Get Ready for the Great Canadian Planting Weekend!

Here, in Ontario, Canada, this upcoming weekend, known officially as the Victory Day Weekend, but also as  Firecracker Day or just the May 24th Weekend, is a 3-day long weekend. Some of us open our cottages, if we’re lucky enough to own one. Some of us set off fireworks, originally in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday, but now I think we do it mainly as a celebration of the warm weather.  For many of us it is the official start of the gardening season after our long winter of hibernation. Hurray!

This is the time of the last frost. The time when we can safely plant. Next weekend we will descend like crazed flower-hungry hoards on our local garden nurseries. 

Taking Stock

Today, in preparation for next weekend, I’ve been working at preparing my garden canvas. I picked up some soil this morning. I used to buy separate bags of peat moss, manure and compost and mix it myself. Now, though, I just buy bags of ready mixed triple mix. How about you?

In addition, I bought a bag of sheep manure and top soil. The sheep manure will go in my vegetable patch.

Next, garden tools. I confess, I’ve not taken care of my tools. My pruners are very dull and rusted. So I’ve invested in a new pair of pruners. I never realized how many types of pruners there are! There are anvil pruners, Bypass pruners, grass pruners and the long handled pruners, which are actually called loppers. I settled on the Bypass pruners.

Now I have to get out there. Time to turn the earth and spread the new soil around. Hopefully the heavy labour will help me loose some of this winter fat!

How to Make A Lasagna Garden: Control Weeds, Fertilize, and Recycle!

Save Your Back - You Don't Need To Dig!
Does the thought of digging out a new garden make your back ache? Or do you have an existing garden where the soil needs some help? Lasagna Gardening may be your answer.

I discovered this method a few years ago. We had a window replaced, and the workmen pounded the earth so much, that the garden underneath the window ended up like rock. We could barely turn the earth. Then I found out about Lasagna Gardening, sometimes called No-till or No-dig gardening.

Go Organic
I was amazed at how much the soil condition improved. This year I am using Lasagna Gardening in my vegetable garden. Experts say that the Lasagna Garden is more beneficial than tilling, for not only plant health, but also for the health of the microscopic and other little creatures, like worms, that make the earth healthy. It is an organic way to fertilize, control weeds and recycle newsprint.

There are many different "recipes" for a Lasgana Garden. Below is the method I've used.

Ingredients

1. Newsprint - shredded or whole sheets. Use only black and white uncoated paper, not glossy coloured paper
   
2. Organic material, like mulched leaves, grass clippings, or straw
3. Compost
4. Triple Mix
5. Topsoil
6. Mulch

Method

1. Thoroughly soak newsprint. This not only aids decomposition of newspaper, but also stops the papers from flying around on windy days.
2. Lay newspapers over garden bed
3. Layer with remaining ingredients in order noted above
4. Repeat layers as necessary

To replenish my existing garden, I found one layer to be adequate. However, if you are creating a new garden over top of grass, or even concrete, then you will need several layers, finishing off with the mulch.



To see more Lasagna Garden "recipes", you may want to view some videos I found on YouTube below. You might also want to view this web page for detailed instructions: http://www.gardenersgardening.com/lasagnagardening.html.