Simple Sheet Mulch Herb Garden

Nature doesn't break her back digging into the soil with hard tools or machines; she accumulates layered organic debris and let's animals, plants, and microbial organisms break it down (from the top down).

Nature has been gardening successfully for thousands of years. Work with her, and try mimicking some of her time tested techniques (like sheet mulching!)

1. There are many variations to this process, play around and see what works for you and your environment.
2. "Instant gardening"
3. No "back-breaking" work
4. Suppresses all weeds

Choose a site that is close to your house and beneficial for the herbs you will be growing (sunlight, wind, rain, slope).

We chose a site right outside our front door (off the porch) with good southern exposure.

Do your research and find out what you can and what you want to grow in your area.

Gather your sheet mulch material. The most common materials are cardboard, wall-board, newspaper, old carpet, underfelt, and anything else that will eventually break down and provide nutrients for plants. Avoid synthetic and harmful materials.

Check to see if you have some around the house or garage (maybe your neighbors do); if not, check your local businesses, dumpsters, and recycling areas.

Put down your mulch layer. Cover the area completely by overlapping the sheets. You should not see lawn through the cardboard. This will suppress grass and weeds.

Water the area well to get biological processes going.

THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO RECYCLE!

Begin to build up your layers of immature (fresh green) and mature (dry brown) organic materials. Essentially, you are are creating a compost pile that will become your instant garden bed. Be creative and work with what you have and what you can find.

This can be as simple as cardboard topped with one foot of straw. You can also create multiple layers with slashed vegetation, soil amendments, thin layers of manure, bulk layers of organic matter (hay), and compost (see Gaia's Garden, Toby Hemenway).

Some areas have municipal mulch & compost piles.

We used 3 inches of compost and manure.

WATER WELL TO GET BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES GOING!

Add your final layer of mulch (ideally hay - but we used wood chips). This will protect the soil, plant roots, and microbial life from the elements. It will help retain moisture and keep the soil balanced. If done well, you will not need to water as frequently.

We bought our herb seedlings from our local farmer's market. We laid out the herbs and let them sit out for a few days to adjust to the site. This also allows for any final rearrangements.

To plant:

1. make a hole appropriately sized for what you will be planting
2. punch a hole through the cardboard
3. place good soil or compost into the hole
3. plant your seeds or seedling

WATER WELL TO GET BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES GOING!

Sheet mulch beds tend to reach their potential during the second season. However, that potential can be sustained for several years, and can be simply renewed by adding more mulching layers (from recycled materials).

We are in our first season and it is going very well (much better than expected).