I've a brown thumb and the yard to prove it haha but I'm wanting to convert most of my landscape to flowers and vegetables, a few fruit trees, berry bushes...
I'm reading a book on lasagna gardening which *whew* let me tell you is a relief to the back-breaking methods we've done in the past for veggie gardens including renting and hauling rotatillers, building raised beds, etc.
Have any of your strawbalers tried the lasagna method? If yes, please tell me what would be the pros of strawbaling vs that....
Compare the Strawbale method with Lasagna Gardening...
A big pro for me was all the lovely rotted straw that I could layer onto my soil beds at the end of the season! Or create new beds with. I think strawbale and lasagna gardening could work wonderfully side by side.
I couldnt get my own bales this past season becuase of a nationwide shortage, but my soil is still showing the benefits. When I move house next year I will use strawbale gardening to help build my new garden.
Lena
I haven't planted yet but here's what I've done...it is sort of a combo of strawbale (hay for me)/ lasagna/ Ruth Stout method. (Ruth Stout was a lady of generous years who gardened using thick straw/hay mulch on her beds. Queen of No Till. If you've not read about her, give her a google. Fun story!)
On beds that I had done the "lasagna" thing last year, I pulled apart the hay bales and laid down the "pages" very thickly. The only weeds in that are are our damnable wild dewberries which I will have to "round up" before planting the other stuff. Only a few, but they're there. They hay underneath is breaking down nicely, the earth is moist and the roots are going to LOVE it when I get stuff planted.
I used hay bales to outline some "raised beds" in which I've put TONS of chopped leaves and grass that I will use in the same method of the Ruth Stout hay mulch...I will plant with potting soil into holes in that OM and then top off with some more hay for mulch and I will also plant things into the hay bales.
Over the next couple of years, I'm anticipating the break down of the hay to benefit he soil it is on. (Already seeing some mushrooms sprouting in the hay bales...a GOOD THING!) I will also be treating the OM in the beds, the soil underneath and the plants with some beneficial indigenous microorganisms from special "brews" that I make up and will use as soil drenches and foliar feeds.
I'm looking at this as sort of a two year project to get my soil food web back into top notch shape.
I too was thinking thinking that strawbale and lasagne could be a symbiotic deal. I have some bales that are too broken down to use for strawbale.
Ginger