#no-dig

Jude revisits the first bed he created to transform it into something much better. “I made the beginner’s mistake of planting straight into the soil. I didn’t know about adding extra nutrients and how important soil is,” says Jude. But with this knowledge now in hand, he’s reusing this space to build a new bed from scratch. This is a no-dig method with layers of nutrients that you can plant straight into!

Suppress the weeds:

You’ll want to start a new bed without any weeds. Jude’s method doesn’t require poisoning or even pulling out the weeds! Instead, he smothers them with love.

1. Leave the weeds where they are and trim them down to ground level with sheers or a mower.

2. Give them their last meal by adding a layer of manure - Jude uses pelletised chicken manure.

3. Give them a final drink of water.

4. Cover them in a layer of cardboard and water again.

“Feeding them might seem a bit weird,” says Jude, “but by giving them heaps of nutrients and then smothering them, they’ll die even faster.” Plants need light to live, but the cardboard is thick enough to block the light completely. With added nutrients and water, the weeds will attempt a big growth spurt but without any sunlight, they'll die and break down which adds nutrients back into the soil.

Large cardboard boxes can be found at bike or furniture stores, but even smaller boxes will work. Remove any plastic tape on the cardboard and make sure the pieces overlap completely to ensure there are no gaps to let the light through.

Build the soil in layers:

1. Straw - Jude uses straw from his guinea pig pen which has aged over a few weeks.

2. Compost - Jude uses mushroom compost, a waste product from the mushroom industry.

3. Straw - This final layer will protect the soil from new weeds and moisture loss.

4. Water the bed again - and it’s ready to plant into!

No matter what types of mulches or manures you use, Jude says, “the more diverse your mix, the more diverse the microorganisms living in your soil... As all those layers of organic material breakdown, the soil and vegies will get better and better.”

Jude’s Garden is already packed with produce, but he says, “I’m excited to have this whole new garden to grow... I’ve been wanting to increase my lettuce production and this spot is perfect because it’s so full of nutrients.” We can’t wait to see the never-ending salad supply come from this patch!