How to build a no dig vegetable garden at home
Before rushing into it, plan the ideal size and location of the no-dig bed that best meet your objectives. Do not skip this important step! You will need the following materials: -
- Old newspapers
- a few bales of straw
- a few bales of lucern
- compost (mushroom compost)
- border material (wood, bamboo, rocks etc)
- cow or sheep manure
- blood and bone
- Compost or potting mix to make the planter holes(if you want to plant strait away)
After mapping out your garden bed it is time to start building layers. Start with the newspaper about 1cm thick. Watering the newspaper as you go is useful and be sure to crossover the newspaper as you go so no gaps form. From there its a matter of layering the straw, lucerne and manure - there will be at least 2 thick layers of each. Scatter the manure, compost and blood and bone every few layers. The whole garden should be built up at least 30cm high. The higher the better as it will start to break down in a few weeks.
On the top, pull appart some straw and make what I call "planter cups" - basically a 15cm well that is filled with ytour compost or potting mix. After watering these, you can start planting immediately.
No Dig Garden Beds
Once you have one bed going, you can add another or simply add onto the existing bed. These beds will require additional maintance every few months. Build them up with compost and straw and water the plants with a good seaweed mixture.
Perrenial Vegetables
This is a special topic to me - growing perrenial vegetables was something I could not have imagined when I started out. Now, it is an important element as people are so much more busy in the modern day. Growing perrenial crops takes away the no time excuse. If you have to spend all your spare time in the garden just so it is maintianed, you are doing something wrong.
When starting out a perrenial bed you need to choose your plants well. Prolific self seeders like amaranth and Warrigal Greens are a good start. Garlic, artichoke, Oak lettuce, perrenial basil and Queensland arrowroot are all good choices. Life is getting busier for everyone and a perrenial patch means you will always have a meal when you need it - even if the garden has been neglected.