Lasagna Gardening Update

Some time has passed since we first put all of our yard waste, leaves, coffee/tea ground, and kitchen scraps. While we didn't get it as high as I wanted we did manage to get a decent amount piled on. Since, I had a day off (and a nice one as well) I snapped some pics of how it currently looks. Some spots have broken down more than the others. Mostly the side of the house. The back I put on last and it has broken down less than the side. The front area is also higher, but when I pushed some back I saw beautiful dark dirt! So very exciting. Here are the few pics I snatched ( didn't get one of the front since it needs a little straightening up and I just didn't have time).

Pic of the Side- see how far down it is!

Picture where the grape plant is- by the way does anyone know of anything that is small and would grow well with the grape?

Picture of the back where it is the highest:

Anyone else doing lasagna gardening? Let us know about it!

-Mom and E

Lasagna Gardening... sort of

I meant to post again earlier this week, but I have been super sick, and am just now feeling better (translates- I was able to eat something other than soup) so I thought I'd post something I had been working on earlier this week. 

    I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the method of gardening known as lasagna gardening. The premise is that instead of digging (tilling) the soil every year and disturbing the soil, you amend it organically. The way that this is done is by layering (which is where it gets the name lasagna gardening- it looks like layers of lasagna) greens and browns.

      Most people start with either layers of newspaper (several - at least three though five is recommended) or cardboard overlaid to form a weed barrier. Then layer greens and browns. Greens encompass stuff you would put in a compost pile such as vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, tea leaves, garden waste, grass clippings etc. Browns encompass such things as shredded leaves, peat, shredded paper, cardboard etc.  Usually the brown layers are twice as thick as the green, and many people top it off with some manure. Then you can either put enough top layer of compost deep enough to plant immediately or (like us) you can start it in the fall and let it break down over winter.

     Well, since we didn't have enough of everything we sort of did a lasagna gardenish (can that be a word?) deal. The section that had the most weeds last year is where I put the cardboard (the back under the steps). I put a lot of shredded newspaper in the front and a little on the side (it doesn't really get many weeds). We did put a bunch of leaves and quite a bit of green under them. I have also been slowly but surely putting my kitchen waste on top of that. We will put compost with manure on closer to Spring. We are not sure how our little "experiment" will work. We know the weeds will show up (since we didn't put thick layers of newspaper and/or cardboard everywhere) but are hoping our soil is more nutrient rich.

     We did this awhile back, and it has broken down some- it was much higher. We keep adding kitchen scraps on top. It doesn't really look pretty, but I know that later when we add the manure compost it will look nicer. We're hoping that the leaves break down enough, but figure if not we'll just add more top layer to plant in. It shouldn't be a problem for the most part either- at least according to other articles and blog posts I have read.
  
Do any of you have an experience using this method? Suggestions (other than we need more cardboard next year and top layer compost/manure)?