Saturday, September 28, 2019

Lasagna Gardening and Such

It wasn't raining today! Michael and Alex made it a goal to finish up "the Birch tree." Nolan was off work and got sucked into the job. Dad is always in the middle of the activity.

I thought it would be good to snatch some one on one time with Krista so the two of us went to Thrifters Rock on a hunt for jeans that would fit me. My jeans seem to be stretching out and sliding down to regions I do not wish to show. 😏 I don't want to spend a lot of money until I'm at goal weight. I am now less than I was at JaRissa's wedding. We found a few cute shirts and one pair of jeans that will work. I'll try to make it to Bishop's Attic and find another pair. The ones I have now are crop pants and it's getting a bit chilly for crop pants and flip flops..especially when they don't stay up. ::snort:: I also found 4 mini-loaf pans...

I baked a couple batches of zucchini bread. I made onne batch exactly as written....and did a second, healthier version. The healthier version rose higher. I needed to have filled the mini-loaf pans fuller. I cut a loaf of each and had everyone in the family do a blind side by side to tell me which they liked better.  I did not participate and I did not let Dad participate. We are eating the sugar free version regardless - diabetes being what it is. The family chose the reduced oil, no sugar added version.

Yes, you see chocolate chips. BTW Lily's has a stevia sweetened chocolate chip that is good. I'll use MUCH less chocolate next time.  Stacia made up some of our homemade hot chocolate mix and we plan to package a pint jar of hot chocolate,  with a loaf, and deliver them to neighbors.

Stacia and I went out to do a  bit of winterizing in our garden. We decided composting the garden greens is the perfect way to begin a second lasagna garden bed. Michael and Alex didn't have the supplies or time to build another box....so we simply laid cardboard out, then a layer of brown, followed by a layer of green, and another layer of brown. This will be the spot where we put our kitchen scraps and chicken coop debris through the winter. The lasagna method is an easy way to create soil by sheet composting.
Note Dad and Nolan burning brush in the background

The following quote gives a summary of the lasagna gardening method. I found it here.   I also recommend "Lasagna Gardening" by Patricia Lanza.
"Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener. The name "lasagna gardening"...refers to the method of building the garden, which is, essentially, adding layers of organic materials that will “cook down” over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. Also known as “sheet composting,” lasagna gardening is great for the environment because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden."
We had enough frozen garden plants to add another layer of green to the first lasagna bed....

 Followed by a brown layer....it will  settle down within a week. 

The temps have dropped and we have had frost. I tried to save a few squash plants by covering them with tarps. They look iffy.  As I pulled the cauliflower plants, I noticed the broccoli has new florets.

We covered this bed and made make-shift ends for the tunnel. 

We've still got kale and carrots growing in here. 

 As we pulled up plants we found MORE Zucchini -  we are "SURE" they're the last of the season. We also found a hill of Yukon potatoes and a few stray carrots.

We aren't 100% sure how to put the garden to bed for the season. Ideas? I had thought to cover it all with black plastic to keep the crazy weeds from taking over as the snow melts next spring.  I'm rethinking this as I found hundreds, maybe thousands, of dead worms on top of the plastic that was out there during the last rain. I need the worms.