The Lasagna Raised Bed Garden       NO DIGGING

You can plant young plants the very same day!! 

Advantages Of A Lasagna Garden

* Few weeds, thanks to the newspaper or cardboard (even better) suppressing them

from below and the mulch covering the soil from above.

* Better water retention, due to the fact that compost (which is what you made by

layering all of those materials)

* Less need for fertilizer, because you planted your garden in almost pure compost. 

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OR..... PLANT A SPACE SAVING SQUARE FOOT GARDEN!! 

all you need to know is how to build a box. 

A 4' x 16' BED will sure grow a ton! 64 square feet. That's 64 different crops. You can even grow mellons & squash vertically.

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THE NO DIG / NO DIRT POTATO PATCH!! Amazing- must see video!   

Google: Peter Cundall no dig potatoes.mp4   

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A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SEED SAVING BOOK

 (SEEDS SAVERS "Bible") 

 Susan Ashworths "SEED TO SEED" (go to amazon)

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MAKE A COMPOST CAKE! Yum....  in just 3 to 4 weeks!

By combining the right ingredients, your compost pile will not only heat up to 140 degrees (F)

or more, but it will "cook down" to a fluffy material that is ready to use in the garden.

Step 1: Collect your compost ingredients

For a hot, active compost pile, you need to build it all at once, not over weeks or months.

Start collecting ingredients. Go on organic treasure hunts. Talk to your neighbors, ask your friends, etc.
Did you know the hair on your head contains 30 times more nitrogen
than manure?  

You want to try for a nitrogen (N) to carbon (C) ratio of about 1 to 3.

Nitrogen (N) materials include: "Stable scraps" such as horse, rabbit, goat, chicken and other

manures, green grass clippings (minus any chemical fertilizers and herbicides), fish meal,

bloodmeal, cottonseed meal, trimmings from grocery store produce, and garden waste, such

as weeds and trimmings.

Materials you DON'T want to add to a compost pile include: meat scraps, oily products such as

salad dressings, peanut butter and mayonnaise, pet litter and food, branches and other large woody

materials, slick magazine pages, and waxed cardboard.

Step #2: Stir your compost ingredients

Once you assemble your ingredients, you're ready to build your compost pile.

*   Work with a minimum size of 3x3x5 feet. (If you live in a milder climate, then 3x3x3 feet

is large enough). The key is to make a compost pile large enough to retain heat and prevent

Turn the pile every 4 to 7 days to aerate it and to provide the microorganisms with fresh food. With tumblers, simply give it a spin occasionally. For bin enclosures, use a pitchfork to turn the pile, moving the inside materials to the outside, and the outside materials to the inside--just like folding cake batter. This is a good upper body workout.

How do you know when the compost is done? The compost pile is done cooking when it no longer warms up within a few days of turning it. Incidentally, the pile will shrink to about half of its original size.

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A #2 Pencil is a GARDNERS BEST FRIEND!!

 

With your containers filled with moistened potting soil, take a packet of seeds and empty it into a

dish or the palm of your hand. Pick up a pencil in your other hand. If the tip is sharp, round it off a

little. Touch the soil with the pencil to moisten the tip. Now, bring it over to the seeds in your hand

and connect the tip to one or more seeds, depending on what you're aiming for. Try it a few times

to get the hang of it. You'll be amazed how easy it is to pick up just the right number of seeds.

Now, roll the pencil tip on top of the soil to wipe off the seeds. Cover them with soil if necessary

and mist them with water. This little trick makes short order of sowing seeds. 

(Thanks for the tips Plan Tea!)

 

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BATTLE  SLUGS  using coffee and organic bait.

Coffee, DE & Sluggo works well and are natural. Also, you can

buy decolate snails (carnivorus) and they will eat the veggie eating slugs

all gone in about 2 seasons.

 

 

COFFEE TIPS: not decaf

 *Earthworms LOVE coffee grounds

*Slugs HATE old coffee & grounds - not decaf !

*CATS HATE coffee grounds -keep poo out of your garden & SAND BOX!

