L IS FOR LASAGNE GARDENING

I cant remember where or when I first heard of lasagne gardening but whoever invented it gets my appreciation, admiration and adoration.

Basically it is just layering mulching materials. Firstly, you don't need to dig a garden bed or even dig up the grass in your lawn. You just put down some newspaper (I like to keep it really thick) overlapping it to the size you want your garden to be. Wet it down really well then put a thick layer of straw or leaves that you have run over with the lawn mower, then a layer of blood and bone and manure (fresh or composted), then compost, then mulch.  Keep layering until it reaches a height just above your knees. Leave that for about a month and it's ready to plant in. you can throw in any old seeds and they will grow fast and strong.

I have grown potatoes like that for years and I get big crops and big potatoes.  I have also grown peas and broad beans this way (adding garden lime) and have had big success. It's brilliant and it is a good way for the city farmer to have a healthy crop & healthy soil without a lot of hard work to prepare the ground. 

The green manure crop is part of this layering process. When the crop is ready I will cut it down and mulch over the top of it. The result will be lots of composted vegetation, lots of worms and lots of crops.

L IS ALSO FOR LIZARDS

We have a resident Blue Tongue Lizard. He is native to Australia and his primary prey are snails & slugs, so you can imagine how welcome he is to our garden. They are nocturnal mostly and the only way I can really know that he/she has been around is when I find a snail shell midden. Our lizard and I have only met the once. Both of us got the fright of our lives and ran fast in opposite directions. I'm a little ashamed of myself but I didn't recognise him until I was back inside the house and had time to think about what I had actually seen. I'm sure he told a similar story to his family over the dinner table that night. They look a bit on the scary side but they are relatively harmless unless you do something stupid, like pick them up. I have since tried to make his acquaintance but he isn't having a bar of it. I refrain from putting out food as I don't like making a wild animal reliant on non traditional food. His nest is under the house but it's way too low for me to crawl under there (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). Every now and again I hear the gentle tinkle of something sliding over the empty snail shells and can only presume that he has spotted me and does not wish to stick around.