Starting a new bed with squash
I guess you could say I'm a lazy gardener as I will always choose the easier of effective methods. So when I increase my garden I use cardboard, mostly because my husband can always get some from work, it keeps it out of a land fill and all I have to do if rip off the tape and labels. When I do this I don't have the patience to wait a whole year before I can use it, so I dump mounds of dirt about every 5 feet and plant squash. When the soil is the right mix it feeds the squash enough and breaks down the cardboard under it pretty quick.
I live in a pretty high wind zone so I have to use some additional weights until the squash vines take over. Straw is great too because it will all stay together for the next season when I can really work the soil. So this year we get some extra edible squash plus a bunch of carving pumpkins just for fun (and seeds, yum)
Comments
-
I used cardboard under a growing bed for the first time this year. Was just running out of time and needed a space to transplant some raspberry bushes but did not have anything cleared in the area I wanted them in. I laid down cardboard, put a raised bed frame over it and filled it with a mixture of composted chicken manure and topsoil. Planted into that. Will see how it goes. Hoping it breaks down well in our climate. I am zone 3b in Alaska so not a long hot summer to break it down. We can get pretty hot but it is a short season.
-
Great post-I love growing squash and will have to try this next season. :)
-
sounds great Dani! I think we are all lazy gardeners to a degree.
This Week's Leaders
Categories
- All Categories
- 36 Our Front Porch Welcome! (Please Read Before Posting)
- 29 Introductions & Region-Specific Discussions
- 372 Educational Opportunities & Resources
- 468 Current Events & Breaking News
- 54 Emergency/Disaster Preparedness & Resiliency
- 1.4K Our Garden: Growing Food
- 1.8K Our Apothecary: Natural & Home Medicine
- 517 The Back 40: Animal Husbandry & Harvesting
- 40 The Bush: Wild Game and Survival
- 547 Our Kitchen Table: Food Prep
- 402 The Homestead: DIY
- 1.2K Personal Journals
- 111 The General Store: Sell, Buy, & Barter