the B garden plot

Here's my new raised garden bed. I built it in my boyfriend's yard this week- out of scrap lumber left by previous owners. It's pretty patched together- not all the pieces are straight or match up and I had to fill some gaps with small wedges. But it's sturdy enough to hold dirt!

I'm trying a method of no-dig prep called "lasagna gardening". There are lots of ways to do it, I just used what was available. First pulled up some grass to clear the area, but didn't spend a lot of effort rooting it all out (that's the point). Then I put down several layers of cardboard, a thin layer of last-year's leaves, lots of newspapers (dampened by the rain as I worked) a much thicker layer of leaf mulch and partly-done compost, topped with finer duff raked up from where a huge pile of leaves sat under the back trees for several years in a row. I know leaves can form mats and block water flow, and undone compost can steal nutrients from plants, but I also read about a lot of people using this method and just planting straight into the layers of stuff so we'll see if it works for me. It felt very fluffy while I was raking stuff level at different stages. It's going to have several weeks to settle before I actually plant anything (maybe give birds a chance to pick bugs out of the duff), and then I will add a final layer of compost on top.

Hm- I think I missed something- I should have put in greens. There will be tons soon with the first grass cutting, then maybe I'll pull off the top layer of leaves/duff and put grass clippings under. Should have thought of that. But it's a start!