My new lasagna bed

The first time we added a new bed to the garden, I was convinced that it was all-important that we double-dig and amend the bed before planting anything. As I was pregnant at the time, my husband did all of the digging and hauling and rock-removal while I directed from the sidelines and brought him lemonade. The bed has been successful, but I'm not sure my husband would be willing to do it again- our soil is pretty heavy on the clay and riddled with tree roots, making digging a challenge. Also, I'm not pregnant now and he might expect me to do more to help than just make lemonade. Thus, I needed a new plan for expanding my garden.

Last year I learned about lasagna gardens. Instead of digging down, you build up. For my new bed, I smothered the existing grass with a layer of corrugated cardboard, then covered the cardboard with several inches of shredded leaves, grass clippings, compost and other materials (including ashes from our fireplace, debris from last year's garden, and big bags of used coffee grounds from Starbucks). I let the whole thing sit over the winter. Then in the spring I added a few more layers, then covered it in black plastic to let it warm up, "cook" and decompose a bit more. The layers are what give the garden its "lasagna" nickname- instead of noodles, cheese and tomato sauce, you're piling on different organic materials.

This past week I pulled back the black plastic. The result was pretty amazing. I have a bed of gorgeous crumbly soil. Earthworms everywhere I turned over a shovelful of dirt. There are still some large chunks of stuff here and there, but most everything has broken down. I will definitely be doing this in other places in the yard- the only challenge is having enough stuff to make layers.