Seven steps to building a lasagna garden

1. Decide on the area the garden is to go and cover it with a good dusting of dolomite lime (neutralizes pH, breaks down clay and adds calcium and magnesium to soil).

2. Put down a 5 cm (2 in.) layer of manure (see picture above). Rake level. Manure provides a nitrogen kick to plants later in the season, and introduces earthworms that till soil. Fresh manure on the bottom of the pile will be broken down by microbes before roots can access it. Some manures are mixed with straw or woodchips, e.g., horse and chicken, while some are pure pellets with no additives e.g., llama and sheep.

3. Cover over the manure with sections of newspaper, edges overlapping (see photo above). You can also use plain cardboard if available (see photo below).

4. Add a layer of leaf mulch (see photo above). Rake level.

5. Add a layer of garden soil (see photo above). Rake level. Half a yard of number one topsoil blend costs about $15 if you can pick it up yourself.

6. Add a layer of coco peat or leaf mulch (see photo above). Rake level. Coconut fibre is a waste product used as an alternative to peat, which is a non-renewable resource.

7. Finish with a top layer of screened compost or topsoil. Water well. Ideally the finished bed should be about 12 inches in height.

Now you are ready to direct seed or plant!

It's unseasonably cold here this year, so we transplanted the following starts, which had been hardened off from the greenhouse, to get a head start on the season: Lettuces, chicory, radicchio, parsley, peas, spinach, chard, broccoli, golden purslane, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, carrots, chives, calendula, marigolds.

Grass clippings, spoiled hay or stored leaves can also be used as layers in building a lasagna garden.

TIP: If you have piles of stored leaves from fall, (they need to be dry), running a lawnmower over them turns a big pile into a neat little pile of shredded leaf mulch which makes a good top layer for planting in (see photo above).

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