Going Green in the garden

A fantastic program on the Sundance Channel called "It's not easy being green" has a family that moves to Cornwall, England to set up a farm that is completely self sufficient. Raising their own vegetables, pigs, chickens, creating their own electricity, composting toilet etc. George and I have enjoyed watching the show and have learned a few things too. We are hoping to eventually go green a little bit around here with solar panels.

One of the things shown in the vegetable garden is using rolls of heavy kraft paper as a mulch to cover the soil and prevent weeds. It is easy to layout, easy to cut through for planting, and it breaks down over the season to allow for a fresh bed to plant. Most folks around here use newspapers to block weeds but I really like the kraft paper rolls for long rows and ease of use. We generally rototill and cultivate to fight the weeds which are monsters in the garden. Rototilling just brings new seeds up from below ground and makes the problem worse.

Lasagna gardening creates new layers and each layer covers up the previous one which blocks the weeds from the sunlight and prevents germination. Read more about Lasagna gardening in the book which is for sale in our Video & Bookstore.