Instant Garden Beds

It's been a while since we posted anything new from the homestead. Right now, we're in the process now of reviving some of the garden beds that have been fallow the last year or so, and we're also making beds where there weren't beds before. However, we're in a hurry to get things going so we are making instant garden beds. We've used this method (modified according to materials available) before with good results.

Several years ago, Patricia Lanza wrote a book called Lasagna Gardening. She details there how she (almost accidentally) developed a system of establishing a garden bed by layering various organic materials (sheet composting) to form a garden bed over a few months (typically the winter months), or instantly. The layers can be put in place, and then planted in right away--provided the gardener makes planting hole in the mulch, filling it with mix of compost and garden soil or planting mix, and then transplanting a seedling into the spot.

The materials that we have used for an instant garden beds are kitchen scraps; cardboard; compost; and organic fertilizer from our goats and/or chickens (we like to use worm castings, too, but don't have any right now); and straw, wood chips, or goat bedding for the mulch on top. (See also OSU's Extension Service PDF on sheet composting.)

Geoff Lawton quickly shows how easy it is to set up a garden bed in this video.



Here's an earlier version of Geoff's method with very nice end results:




This set up is so fast, once you save up (or purchase) the materials, you could go out to make a garden after breakfast and be finished by lunch!

This technique not only provides a quick set up, but the beds can produce for years with a little preparation (adding new layers of compost, etc. covered once again with layer of mulch) before each planting.

As always, we encourage you to give gardening a try--if we can do it, so can you!