*Add chili pepper (capsicum) to it and keep away squirrils

   (put in bird seed too - the birds dont tase it)

*Put uncooked grounds in a pond or puddle to kill mosquito larvae

 

 

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DIATOMACEOUS EARTH has been right under our feet for eons, waiting to be discovered as

A SAFE, CHEEP, NATURAL, EFFECTIVE CONTROL FOR GARDEN PEST.     

For relief of FLEA and tick problems with pets and for the elimination of PARASITES in livestock.    Diatomaceous earth is mined from fossilized deposits of shells formed by tiny diatoms. These are single celled plants of the sea that are very old. According to National Geographic reports, "Death comes within 12 hours after insects venture into the D.E. They pierce their skins or waxy shells on the sharp edges of the diatoms siliceous shells and die of dehydration."

This product is completely safe to use and because of it's trace mineral content it is good for the animals, plants and the environment. We have tested D.E. at the Herbal Healer Academy. ROSES: 1 cup to 2 gallons water in a sprayer. Or it can be dusted directly on all plants. For turkeys, CHICKENS, quail and pheasants, use 1 tablespoon per gallon of feed. You can give this product to HORSES; it adds minerals to the diet, helps kill intestinal parasites, and keeps the flies down in the manure. D.E. can be added to your storage food to keep out the weevils. When applied topically on DOGS and CATS, you will find that it takes a few days to kill all the fleas. Dust animal and then all the bedding and outside the front door. Will not harm your carpets, but will leave a white dust to vacuum up. Note: If used outside and it rains and washes the D.E. away you must re-apply to be continually effective.
Diatomaceous Earth can be added to STORED GRAINS: 1 ounce per bushel, or 1 teaspoon per quart, will keep the bugs out for indefinite periods, doing no harm to the grain! Diatomaceous Earth is completely safe to use and kills fleas and pests. The only contraindication is not to breath too much of the dust into lungs as it can irritate the lungs.


_______________________________________________________________ CUCUMBERS!! A pest control??? Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices of CUCUMBER in a small aluminum pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area. _______________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 DROUGHT or WATER SHORTAGE ---

 NO problem......Use CARDBOARD 

*Cover a moist composted garden with CBoard.

*Wet down the cardboard (completely) once

*Cover with organic straw or grass clippings. 

*Or weight down if not enough mulch to cover. 

 

Water will be held into the soil by the cardboard and will keep your valuable cucumbers, peppers, mellons, tomatoes etc...from wilting.

the benefit is  NO WEEKLY WATERING!  

 



 

Only 1 to 3 times a Summer  WATERING needed under the cardboard where the plants live. You could also lay a drip hose under the CB before you start and make your garden an even less fussy one.  

 

THE OTHER BENEFIT- NO WEEDS.

If one springs up......cover the area with.....   

you guessed it - CARDBOARD!

Come on, it's easy--TRY IT.

 

 

 

  

EARLY SPRING PLANTING 
 
If you just cant wait to plant...GEAR up to start growing indoors : onions, celery, eggplants, peppers, leeks and artichokes..... these all can be started between 6-10 weeks ahead!
 
The earliest part of the season is a perfect time to grow the leafy vegetables. Spinach, lettuce, Swiss Chard, collards, Bok Choy, and arugula all enjoy the cool early spring temperatures. Radishes are amazingly fast in the early spring, and can be ready to eat within three weeks of seeding! 
          A trick I like to do is to use warm water when watering in the newly planted seeds. The extra heat in a cold soil can make all the difference between a quick germination and a slow painful wait.
         Also......if you are really in a hurry try 1 uncoated asprin and one tea bag of chamomile tea per 1 gal. water.  Use this mix to spray your newly planted seeds. Not only will the seeds rapidly germinate but this will also prevent much of the dampening off and disease.
 
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PREPARE FOR FALL

Vegetables that like cool weather: beets, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccali, kale, kohlrabi,chives, collards, celery, onions, parsely, parsnips, peas, radish, spinach, lettuce, turnips, and Swiss-chard

 

Pot up chives, parsley, and other herbs, and bring into the house to extend the growing season.

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