I am often asked how I make such great soil at the Urban Farm, and how come I literally don't have to till the soil any more. And as you get to know me you will learn that I love to tell stories and this is how I explain this one.
I start by asking if they have a notion of what permaculture is. Usually they say know and I explain that it is the (my defenition as there are so many) art and science of working with nature. At this point I usually recieve a very puzzeled look. So this is how the story goes....
In the city what happens to the leaves that fall on our yards? Usually (not all of us) they are raked up and sent along to the landfill along with all the nutrients that they carry. Then we come back later and add fertilizer to make our plants grow.
Then I ask in the forest what happens to the leaves that fall? There is no one to rake em up. The deer, birds and other animals dig and leave their deposits and over time the nutients bound up in the leves are released and the soil is that much healthier. See my post on 5 components of healthy soil.
So here is where the extended understandable explanation of permaculture comes in. The creators of permaculture looked at the forest soil building process and said we can design something that works just as well and sheet mulching was born (also known in some circles as lasagna gardening.) AND this is the soilution to my healthy soil problem in my garden. AND my chickens pay a big part in providing the fertilizer for this process. AND, AND, AND.
Sheet mulching in a nutshell.
Collect all your and your neighbors dried leaves, add some alfalfa hey (nitrogen rich) and fluff it in a layer about 6 inches thick. Add to the top of that a smattering of composted steer manure, chicken manure or something similar in the maure department. Then another layer of hay/leaves and then more manure, going as thick as you like. Usually my sheet mulch projects are 2 feet thick.
Then the next part (one of the most important) is to leave it alone and let nature takes its course. And after 6 months or so you will have a couple of inches of great mulch where all your living things can florish, including your plants.
Its that simple...
Couple of ideas and a couple of caveats:
If you want to plant out some plants right after you do the sheet mulching excersize, burrow out a small area and add several cups of good would and plant your seeds or seedlings into that. As the pile shrings your plants just move down with it.
Be careful about the manure that you use. If you are using cow or horse manure make sure it is composted to kill the weed seeds.
Make sure that you are aware of the type of hay that you are using. Here in Phoenix they sell a Bermuda hay, full of seeds. That would be just like planting a grass lawn in my garden.
My permaculture teacher Tim Murphy told us that we could sheet mulch right on top of concrete and grow great goodies.
Most of all be patient and you will end up with some great results.
