Here are the new pictures of our garden. It’s looking pretty luscious and a week ago we harvested our first round of chard and lettuce. So far there have been almost no weeds. We were only watering every 3 days or so until the recent heat wave. This method is excellent.

The Garden June 30, 2009

These guys will be ready soon

Squash

Last weekend we (Elliott, Steven, and I) built our no-dig garden in our front yard. This technique, which you can learn more about here and here, is a method which uses less water, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and maintains the natural balance and integrity of the native soil. Basically, you plant above ground in layers of alfalfa hay (also known as Lucerne hay) and rich soil/manure/compost, with a layer of straw on top and soggy cardboard on the bottom. The top layer of straw keeps in the moisture and warmth, as well as prevents weeds from growing. The alfalfa will breakdown and to enrich the soil layer. The cardboard will help retain water. Here’s how we did ours: