How exactly should I start them?



I have access to alot of cardboard and newspapers....and mulch and compost seems attainable as well.


Do I just cardboard and mulch paths between rows, and keep the rows for amendments or what?

If I cover the entire beds, how would I plant garlic or onions....the rest of the plants, besides seeds would be rather easy, but seeds or alliums would be hard to plant through cardboard and mulch.


I have wanted to follow the methods here, but have always found it hard to start....can I get some ideas for getting it going?

What about cover crops/green manure?

Im mostly concerned with planting my onion sets, garlic and seeds....transplants are easy.


Any suggestions would help me if I decide to go this way...we hand weeded a 40 by 40 and 15 by 40 garden this weekend....rough.

Speaking from my own experience and not a thorough review of the literature... (Who has time when there's gardening to do?)

You put down the cardboard or newspaper over top of your existing soil. The purpose of the cardboard or newspaper is to kill off grass / weeds by depriving them of light. If you are amending an existing garden spot that has no grass or weeds, you might skip that initial layer.

On top of the cardboard or newspaper, pile on a LOT of compostable material -- as many varied ingredients as you can come up with; smaller pieces will break down more quickly than larger ones. Mix browns and greens just as you would when making a compost pile. Leaves, straw, grass clippings, shredded newspaper, coffee grounds, alfalfa pellets, a sprinkling of dried molasses, aged (ideally composted) manure, etc. Wet it down and let it start cooking.

You can transplant into this material (on top of, not through, the cardboard or newspaper) very shortly after you make it. I have transplanted as little as a couple of weeks post-construction, though I have found that it's quite helpful to put in a little extra of the soil and/or aged manure layers if I'm planning to transplant soon. This medium is not quite so friendly for direct-sowing. I would go ahead and plant potatoes into it, but I would probably not plant garlic or onions at this stage. Make sure you water your transplants quite well, especially at the beginning, because the medium drains extremely well. If you just *must* plant some kind of a seed crop (say, squash), then clear away a spot, plunk down a good bit of real soil and put the seeds there.

Make sure you keep the whole shebang watered well throughout an entire growing season. By the end of that growing season, the cardboard or newspaper should have disintegrated. You can then fork in the amendments to your native soil. Let THAT sit for a couple of weeks (keep it damp, make sure there's enough "green" to balance any remaining "browns" you've forked in) and at that point, you should be good to plant your garlic.

I did this exact strategy last year. About the first of September, I removed crop from the beds in question (it was basically done anyway). Forked in any remaining OM, along with some additional aged manure and a bunch of coffee grounds from Starbucks. Let it sit. Within the week, it was warm to the touch! 3 weeks later, I was planting garlic into the newly-amended soil.

Have fun! As a bonus, this method provides great exercise w/o the burden of a pricey gym membership.

I second all Liz's suggestions as I've followed pretty much the same course and am having amazing results. I would add on the watering issue, if at all possible put soaker hoses down before you mulch.
Any place that you put down cardboard or newspaper on the ground and keep it moist, the worms will come and do your tilling for you!

While many people think the purpose of newspaper or cardboard is to kill weeds, and they do a very good job of that, that material is a part of your mulch and helps extend the material you have on hand. If one were to properly mulch the garden, with a mulch 6 inches deep no newspaper or cardboard would be needed, but many of us do not have that much material, or to much space to cover.
All of your soil, except right where the plant is growing should be mulched, not just the "paths", every bit of soil you do not want something to grow in.

I'd start by tilling at least the pathways between the beds and piling that good topsoil on the beds for a deeper bed. At some point you are going to want to plant crops like carrots, garlic, onions, potatoes and countless others that that need their roots to not be hindered by cardboard. Cardboard isn't essential. Any heavily-applied mulch will kill and slow down weeds to a manageable level while allowing access to your soil, as Ruth Stout pointed out years ago. (Your soil is where your plants will find the essential minerals, nutrients and groundwater that will be lacking in the compost.)

Also, cardboard and newspaper is easy to come by but make sure you will always have a steady and abundant supply of organic matter to constantly replenish the beds as it decomposes into the soil.

It is not a one-shot, cover and forget deal. These "no-work" gardening systems require quite a bit of work. Even Ruth Stout had weeds poking through her heavily mulched beds when she popularized these methods decades decades in the past.

Wayne

By the time you plant root crops -- in the second season or beyond -- the cardboard will have disintegrated & become part of your added OM, just as Kimm1 said. It will not be a hindrance.

Agreed w/ Wayne! You will definitely not be weed-free for life!

If you are using leaves, weed seed is not a problem. But for me, what I have in abundance is old soiled hay, and that has a lot of weed seed. What I have found this year is that the newspaper or cardboard works as a barrier both ways.

It keeps weed seed in your soil from germinating do to no light, but it keeps weeds from getting established, and difficult to pull from the top side too. If they sprout, the mulch drys out to quick, and the cardboard prevents the roots from reaching the soil.

It depends on the mulch you can get your hands on easily. Here on the prairies of SD, not too many trees close by. mk

How about cover crop/green mulches....have been researching them, but wow...what is best for a northern gardener, who plants garlic, onions and potatoes...as well as tomatoes, peppers and summer squash....

Im just trying to formulate a plan for the future, while a growing season is underway.

I went to a garlic festival here in the finger lakes today, and an organic garlic grower uses oats as a cover crop, as it also acts as a mulch for next year.

I was wondering what would be the best seed to buy for me.

I think I'd check with your county agriculture agent or a good, established local farm supply company for suggestions. I've been told that almost any cereal grain makes a good cover crop, but it needs to be suited to your area. I'm in zone 7 so I can use most anything--but don't know what would be good for cold country.

Oats could be a short term cover crop, but oats will be frost killed and if you want that soil protected during the winter then Field, or Winter, or Cereal Rye is something to consider, or maybe a winter wheat, or something else that will stay green and hold your soil in place all winter.

I planted a winter field pea to boost nitrogen in my beds last fall. To my surprise many of them made it through the winter, and our North Dakota winters aren't easy. I have lots of field peas getting ready to harvest now, not what I planned, but it was an experiment. This is the pea I used.

I think that the winter kill is what makes oats attractive....becomes mulch....Rye, and field peas would work, as well as a vetch, or buckwheat....need to decide soon.

I hope I am following what you are asking. This is what I am in favor of now: I have rows 2-4 feet wide depending on what will go in them (some I can step across and others I have to walk around) and between them about 2 foot paths. The paths have cardboard or newspaper with straw on top for the most part (some have old plywood). The actual rows have straw, not a ton, that can be raked off to add compost, etc and then mulched back up again. I have always had issue with mulch being annoying in veg or peren gardens when seeding so I understand your concern. If you measure out your rows and paths, leave them that way 'forever', put down thick stuff on the paths and lighter stuff on the rows (either chopped leaves or straw IMHO) then you should be able to work year after year without a problem. You can dump compost or manure on the rows whenever and cover crop them too, then after planting, straw or leaf again. When the row will have big transplants you can put down wet newspaper (I like putting it down wet, not wetting after) then rake the straw back on. When you are doing seeds or garlic or glads you can rake off the straw and replace later. I would suggest starting with the garlic area now, put down lots of compost/manure in wide rows, heavily mulch the paths and in fall rake the rows, plant the garlic 4 wide and then heavily straw for winter. Next year you could heavily mulch the rest of the garden.
I am all for leaving my paths and rows as is and never tilling again, unfortunately I am probably losing my field so I may have to start somewhere else from scratch.

thanx Minnie, and everyone else, for the advice...I am taking it all in, and asking questions where I can...hoping to make better organic beds for later if possible