From grass to garden

Have you resolved to eat a healthier diet? Have more control over what’s in your food? Save money in 2015?

Here is a highly effective way to do all of these at once: transform your turf into groceries. A simple garden can be a 5-gallon bucket or a 4’ x 4’ bed. “A garden area of 10’ x 10’ yields $2,200 in savings,” testifies Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International. I’ll show you how to scheme now, so you are ready as soon as May melts its way toward us.

“Oh-oh!” you’re thinking. “Does this mean wrench my poor back to rip out sod?”

No. Choose one of these easier ways: 1) Build up, not down, 2) Lasagne gardens, 3) Containers, 4) Edible landscape.

First, decide where to create a bit of growing space. You’ll want to locate it where there is mostly full sun and easy access to a water faucet. Second, how big do you want this mini-plot? You’ll be amazed at what a single 4’ x 8’ garden bed will yield an abundance of mouth-watering lettuces, greens, broccoli, and carrots.

Build up, not down: Plop an enclosure on top of your lawn. A wood-framed box or a section of culvert will do. Just avoid using treated lumber, which can leach toxins into your vegetables. Construct your garden bed frame as little as 8” high, or make it about 36” high for wheel chair and no-kneel gardeners. Lay about 3 layers of cardboard on the bottom to smother the grass. Then fill with a mixture of ¾ soil and ¼ compost, and you are ready to plant.

Lasagne garden: This is another way that you can build up a new garden bed instead of digging down. You can make this with or without a bed frame. Sprinkle white flour or lime on the grass to define the borders of your plot. Mow your area short. Next begin the lasagne layering. Lay down 2-3 layers of overlapping cardboard to block sunlight from sod and weed seeds. Cover this with 2-3” of compost or composted manure. Saturate this well with water. Follow with 24” of organic matter — a combination of compost, rotten hay, leaves, lawn clippings, manure, coffee grounds, and kitchen scraps. Moisten this lasagne layer thoroughly. Now cap this off with 2-3” of compost or straw for a vegetable bed. Cap with wood chips if this is to be a bed of fruits, edible flowers, or medicinal herbs. If you can construct this ahead of the growing season, such as autumn or before spring break up, the soil microbes will have a head start on decomposing the turf and the layers of organic materials into nutrient-rich soil.

Containers are a space-saving way to harvest a surprising amount of tasty herbs, luscious vegetables, and fresh salads. Look around for containers — large horticultural pots, whiskey barrels, and other creations (except old tires, which leach too much zinc). Make sure your containers have some drainage holes. Fill with a mix of ¾ soil and ¼ compost. Grow food you can trust in there.

Create edible landscape: Re-purpose an edge or centerpiece of your property to become perennial food-yielding space. Wouldn’t a strawberry bed be a delicious and low-care grazing area to have? Imagine starting grocery patches in the form of raspberries, gooseberries, honeyberries (Lonicera), and currants. Edibles like these mean less lawn area to mow. Also consider planting clusters of medicinal native herbs. Yarrow, wormwood, and mint are hearty and their textures are attractive. You’ll enjoy the satisfaction of having your own pharmacy outside your doorstep.

Tear up the turf: OK, this is an option too! If your place is blessed with soil, digging a garden is well worth an investment of your time. Once you cut the sod or smother it, and spread compost, your plot keeps on giving and giving.

Plan now: It’s time to declare freedom from a boring mowed landscape. Convert some of it to a lush garden. Choose your method, and reap the Big Three: a healthier diet, control over what’s in your food, and money saved.

Ellen Vande Visse operates Good Earth Garden School and offers educational workshops like “Grass to Garden” through goodearthgardenschool.com.