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Organic Vegetable Garden
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Posted: May/01/2008 6:21 AM PST
Hello everybody, I am new to the forum and to everything gardening related. I bought my first home a few months back and I want to plant an organic vegetable garden. I have an idea of which fruits and vegetables I want to plant and I know I want to do it on raised beds. I am planning to use hardi board for the raised beds, is that safe for an organic garden? Also, what should I layer on the raised bed? I have read things like cardboard, newspaper, lucerne hay, fertilizer, straw and compost. Is that the best way, or is there a better one? |
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Posted: May/01/2008 9:42 AM PST
Hmmm, I don't think the hardiboard would be "bad", but you may need to provide LOTS of support for it because it's very bendy and may not be able to hold back the weight of the soil. I would use compost as a mulch in the actual rows, and newspaper in the space between rows. You'd need to lay it thick, and use something heavy to keep it down. |
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Posted: May/14/2008 2:47 PM PST
Good for you! I have been reading a book on "lasagna" (or layering) gardening. They suggest that you lay wet newspaper down on the sod (without removing the sod first) then layer the stuff, like straw, peat moss, compost, more peat moss, etc, like you would in your compost pile, basically. The newspapers should be color-free and thoroughly wet. This will help it to compost and allow drainage, but kills weeds for the most part. The first year I had raised beds, my brother (professional landscaper) suggested that I get some mushroom compost to put on top. I then mixed this up with regular compost, kitchen scraps, cut grass, etc. The plants love it. Good luck! |
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