Count me as another who has had no luck with the lasagna beds. I find it extremely impractical for any sort of large-scale gardening. Unless you have a massive property to collect the materials from its nearly impossible to get the shredded leaves and the grass clippings (free stuff that you don't have to hunt down and import), together in the same place at the same time to fill more than a small bed. If you don't make it several feet tall so as to get good composting action going it takes forever to decompose -- especially on sandy soil where it doesn't stay moist or in cold climates where its frozen (and thus not decomposing), for much of the winter. I suppose it works OK for people who meet a fairly narrow set of criteria -- right climate, right soil, convenient availability of free greens and browns in the correct proportions, who need only a small amount of garden space as opposed to those trying to produce a significant amount of the produce for a family for a full year, and who are content to wait several years before even attempting to direct seed small-seeded crops -- or for people who can substitute money for some or all of the above. But my experience is that its nowhere near the miracle method its frequently claimed to be. Some elements of the technique are adaptable to my gardening needs though. Newspaper and cardboard are EXCELLENT sod-smotherer. And I make use of my half-composted, cold piles by growing squash, melons, sweetpotatoes, and such other items that tolerate ultra-coarse soil on them as they finish. But making an entire garden of nothing but partially-finished, cold-compost piles presents major challenges in accumulating the materials and the willingness to wait a long time before seeing any real return on the investment of time and energy (and money if you had to buy materials).

I've taken the lasagna method and adapted it to my own use. I piled up layers of materials on top of some pretty heavy clay. I put it all right on top of the grass and weeds that were there. I started back in July when I found out that our landfill gives out the previous fall's leaf mulch for free. I piled it as deep as I could with as many loads as I could until I couldn't move anymore. Over the summer and fall, it's sat there. I've planted a few things here and there throughout the fall. What I have noticed is that I have a lot more earthworms and pill bugs. I have also found that I can dig in the soil below my layers a lot easier than I could this past spring. Whenever I plant something, I makes sure to dig the hole down into the original soil, mix in and replace with some of the organic material, and even add a little garden soil from a bag. It might not be the perfect method, but my plants seem happy and that makes me happy. Sure, I have weeds. I have some issues with too much moisture in shadier areas, and the beds that I actually tilled and mixed in the organic stuff seems much happier, but it's also in a different part of the yard. I can't say for sure it is the method or the original dirt. I'm doing what works for me. My plants let me know when they need something. Hopefully, I can get into a cycle that allows ME to know before they tell me. My only concern from here on is how to keep everything working.

Azura, last year was my first real veggie garden, and I learned a lot. There were successes and failures, but I enjoyed it so much. Skybird is right about you wanting to make it bigger next year. I created a separate bed for the herbs this year, just so I could plant more veggies in veggie garden. So far, I planted onion sets and peas (twice). I also have five kinds of lettuce, and broccoli sprouts that were wintersown, that I might plant out as soon as the crazy winds die down. Plus there are tomatoes and peppers in my kitchen windowsill, and tomatoes that were wintersown but haven't germinated yet. I'm also direct sowing carrots maybe this week, but the cucumbers, canteloupes, and beans won't get planted for another month or so. My goal is for as much variety as possible, even if it means just one or two plants of each - 5 kinds of beans, 4 kinds of canteloupe, 5 kinds of carrots, 4 kinds of cukes, 7 kinds of peppers, and as many different tomatoes as I can cram into the space that's left, and the Earthbox I just bought. I'd rather have too many plants and have to give some away, than to realize I have empty space in the garden, and not enough time to start something else before the end of the season. The bed and soil look great, and I wish you a bountiful harvest. Bonnie

I planted just about 2 weeks after establishing my lasagna bed. My bed wasn't as deep as the lasagna guidelines usually say, and my first layer was wetted down cardboard. I didn't do any seeds, but did transplants of strawberries, all types of tomatoes and sweet peppers, cabbage and just recently baby watermelon. Everything seems to be doing really well! I've harvested one green paper so far, but there are LOTS of babies growing. I also harvested some strawberries last night that my toddler LOVED. I have lots of tomatoes, but none are ripe yet. The cabbage bolted but I think that's due to the heat and the fact that I didn't get it in the ground near early enough. Will try more later. I also plan to try some cool weather things toward the end of summer and through the fall, using some sort of row covers or covered tunnel system. I'll probably start some of the seeds indoors soon because we're in such a drought with such high temperatures. Make sure to check the moisture level a lot. I think I used too much peat moss (although I didn't even use as much as the book said to!) and with our heat and drought, I have to water every other day or so. Good luck! I am a first time gardener and have had tons of fun!