Lasagna Garden Update #4

I have been having some serious issues with my garden. One entire section of my garden has begun to wilt. At least that's what it looks like. The plants, all my tomatoes, peppers, some eggplants, cucumbers and snow peas all stunted. They start out strong and then the center leaves on the stalk stop growing. The outer leaves that were previously strong turn under and shrivel but never dry up. Its the strangest thing. At first I thought I was over watering so I cut my drip system back to twice a week. That didn't change anything. The plants stayed green and the other plants that were not effected actually began to look better, so maybe I was over watering anyways. The only thing that I can think it could possibly be is that when I put down my lasagna layers I put too much hay in the beds and those layers haven't broken down all that well. So if the hay doesn't break down that would leave areas for air to flow. Air and moisture lead to mold and perhaps that mold is leading to my plants getting diseased. So I'm thinking about tearing the effected sections of the garden out, treating with some anti-fungal remedy, adding some compost and tilling the sections up. Thus removing the fungus (allegedly) and air pockets and replacing with good rich loamy soil. Not sure if this will work, but I do know that what I have going on right now isn't working either. If you have any ideas on what the problem is or what I can do to fix it, please leave me a comment. Thanks for reading!

Its been a while since I've posted

I know its been a while since I last posted, but life has been busy. I have since had a new baby, now three weeks old. His name is Lincoln, and for those of you who read this blog and don't know it, I'm a professional photographer. You can see the photo story that I shot of his birth at DASO Photo. He's a gorgeous boy. It was my wife's first c-section so the recovery has been a little different and I think a little harder than having a natural birth. But she's doing good and Lincoln is healthy and strong. Thank you Jesus!

I've also been converting my storage behind the house into my studio, since I lost that to the new baby. It served me well as a place where I stored stuff, built stuff, etc... I'm expecting it will serve me just as well as a new studio space. A lot of photographers have different opinions of what a studio space is, for me its a place where I can focus on the digital dark room aspects of photography. Where I can design and develop albums and images. The rest of the world is my "shooting" studio. So here are a few photographs to show my progress:

The first piece of sheetrock is in!

Still a bit of a mess in the shed but we're making progress.

Sheetrock and the window AC unit are in, still no drywall mud or ceiling in, oh and its still super messy.

The first coat of drywall mud is on and the ceiling is hung. I used old fence pickets for the ceiling, I'm going to white wash that so it lightens up a bit, but I love the look of it. And it was free!

That hole above the door is access to a little loft I built over the porch of my shed, still gives me some storage space in there.

The best part of all is that I can see my garden from the big window I put in the side!

I'll continue to post as the studio, which I'm lovingly dubbing "The Shed", moves further along in the process.

I haven't forgot about my garden, just haven't been writing about it all that much. Its doing great there are a couple things going on with my plants that I'm not so sure about. I think I'll take some photos of them and post them on here soon, maybe some of you guys will have some answers to my dilemmas. I hope everyone's gardens are coming along as well.

Take Care.

Got My Spring Planting Wrapped

Well today was a beautiful day, sunny in the mid to upper 60's. Couldn't ask for a better day when the last couple had been gloomy and rainy. So I thought it would be a perfect time to get the rest of my spring plantings and seeding in the ground. It started off with me and Scout planting her marigold's just like Max and Ruby. If you don't know who that is, google it, you'll thank me for it. Despite Scout pouring almost an entire packet of seen in a 1 inch clay pot, it went pretty well.

Then came time to plant some seedlings and some seed in daddy's lasagna garden. And if any of you are like me, you're pretty particular about how your garden is handled. I just about had a nervous break down with Scout stepping in my beds, on top of my recently seeded herbs, and stabbing her shovel just about everywhere it shouldn't go. Mommy could see my anxiety and distracted Scout from the garden. Now I could breath.

So I got my final seedlings in the ground, these included:

two good clumps of basil
some lavendar
sage
parsley
mammoth dill
(i love me some herbs)
kohl rabi
collard greens
some different leaf lettuces
cabbage
yellow tomatoes
red tomatoes (variety unknown)
big boy tomatoes
jalapeno peppers
serano peppers
chili peppers
banana peppers
bell peppers
tomatillo (from seedlings and seed)
and several varieties of eggplant

I also sowed some seed today:
mustard greens
beets - detroit dark red
beets - tall top
brussell sprouts
squash - dixie hybrid
zuccini - summer squash
peas - alaskan snow
carrots - danvers and red something or other
cucumber - pickling and burpee hybrid

I know this seems like a ton of plants and seed for such a small garden, but I'm sort of using this year as an experiment. I would like to see what varieties do best in my yard and my conditions. I also started and planted seeds and seedlings in a 2 week spread. Every two weeks starting at the middle of January I planted a couple of seeds and seedlings and seeds. This will give me a good estimate for the best time to plant for each variety next spring. I take really good notes with dates, locations, and varieties so I don't miss any important information.

I still have a couple of things to go in the ground, watermelon, cantaloupe and some beans, but for the most part thats a wrap on my spring planting. Kind of glad thats over, now I can sit back and watch. This will give me a chance to give a true evaluation on my thoughts on a lasagna garden. This year will truly be a learning experience. I've already learned that Scout should have her own garden and shouldn't come within 50 yards of mine! Take care and good gardening to you all.

Lasagna Garden Update #4

An update on how the beds layed out and how they are beginning to break down.

Lasagna Garden Design and Concept

I'm sure the few of you that are reading my blog are beginning to ask yourselves what a lasagna garden is.  No, its not a garden designed to produce crops for making lasagna.  Yes, it is a garden designed to provide continuous nutrients to the plants through a method of layering that slightly resembles that of a...you guessed it, lasagna!

People have been using this method for a very long time and its been called many different things.  Some of them being sheet composting, no dig garden, no weed garden, etc...  It has become increasingly more popular because of a book written by Patricia Lanza, Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!  Patricia describes the way that her grandmother grew everything she needed to live on and how she has adapted those methods and built on them.  Like I said people have been doing this for a long time I think that Patricia is just the first to put it all into words, and she did it well.  It's a very easy read.  She also has another book on lasagna gardening that is dedicated to herbs, that may interest some of you that want to get your hands dirty but want to start on a smaller scale.  If your serious about getting into gardening I think its one of the better books out there.

So back to what a lasagna garden actually is.  A lasagna garden is a system of layering materials in a manner that stops weed growth from beneath the garden and provides constant nutrients to the plants by continually breaking down organic matter throughout the season from within.  Essentially your planting a garden in a giant compost.  Here is a diagram of what went into the layers of my garden: