We have moved into a new house and I'm excited to start my garden. This fall I'm going to stake out the garden plot, kill the grass and put some garden soil on top, and start composting to have the dirt ready for spring planting. A couple questions:
In your opinion, should I :
1) keep my compost (kitchen scraps) in a container and add it to the dirt early spring, or
2) throw kitchen scraps straight into the garden dirt through winter, turning and covering with dirt often.
Which is better option in order to have the dirt ready for spring?
Also, what's a safe way to kill off the grass without tainting the dirt?
My advice would be to rent a tiller and use that for a new garden or be prepared for some digging
If not using a tiller I would remove the sod and then turn over all the soil underneath- remove a row of soil to make this easier. If you can place the grass sod upside down underneath the soil. Just till the grass in if your using that. I would have a seperate area for my compost and add it when it is finished. I'm not sure where you live but in the NE winter rye is a great crop to plant and then till it in in the spring to enrich your soil. Happy gardening
If you turn the sod over so the grass is pointing down and cover it with earth it wont grow back. If you wish you can turn the sod over or leave as is and cover with a thick layer of newspaper which blocks the sunlight thereby killing the grass and it will decompose by next spring.Anything that keeps out the sunlight will kill your grass. Ahhh a mild winter
not sure about the winter rye but any farm supply center could tell you. Garden Centers may also be able to give you good advice. HTH
We've been told to lay a few layers of unglossy, black and white newsprint, or brown paper bags, or uncoated corrugated cardboard over the grass, then follow with 4-6 inches of mulch, to get a grass-free plantable area in about three months. We are going to try it this fall to turn bad lawn into good flower beds in the front yard.
Hi, I grow my veges in raised beds. I simply build a frame out of untreated timber. Before putting it in it's place I lay heaps of carboard, a couple of layers, I usually go out further than the frame. I then follow up with a mix of dirt, compost and mulch. I have no problems with weeds or grass, just keep topping up with compost and mulch to make sure the grass is well and truly covered as it wont grow without light
I don't till the soil, I have enough labour intensive work to do
now you have 2 compost bins one for receiving new stuff, one with finished or almost finished compost.
this shape is easy to access and has worked well for us for 10 years.
cardboard--yes!
you can get great big pieces of it at the hardware store where they have their cardboard recycling. or at a packaging warehouse. they have scrap. there are all kinds of places.
I would suggest you mark it out, double dig* the area and then compost right onto it through the winter. I would also suggest covering the entire thing with black plastic to keep the temp. up so the composting activates faster and more efficiently. Close to spring stop adding fresh scraps, just start a new pile off to the side. Make sure that whenever you add stuff to it you give it a good turn and enuogh water to keep it damp.
*In this method, crops are planted in beds that are "double-dug". The gardener digs 12 inches down and then loosens the soil to a depth of 24 inches. This loose soil enables plant roots to penetrate easily and allows more air in the soil, creating a "raised-bed" effect. Moisture is retained without waterlogging", weeding is simplified because of the looseness of the soil, and erosion is minimized.
I've read that newsprint ink contains lead, so I'd stay away from that idea unless you're sure it doesn't...you don't need to be eating that with your veggies!
...sorry--I didn't mean to start a rumor, it's just that I've seen this info in soooo many articles and threads about composting and have read it elsewhere as well (but where???). From what I can find in discussions, it appears that the colored inks are the risky ones, not the black and white--one person goes as far as to say that the glossy ads are the worst.
Also--my friend has an old house that they were scraping/painting and had her son tested for lead to be sure...He scored fairly high, so the ped sent in the health department (OH). The guy who did the testing had a checklist and specifically asked her if she let him chew on paper--not necessarily newsprint--but he did tell her that even today's children's books can have lead in the inks and do not let your kids chew on paper (which they love).
Almost all inks used in newspapers are soy based. The ones you have to watch out for are the glossy print inks used in ciculars and inserts like the Parade section in some papers. Regular dull newpaper is great to use, worms will actually search it out and work their way up to the surface of your soil.
I would second Misfit's advice. My mom did this to avoid a lot of digging and it worked wonderfully. The sod broke down and was all soft and easy to dig and it required no major work on her part.
Me, I'm always impatient so I end up digging up the sod (I use one of those things that has an ax on one end and a pick type thing on the other) and then putting in soil.
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