How to Build a Tomato Ring?
Can anyone tell me what are the specific layers you should use of the lagsagna method of gardening and how to make it into a tomato ring. I bought peat moss, top soil, compost and soil conditioner and I have a lot of oak tree leaves. what order should I use? thanks !
Tomato ring (aka japanese tomato ring) is basically making a bit of a raised bed with high organic matter and alot of fertilizer, with a fence to hold the plants up. Google Japanese tomato ring.
For the lasagna bed I would mix everything but the leaves together and dig it into the top soil. Then use the leaves for mulch this summer, and on top of the leaves put your grass clippings and other things as they become available. Lasagna gardening is a technique to get rid of your organic material without making a compost pile. The stuff is seasonal so it results in layers. The layers themselves are not that great for the plants, it is more of an easy gardening technique. As the material breaks down worms etc will mix them into the soil below.
If you have grass where the bed is going to be, turn it over, mix in the other stuff as best you can and put sheets of newspaper (3-4 sheets thick)over top before the leaves go on. That will stop grass from growing up. If you cannot or do not want to dig then put mix the peatmoss and pottng soil together, put it on top of the bed, put down the newspaper then the leaves.
For the lasagna bed I would mix everything but the leaves together and dig it into the top soil. Then use the leaves for mulch this summer, and on top of the leaves put your grass clippings and other things as they become available. Lasagna gardening is a technique to get rid of your organic material without making a compost pile. The stuff is seasonal so it results in layers. The layers themselves are not that great for the plants, it is more of an easy gardening technique. As the material breaks down worms etc will mix them into the soil below.
If you have grass where the bed is going to be, turn it over, mix in the other stuff as best you can and put sheets of newspaper (3-4 sheets thick)over top before the leaves go on. That will stop grass from growing up. If you cannot or do not want to dig then put mix the peatmoss and pottng soil together, put it on top of the bed, put down the newspaper then the leaves.
I have been reading a book about lasagna gardening and am going to try a small bed, just to see how it works. In the book it says to wet your cardboard or newspaper and lay it out right on top of your sod. Then a layer of peat moss, a layer of organic materials (grass clippings, barn litter, chopped leaves, etc..)then peat moss, organic material...until your bed is 12"-18" high, with peat moss and wood ashes as the top layer. In all the pictures and diagrams of the lasagna gardening, compost is the middle layer. I plan on starting my bed later today, still not sure what I'm going to plant in it, but will keep you updated on how it goes.
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Ozark Lady
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One year, I used cardboard to smother out weeds in the garden. I put it down in the fall, to have all winter to break down, then just piled on the leaves.
Come spring, my cardboard, let the weeds through, where the edges didn't overlap and I found it hard to dig through for planting, so I just removed the cardboard and the leaves to the bin. The soil under the cardboard was in good tilth and not hard or caked.
Come spring, my cardboard, let the weeds through, where the edges didn't overlap and I found it hard to dig through for planting, so I just removed the cardboard and the leaves to the bin. The soil under the cardboard was in good tilth and not hard or caked.
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applestar
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Tomato Ring -- first I've heard of it -- seems to be somewhat separate from lasagna gardening. Tomato Ring appear to consist of basically building a nutrient dense pile inside a wire fence and planting tomatoes around it. It looks like you could do this with all organic ingredients with manure for the heavy-duty boost, or with chemical fertilizer mixed with organic materials. The central nutrient reservoir is very similar to the concept for African Keyhole Garden. It would persumably also work with what we've been calling "vegan" compost pile.
With African Keyhole Garden, the entire planting area is raised and a variety of vegetables are planted around the central reservoir, which is also used to supply moisture to the entire structure. By the same token, the "tomato" ring could very well be made into a "pumpkin" ring.
Lasagna Garden, like African Keyhole Garden is an extra-high raised bed -- dimensionally longer and shorter in height than a compost pile -- made of the usual compost pile ingredients and organic materials and heavy on weed-free surface mulch, without centrally located nutrition reservoir.
Personally, I'm a proponent of all organic/no-chemical compost pile/lasagna garden/tomato ring.
With African Keyhole Garden, the entire planting area is raised and a variety of vegetables are planted around the central reservoir, which is also used to supply moisture to the entire structure. By the same token, the "tomato" ring could very well be made into a "pumpkin" ring.
Lasagna Garden, like African Keyhole Garden is an extra-high raised bed -- dimensionally longer and shorter in height than a compost pile -- made of the usual compost pile ingredients and organic materials and heavy on weed-free surface mulch, without centrally located nutrition reservoir.
Personally, I'm a proponent of all organic/no-chemical compost pile/lasagna garden/tomato ring.