; well drained soil; plant three in one hill; remove the weaker looking vines on each hill. Pretty Mini choice is a Jack Be Little or Small Sugar or Hybrid Bush Spirit pumpkin. Allow the biggest ones to flourish.

FALL CROP

Garlic: MUST have good drainage; full sun; give a lot of compost and mulch; allow three years inbetween planting of garlic plants; use seed garlic; plant in late summer to early fall in rows; harvest when stems turn brown; gather in bunches and tie with string or rubber band and hang to dry.

Watermelon: takes 80-120 days to harvest. The Sugar Baby variety will be ready in 80-90 days.

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