Tag Archives: sheet composting

the untidy gardener

fallen kale

fallen kale leaves

When the fiance and I started our Master Organic Gardener certification class, we were told that what we were about to learn was going to be a change of perspective more than anything. A paradigm shift. We’ve learned a lot about gardening; how to test our soil, understand the biology and chemistry of soil vitality and how to make compost tea. But at the end of the day, the most important lesson I will take away from all of this is how to see my garden in a completely different light.

Now don’t get me wrong – we were already practicing organic horticulture before we dove headfirst into this class. I certainly wasn’t running around with Roundup in my hip-holster. No sir. But boy oh boy have I had some revelations. The biggest one being – the best way to a fantastic organic garden is to not garden so much! See – told ya, wrap your head around that!

spent leaves

spent leaves

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garden bed installation: sheet composting

materials for sheet composting: "greens and browns"

materials for sheet composting: browns

This fall the fiance and I have been on a new gardening adventure – we’re in the process of becoming certified as Organic Master Gardeners through SOUL and Gaia College. So far it has knocked my socks off. Spending 6 hours in “school” a week might seem like a bit much on top of a full time job and life, but it has been well worth the time. We have surprised ourselves not only with how much there is to know, but even more by how much knowledge we’ve already gained through our reading and endless hours in the garden.

The program is split between evening in-class lectures and Saturday afternoons in the garden. Our last Saturday was spent in the pouring rain learning how to compost and picking worms (you know you’re a hard core gardener when). Thankfully today, halloween, the sun came out for us for our garden bed installation class.

Sheet composting is the lazy lady’s way of installing a garden bed. My goodness if I had known about this before we ripped out the lawn . . . I can’t help but shake my head at how much digging I could have saved my poor little arms. Basically rather than going to the bother of ripping up the lawn or making a pile of compost in a corner somewhere, you’re killing two birds and making the compost right there where you want the bed. Continue reading