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I've been gardening, seems like forever. My best 'creation' was laying a soaker hose along the growing rows, then cover the garden with newspapers. They must be 8-10 sheets deep to keep out the weeds. During the winter, we count the weekly paper out and staple the corners to keep them separate. That gave me an idea. so now when I lay the papers in the garden, I staple them together. They don't fly around and 'repairs' are easy.
When it's planting time, I just cut the place I wish to plant and there ya go. These pics were taken a couple of years ago when we had very little rain. I ran the soakers very little and in August which was the worst here, I was even giving lettuce and mesculun mix to my neighbors.
In one pic I believe you can see the umbrella which I use along with a sheet to shade the lettuce area when it gets hot. My neighbor gave me rav compliments when I showed up with my 'extra' for her, and she had a very important dinner meeting for her husbands clients. They all asked where she had gotten such wonderful greens for the salad. That compliment alone made my year! Also? those newspapers compost down, just need some grass clippings to help. Easy way to do it all.
Feed the garden, save water, lessen the weeding, keeps your feet clean when it's muddy too!. Happy gardening!!
By Kathy
By
04/22/2005
Thanks for sharing your garden plans and ideas with us. It's so helpful to have the pictures.
Susan from ThriftyFun
By
04/15/2005
Great idea!! Is it necessary to lay soaker hoses? I want to try this, can I just water my garden every day? Thanks! Erica eslatham@earthlink.net
By (Guest Post)
04/06/2005
Great idea about the newspapers. Thanks! You must live in a pretty calm climate, though, because where I live, the strong winds would quickly blow over anything like an umbrella or the sheet setup like you have.
By
04/06/2005
you can 1/2 the amount of newspaper you use. 4 sheets are enough to block weeds and will decompose faster.
A Master Gardener in NY
By Lisa (Guest Post)
04/05/2005
THANK YOU !! :-)
I was just out planting onions today and really was dreading the thought of fighting the weeds this year.
We did use n-papers last year.. but not as smartly as you did !:-) I will start stapling tom . !
THANKS AGAIN :-)
YOU made my day :_)
Beautiful garden by the way..
Lisa , IA>
By Ronsan (Guest Post)
04/05/2005
We've done something similar but a bit different and with fabulous results. We put down the drip irrigation system noting where we want the different plants. Then as the grass clippings accumulate from our 2 acre mowings, we dump them right on top of the newspaper and spread them out. We had two very large compost bins going but with as much clippings as this yard generates, we had to do something else. We have a large garden so most years we manage to make two complete coverings with plenty of clippings still left over for trees, bushes, etc. What a difference the paper and grass clippings made in terms of weeds, water consumption and the actual health and vitality of the plants. The harvest were incredible. In the fall, we simply took up the drip irrigation system and then turned under the near-compost when the garden was done. The soil amendments of the decomposed newspaper and grass clippings have really improved our garden, too.
By annette (Guest Post)
04/05/2005
I do the same thing only with cardboard boxes,iwork for a wal-mart and they throw out boxes everyday...
By Barbie (Guest Post)
04/05/2005
Thanx that is such a cool idea.....I have used carpet remnants for this purpose but then you need to discard them at the endof the season.....not only a waste but pretty gross too......
This will make things much easier....Thanx again
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