The New Complete Joy of Square Foot Lasagna Gardening

I've been reading up on gardening as of late, getting ready to plant my very first garden this spring. I've been reading "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I own the 2005 edition, it was a gift. But honestly the designer in me thought it so poorly designed that I sought out the much earlier 1981 edition of the book that I like much better. The youthful Mel is much more informative and less preachy about the ease of it all. Though I must admit I occasionally I look at what ideas the older, wiser Mel has retained after all these years. Actually, I squint so as to get the information but not be distracted by the design.

What I love about Mel's 1981 edition, reminds me of the enthusiastic grassroots publishing like The New Moosewood Cookbook. Right down to the informative black-and-white illustrations. Like they are pen and ink doodles meant to instruct as well as illustrate. I find them charming in that they are direct, sincere, informative and homey. After all, you can't get more home than cooking or gardening.

Mel also kind of reminds me of Charlie Papazian, author of "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing 3rd edition" in that they both have removed the perceived complex barriers of their subjects to make it appealing to the masses. I'm sure Charlie's Rastafarian-sounding motto to just "relax and have a home brew" will be going through my head if I start to stress about the garden.

The other gardening book I've been reading is "Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces: A Layering System for Big Results in Small Gardens and Containers" by Patricia Lanza. I thought the main idea of the book was solid. But that the rest was just kind of standard gardening filler on plant types and such. But I really spent some time with it and found some great tips on vegetable plants and their specific needs that only a seasoned gardener might know. I've made many notes for the year using this book.

As the name of this blog post suggests, I'm going to combine the two ideas and create a raised lasagna bed of compost and peat moss built on wet newspapers and divide it into manageable square-foot squares. I'll plant only the seeds I need and relax and have a homebrew.

With all this reading and planning, I went out tonight to measure 4'x4' in the side yard where I want to put this new garden. And I had to laugh because it's so small. Best to ease into this I think. I can always add more squares throughout the year if I like. I'd rather it be too small to start with than bite off more than I can chew.

Oh, and composting. That might be a whole blog entry unto itself. I haven't quite figured out best to do that yet. I see the benefits though.

Seeds are ordered and should arrive soon. Stay tuned ... and have a homebrew.