Lasagna and Recycling

Another productive day in the garden, concentrating on getting it prepped for a new bounty this year. Today I started building up a long bed using the "lasagna" method; adding layers of organic materials and wastes that will compost over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help plants thrive. Parts of the garden are quite shallow with less than a foot of top soil before hitting the hard stuff. In order to build up the beds and make them deeper for my plants, I moved topsoil from the bed I planned to make the "lasagna" and added it to the next bed. The idea behind creating a "lasagna" bed is that ultimately, I will be building up the soil by essentially composting in place and growing veggies on top. This method requires no digging and no tilling, less watering and weeding, and can be done right on top of sod. For those who are interested in starting a garden but are dealing with a lot of rocks or an insufficient amount of top soil and/or don't believe they have the time to dedicate completely to managing the garden, this method is ideal.


When building the bed, you want a balance between carbon (dried material such as leaves, hay, wood shavings, etc.) and nitrogen (greens like grass clipping, manure, food scraps, etc.). I began work laying down a layer of hay than added freshly cut grass clippings and some manure (which is not in short supply thanks to our resident horse, Buck), another layer of hay and leaves, a layer of barn wastes, so on and so forth while also adding in ready-made compost and soil to get things going. After a lot of gathering and hauling materials around, I'm starting to form my lasagna bed.

Eddy guards squash seedlings that were found in the compost pile

Along with my work on the new raised bed, I also planted a lettuce and mesclun mix along with some arugula among rows of garlic.

This vernal pool directly behind our house is home to a few indicator 
species; spotted salamander, wood frog and fairy shrimp

A vernal pool is simply a temporary wetland that forms in shallow depressions in forested areas and fill annually from precipitation, runoff, and rising groundwater. The wet-dry cycle of a vernal pool prevents fish from becoming established making it an ideal and rich habitat for many species of amphibians and reptiles that use them for breeding and feeding in an area of reduced predation. They are also important as water sources for other wildlife, as well as a valuable food source. Vernal pools are indispensable to biodiversity. Beneath the still water of the woodland pool is an incredible array of life.

Back in the woods I surveyed the closest vernal pool (right behind the house). Both spotted salamander and woods frog egg clusters have been formed on the vegetation and I look forward to watching them develop. This pool, unlike most vernal pools, stays full year-round from the water table. David and I suspect that the well-like formation next the the pool could indicate residents long ago actively utilized this source of water.