Foodlust
  • Home
  • The Food Chronicles
  • About
  • Contact

Bed Sheets for Raised Gardens

6/7/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
I had the fortune of attending a gardening workshop this past weekend in Pagosa Springs, CO where the Growing Domes are manufactured. It was wonderful to meet the designers of this amazing 4-season growing structure and fellow dome owners. When Udgar and Puja Parsons brought their business, Growing Spaces, to Pagosa Springs 17 years ago, they were the first dome. Now there are over 80 in the greater Pagosa area making it the mecca for geodesic greenhouses. It is more than just an impressive number, it demonstrates a mountain community' self-reliance and ability to grow their own food year-round.

Leading the workshop was permaculturist, Jerome Ostenowski with the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Basalt, CO. Jerome had us up and out of our chairs in under an hour digging in the dirt and planting tropical plants of banana and papaya in Growing Spaces newest dome demo. These "Growing Spaces" are so amazing that you can grow tropical plants in the mountain climates!

Before the trees went in the ground, we had to "make the bed" using a fascinating and simplistic method called "sheet mulching." Some people call it a "lasagna bed" because you create a soil profile by layering a combination of organic materials alternating layers between browns (carbon) and greens (nitrogen). There are different theories on what ingredients you can use. Some allow newspaper and cardboard as a brown, carbon source. But for this exercise, we are going to keep it strictly organic. Sheet mulching is not only fun and easy but reduces the cost of buying a whole truckload of gardening soil. Many of the items can be sourced from your own yard (grass clippings, green manure) or acquired for FREE from local sources (composted manure and straw).

Above is a diagram I wrote in my notebook as the layers went into the bed. You can see how you start with a bulky carbon source on the bottom and begin stacking 3-4" layers repeating the process every 4-5 layers till the bed is full. Give the stacking a good soak every four layers too. Get rev up the mA few tips:
  1. Composted manure - composted manure means it is mature livestock poop and has been sitting for at least 3-years. It ensures that all the weed seeds have died and other bacterias have as well. You can find this locally from a farm. Try and get horse or chicken manure. And if unsuccessful, you can buy bags of chicken manure at a local plant nursery.
  2. Grass clippings - use clean grass clippings without a lot of other debris and that has not been treated with synthetic, chemical fertilizers
  3. Green Manure - this is yard and garden trimmings. It could be tall grasses from the side yard or discarded plant residue from the garden. Just be sure to not grab grasses that have gone to seed.
  4. Worms - you can order worms online or buy locally at a nursery. Best to get composting red worms versus earthworms. 
  5. Soil/compost - Buy good organic soil or compost versus native soil but native soil is fine too because it will be so well amended with all the other ingredients.
Next time you go to build a raised, garden bed, give sheet mulching a try and give your wallet a rest!



2 Comments
central oriental rug link
9/3/2013 05:27:14 pm

You made my day! I am very happy and relaxed too that I find this blog. I was looking for the matter discussed in blog post. If you have some more blogs on the material please share those as well. Thanks a lot and keep sharing such useful information.

Reply
Hochbeet link
10/28/2013 03:38:17 pm

Great blog! The information you provide is quiet helpful, why I was not able to find it earlier. Anyways I’ve subscribed to your feeds, keep the good work up.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Follow SusieSutphin on Twitter

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    4 Season Growing
    Agrarianism
    Agritourism
    Agroecology
    Agtivist
    Animals
    Aquaponics
    Biodiversity
    Book Blog Vol. 2
    Book Blog Vol. 3
    Book Blog Vol. 4
    Book Blog Vol. 5
    Book Blog Vol. I
    Climate Change
    Coffee
    Community
    Compost
    Conventional Farming
    Cost Of Food
    Crafts
    Crop Rotation
    Csas4713f5b38e
    Dairy
    Education
    Energy
    Equity
    Fair Trade
    Farm Bill
    Farm Incubator
    Farming
    Farm Stories
    Feed The World
    Food Access
    Food Hub
    Food Labels
    Food Miles
    Food Policy
    Food Security
    Foodshed
    Food Sovereignty
    Food Stories
    Food Waste
    Forestry
    Fracking
    Gardens To Hospitals
    Gmo
    Green Jobs
    Growing Dome
    Happy Cows
    History
    Kids
    Land Use
    Localized Economies
    Markets
    Nutrition
    Occupy Movement
    Organic
    Permaculture
    Pest Management
    Recipes
    Regional Food Systems
    Reruns: The Best Of
    Restaurants
    Rodale Articles
    Seasonality
    Slow Food
    Social Movement
    Soil
    Strawberries
    Sustainability
    This I Believe
    Vegetables
    Vermiculture
    Volunteering

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.