Lasagna gardening comes to CBC Calgary
You can do more than just herbs and peppers in Calgary
For the past several summers, the Calgary Eyeopener crew has attempted to grow things at the CBC building just off Memorial Drive in northwest Calgary.
This year we have teamed up with Kath Smyth of the Calgary Horticultural Society to try our hand at lasagna gardening.
It's dubbed lasagna gardening because you grow your favourite ingredients for the classic Italian dish. But you can also plant other things, such as flowers, to complete your garden.
We started by assembling two raised-bed garden boxes on the lawn in front of the CBC building.
Each box measures 1.2 metres by 1.2 metres. The boxes are modular and easy to use.
Natural wood raised garden boxes
We're using cedar because it's a natural wood.
"You do not want to use pressure-treated wood in a vegetable garden because you don't want the treatment they put into the wood to get into your plants and into your vegetables," Kath Smyth recommended.
Next, we put wet cardboard in the bottom to create a barrier between the soil we're putting in and the ground beneath it.
Why cardboard?
"What will happen is the grass will suffocate under there and gradually will become part of the garden, " said Kath. "The cardboard we put it, because it 's nice and moist, it will start to break down and create a bacteria to work with the soil."
Compost component
We then spread a compost mix over the cardboard to fill the box. We used compost so we wouldn't need to use a lot of fertilizer. Fertilizer will make your veggies taste funny, according to Kath.
We planted squash, carrots, radishes, kale, kohlrabi and a few herbs.
Oh, and we're trying a few pinwheels in our beds to keep those pesky squirrels away. Fingers crossed!
Kath Smyth's secret gardening implements included chopsticks, a soup spoon and a paring knife.
Next time, we'll try plantings peas, peppers and tomatoes.