OK. So, you want to become more resilient. That’s great.
But how do you start?
One good do-it-yourself way (that you have probably heard a thousand times) is learn how to feed yourself by starting a garden.
To make it an easy choice for you, I’ve searched around for the absolutely easiest, lowest labor method of starting a garden possible. It’s so simple and easy it’s almost criminal. So that means there are NO excuses for not doing it.
The method is called a Sheet or Lasagna Garden since it is built in layers. The big benefit of this type of garden is that it uses a no till approach. That means digging is NOT required and it can radically reduce the amount of weeding you need to do.
If you have the land* that you can use for a garden, here’s a recipe for how to do it.
The big reason it is so easy is that it trades time for effort/expense. You need to give the soil time to repair itself. To become healthy enough to support growing food.
So, here’s what you do.
Let’s assume you have a good area picked out.
- Trim it down. Mow it. Weed whack it.
- Cover the area with a weed barrier. How? Put down a layer of cardboard. Another option is put down a layer of newspaper (5-10 sheets thick). That’s it.
- Add layers of compost. Everything from grass clippings to leaves (rich in minerals) to manure to kitchen scraps. Layer it up to a foot deep. As you add the compost material, push it into row mounds to make it easier to plant in the spring.
- Let it cook for a couple of months.
If there is demand for it, I’ll do a how to video on putting together a lasagna garden.
Hope this was helpful. If you know someone that has said they want to start a garden but always seems to put off doing it, send this recipe for a lasagna garden to them. It may be all it takes to get them on a resilient path.
Resiliently yours,
John Robb
* Don’t have land to start a garden? I’ll share some ways to get around that soon.
