I decided last fall that I was going to move my garden space for this year to another spot in my yard. I had a square plot in the fenced in area of my yard that looked like a good spot. It is a 6' Privacy fence. I finished fencing it in (to keep the dogs out) and loaded the whole space down with cardboard. Then I mowed up all my leaves, dumped them in, added a huge load of dirt, a ton of coffee grounds and all the scraps I had collected for compost over last summer/fall. I used tiles from a salvage yard to pave the paths. I also took a deep breath and reminded myself that the first year in a lasagna bed, the soil is still being created and balanced, so it may not perform quite as well. It looked something like this by January 31 when I planted my lettuce/spinach/peas:
By April 15th, I had planted everything I was going to plant save for a couple of packs of seeds. Included in this year's plantings: peas, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, cucumbers tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, strawberries, cantaloupe, green beans, Brussels sprouts, onions, basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano, and a few flowers. The right hand side of the garden was left for flowers because it is in a very dry part under the overhang of my house. I am using that area to collect compost to spread over next year's garden. This is right after I planted on April 15:
The next picture was taken around the around May 5:
The lighting in the last one is not really great... Here's another view of the progression of the same few tomato plants along the back side of the garden taken May 5, May 20, and June 5:
It always amazes me what a difference a month makes and how giant the plants get during the month of May... These tomatoes are fertilized with well aged Coffee Grounds I collect from any coffee shop I can. I also use a Miracle Grow liquid fertilizer with the yellow and green sprayer thing that attaches to your hose. I will be harvesting tomatoes from these probably by the end of June or beginning of July. I always anxiously await the first tomato sandwich of the year. My mouth waters just thinking about it! Happy gardening everyone!
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