Getting the Garden Ready

07.18.11
When we moved to our new apartment, it happened to include a small plot of dirt outside the back door. Really the landlord had just dumped some dirt in the small pad of concrete that is covering the entrance to an underground parking lot. But I didn’t care. It was enough space for a small garden!

The space was covered in weeds with a few stunted trees.

Now, let me just say that I am not a gardener. I helped my family garden a bit growing up, but not to the extent that I developed any green thumb. Most of what I know, I gleened from friends and the internet. I also pray alot when I sow seeds.

So when I saw the plot of weedy dirt, I knew I had to get rid of the weeds. At first I started picking them out by hand. That was taking far too long and I knew I wasn’t getting ride of the roots. So then, I started tilling the soil with a Chinese hoe. Same problem. Now what? After a quick google search I learned about Lasagna Gardening.

Lasagna Gardening has been around for decades. It is a way to turn a patch of lawn or weeds into a raised bed of improved soil. Well, I needed more soil, so this sounded like a good option. I went to our local recyclers and bought a bunch of cardboard boxes off of them to cover up the weedy soil.

No light.
The weeds die and become mulch. Result!

Next step, layer from “greens”.

09.04.11
The grocery stores always has vegetables that are going bad. So, I grabbed some (a bunch) and hauled them home.

Me with expired peppers, Schäfer with his bow and Sianna with her smile.

Once home, I added shredded office paper and food scraps to the peppers. I was amassing a sizable compost pile after a month.

01.05.12
Back to the rest of the garden. I asked the local grounds keepers for some of their trimmings. They left me with a massive pile of fatsia japonica leaves. I sectioned the plot off into 4 foot wide areas and layered the leaves on top.

01.05.12
Just before we left for Chinese New Year vacation, I covered the plot with a plastic tarp to keep the warmth in and speed the leaves decomposition.

Now, if it sounds like I know what I’m talking about…I don’t. I’m sure I’ll have to put some soil on top… as soon as I figure out where to get dirt. (Not as easy as you might think living in a city.) The end result should leave the garden in better shape than it was to begin with.

I’m just trying my best and we’ll see what turns out. By God’s grace, we might even be able to harvest something.

Now, I know some of you have far more gardening wisdom than I. What would you suggest I do to get the garden ready for planting this spring?

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