Lasagna Gardening
The basics of a non-traditional method of gardening that is organix, earth friendly and easy.
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TOO MUCH October/November 1994
NATURAL KITCHEN
MOTHER'S KITCHEN
...
The basics of a nontraditional method of gardening
that is not only organic, earth friendly, and incredibly
easy, but will enable you to accomplish more, in less time,
with less work...
by Patricia Lanza
ILLUSTRATIONS: ELAYNE SEARS
If someone told me years ago that he or she had found a way
to do an end run around the sweat equity of traditional
gardening, a way around digging, weeding, and rototilling,
a way to produce more regardless of time constraints,
physical limitations, or power-tool ineptness... well, I
would have checked that person for a head injury. Yet such
a system is actually possible, though I never would have
believed it if I hadn't stumbled upon the basics myself.
Lasagna gardening was borne of my own frustrations. After
my husband retired from the U.S. Navy, we began our next
period of work as innkeepers. When the demands on my time
became so great that I could no longer do all that was
required to keep both the business and the garden going,
the garden suffered. I'd plant in the spring, then see the
garden go unattended. I needed a way to do it all.
Just when I was about to give up, it happened: a bountiful
harvest with no work. I'd planted, late again because of a
late spring. And again, when the seasonal demands of the
business began claiming all of my time, my plantings were
forgotten. In midsummer, I made a much belated foray into
the garden. I had to hack through a jungle of weeds to find
the vegetable plants—but what a payoff! I discovered
basketfuls of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers,
and egg plant. True, there were also basketfuls of rotted,
overgrown, and unusable vegetables (the product of
neglect), but the abundance was truly amazing.
To gain some measure of control that year, I simply stomped
the weeds flat in between rows and put down cardboard boxes
to walk on. The harvest continued, with carrots, onions,
garlic, and potatoes persisting among the weeds. Stout
stems of collard greens pushed the plants up to tower above
the mess, despite the native morning glory that tried to
hold back growth. Lower-growing Swiss chard also
persevered, though I had to cut out the shriveled leaves
and pull a few weeds to get to the good growth.
Flower seeds, planted in a border around the garden in the
spring, came up and bloomed. As I poked about that messy
old garden, I found patches of basil, parsley, sage, and
thyme that had done battle with weeds and grass and won. I
was suddenly very excited about the possibilities.
And the timing couldn't have been better. The inn had
caught on, making my time in the garden more limited. And,
as much as I hated to admit it, I was getting older and
losing some strength. I was by then living and working
alone, so there was no one to run the tiller. I bought a
smaller model but couldn't cope with cleaning the
carburetor and mixing gas and oil.
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