Earlier this year I decided to expand my kitchen garden area using the lasagna technique. No, I’m not talking about using noodles, sauce, and cheese, but rather a quick no-till way to build beds using layers of organic materials. So far the results are pretty impressive to me.
I made one bed that was 4 x 30 feet and planted several varieties of seed potatoes in it. About a month later, the seed potatoes are up and looking good.
lasagna bed with potatoes growing
I’ve got about 35 potato plants growing in the bed, and I’ve been adding organic material to it like some ‘almost finished’ compost that needed a little more time to break down plus grass clippings as they are available. I’ll probably add some peat moss to the bed as the potato vines get larger to give it some more bulk.
The other bed I made is about 4 x 5 feet and is planted with onions. I had hoped to plant some beets there too but I ran out of room. This is what it looked like in late March, right after I finished making it.
lasagna bed in March
This is what the bed looks like now, 6 weeks later. We’ve harvested quite a few scallions from the bed, and the bulbing onions are growing nicely.
lasagna bed with onions
These Walla Walla onions are even starting to bulb up.
Walla Walla onions
The lasagna gardening method looks pretty good to me. The biggest problem I’ve had so far is keeping out the bermuda grass, but I have that problem elsewhere regardless of the method I use to build the bed. I’ve got very little time in this project so far, and the only money I’ve spent is for soil amendments. The main advantage I see is that it’s QUICK and EASY. It leaves more time for me to do other things, or to do nothing at all!
I love the look of those onions bulbing up!
Wonderful! I’m all for making tasks in the garden easier, especially when it works! I can’t believe your Walla Walla’s are bulbing up already…I need to have a chat with mine. Slackers.
My Walla Wallas are beginning to bulb, too. Unfortunately, it looks as though last night’s wind may have blown many of them flat.
I love the concept of the lasagna beds. When I had access to lots of leaves, I’d always layer chopped leaves mixed with fresh grass clippings and topped with composted horse manure over the tops of my beds in the fall, which gave me lovely soil the following spring. Since we’ve been wintering in AZ, we leave before the leaves fall. This year we’ll be staying home for the holidays, so I’ll get the leaf/manure layering done!
Wow! great looking Walla Wallas already. My husband would be pulling a few of those and eating them. 😉
Well, I’m tempted to pull them too but we have the scallions to use for now. Thanks for stopping by!
Grass clipping I have plenty off. I was thinking using a mixture of grass clippings and straw to mulch my tomato beds. What do you think? I just worry that it would somehow have an adverse affect on the plants.
I’m all for quick and easy! Your onions look great!