Soil Prep 101

I dig digging.  Getting out there and feeling the shovel slide right through the earth with my foot enforcing just the right amount of pressure is soooooo satisfying.  However, there is a deterrent to a good dig that I face on a regular basis.  That, my friend, is grass.

Nothing blocks a smooth sink more than grass roots.  "ARRRGGGHHHHHH!" is all I can say.  When I'm patient, I do the circular perimeter (aka the circumference) approach where I create a disk broader than the god forsaken clump, then slice it off underroot and feed it to my pigs (after freeing the worms).   But there are other times where I just can't face it and go to plan b.  In case you didn't know it already, I'm the self-proclaimed Queen of Plan B.  It makes life interesting and reminds me that yes, there are options.

So here's an option I just love:  lasagna gardening.  This is where grass (and all its neighbors) get smothered to the point of compliance.  All you need is some newspaper, compost, anything green (that actually grew from the ground at one time), and black plastic.  Oh, and time.  What you see below is from soil prep that began in the fall, uncovered last week; lasagna baking for about 7 months, mmmm!

So I'll walk you through the process with a few pics from a recent soil extravaganza..... And here's a secret - put the lasagna ingredients down in any order you choose.  It's like cooking - do what works for you.  I typically put down layers according to what I can do at the time.  And if you don't have everything -- no biggie.  The most important component is newspaper, an earthworm magnet (I use paper printed with soy ink, thanks Mom for saving all those papers for me!) If you don't have newspaper, go with cardboard.  Just make sure it's not lined with plastic because after decomposition, you're left with flimsy plastic bits that are difficult to extract and aren't good for worms or the soil. 

Here you see a large piece of black plastic under which is a layer of all the things mentioned above.  The plastic lets things cook.  I know it's unsightly, but, I don't care because what it gives me is beautiful to behold.  Take my advice and get the heavy duty plastic.  It's durable so you can use it year after year.

Ahhhhh.....that was grass!  Notice the moisture present and the debris that can be worked in to create a nice texture to the clay-heavy soil. 

Check out the holes in the soil, courtesy of worms, ants, and pill bugs, some of the world's greatest aerators.

If you look carefully, you can see this worm hasn'tquite finished with this paper yet....

A sign of good soil prep.  Lots of worms who are happy to stick around for as long as you like.  Time to plant!