Hi jaidog ,
If it was my plot ;-)
Seriously though, we don't have enough info (pics would be nice) to make anything other than guess's of what would work for you, for example : how do you enter your plot, is there a walkway around your plot, do you walk through some other plot to get to your plot...OY VEY ;-)

But...All things being equal.....

I have done just that and was planting within the month,
1. Totally saturate the ground.
2. Put on 3 layers of Cardboard (totally saturated between and above).
3. If you can shred the leaves, you are going to be way ahead of the game.
Mix up the shredded leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings
4 If you could , make this heap a foot or more tall and keep it moist until you want to plant.

These are pics of a bed I started in February and I have already had a ton of harvest and am looking forward to a ton more.

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Jon,

Thanks for the info and the impressive pics. To answer your question about my plot layout, four plots exist in a 20' x 20' square, each plot being one 10' x 10' quadrant of the square. So, two edges of my plot are adjacent to other plots. The other two edges are adjacent to walkways between plots.

Few followup questions:

1 - If I can't shred the leaves and end up using whole leaves, will I still be okay to plant come next spring?

2 - What is the proportion of leaves to coffee grounds to grass clippings, or does it not matter?

3 - Newspaper seems easier to work with than cardboard. Will I get better results from cardboard or is newspaper okay?

Thank you for posting this question, my veggie garden is in need of a rehab and I was wondering what to do at the end of this season to be ready for next spring.

I'm curious about the cardboard, do you put the grounds/grass/leaf mixture on top of the cardboard? If so, how does the mixture get to the soil?

Thanks!

Howdy Folks,
The cardboard (Totally saturated over totally saturated earth)
is better (IMO), It does a wonderful job of blocking grass/weeds and turning that organic material in to decaying foodstuffs for the critters....
Newspaper (which will do in a pinch) is not as biodegradable when sufficient layers are stacked to accomplish the same goals as cardboard.
If you do step 1 with vigor....saturated , you will by the nature of the beast bring all the earthworms in the vicinity to the surface....
when you keep everything moist until planting time, the cardboard will be eaten and gone by then and the roots will penetrate any remnants of the cardboard that do remain (if step 1 was followed), all of these critters like moisture and they simply refuse to work if the materials are not moist...

This pile is nothing more than an "overfow" compost pile, there is not a speck of dirt in it and it is sitting on a tarp (so it doesn't mix with my gravel driveway), and I have 25 of each watermelons,honeydews,cantaloupes,and butternuts.

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Sorry,
Didn't answer all of your questions...

It's better to shred, but if you can't ...you can't ;-(

Mixture proportions...I would toss anything and everything into the mix, In that last pic you see, I put 1500 pounds of cabbage leaves on the top of the pile, and then put 5 yards of compost on top of that and planted in one month, as you can see, everything is growing like crazy and is no worse for wear, considering it must be hotter than crap in that pile.

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Jon,

I have access to cardboard and will use it based on your enthusiastic recommendation for it. Sounds like it is much better than newspaper.

I have a logistical question. I want to start preparing the plot now, but won't plant until next spring. Between now and spring, temps will dip below freezing for many months, and I will also lose access to water in October. I won't have access to water again until planting time next spring. So, I can layer the plot with material now and keep it moist until October. After that, mother nature takes over. I won't be able to moisten the soil in spring much before it's time to plant. (This is a plot at my work where water is only available from May-Oct).

What affect does winter have on the plot? Will I need to restart the entire process come spring? If so, planting will be delayed which is not good considering Chicago's already short growing season.

Nature is always best... if we will use it to our advantage, we are most blessed by it.
It sounds to me like if you were to do it now,it will be ready to plant in the Spring.
I am looking forward to Pictures ;-)

Jaidog!
"Currently, the plot is dirt with lots of weeds growing in it." - if the weeds seem to have lots of seeds already, you might mow with bagger attached to reduce your seed load next year. But if you avoid tilling then you should not be bringing up too many weed seeds. Mowing down a perennial weed before you lay the cardboard may help smother it a bit better though and kill the perennial weeds more effectively.

Laying down the cardboard and applying leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings, more leaves...etc. now will smother the current weeds by depriving them of sunlight. I would avoid applying dead weeds that have seeds in your layers above the cardboard, as those will germinate more easily next year.

If you have access to some compost, that would make a nice layer or two.

Do a search here on "lasagna gardening" or check out Pat Lanza's book on it.

The winter snow will give you plenty of water, don't worry about the winter moisture. But watering as you build the layers now and with adding leaves in the fall will help with the breakdown.

You will be surpised at:
1. the cardboard will be replaced by worms
2. the tall pile of organic matter will shrink to a mere few inches next spring

ps. did I mention don't till ;-)

Rachel

Just when I thought I was ready to go using all the advice I've received above, I heard about another technique called Interbay. Sounds a lot like the above, but turned upside down. The materials are piled right on top of the soil and then the pile is covered with burlap. Any opinions on which way would work better for my situation -- cardboard on bottom plus material on top, or material on bottom with burlap on top? Or, could I do cardboard on bottom, then material, and then also burlap???

Everyone has given you good suggestions. Don't work more than you have to! That's why Interbay Mulch is ideal for your situation because it keeps the soil moist & composting with no watering on your part!

Use both cardboard & burlap:
The cardboard can still be used on the bottom to smother the weeds. We did both cardboard on bottom & burlap on top. As we gathered additional materials lifted up burlap & added. Eventually, the burlap starts to decompose, so by spring it might be shredding. Then just part it & plant. The burlap will continue to work as mulch suppressing any weed seeds that might be present & keeping soil moist.

Shred the leaves with a mower:
Leaves are slow to decompose & best used in compost projects in spring; however, I've gone ahead & added them shredded in fall because that's when I have huge amounts of them to put somewhere. The weather is warmer & drier in fall, so more pleasant to work in than spring. Also, then the leaves are there & begin to decompose when the temps are right without any intervention on my part. It's not pleasant to work outside in 42 degrees rain in spring.

So, by spring you can still see parts of the leaves, but I don't bother screening it out. I use it as mulch or plant right in it. By fall I can't find any of the leaf parts & it's time for more leaves to be added on top.

In some areas of our garden we layered materials right on top of pit run gravel filled with weeds all along our driveway. Years later we have raised beds with concrete block sides filled with herbs, but started with piles of materials & pulled the largest rocks out to the edge.

before concrete blocks the entire length
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Higher up toward forest where there was soil & we added materials on top. Burlap & upside down carpet is visible on the path between beds.
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Remember don't work more than you have to!

Jon Rowley was the leader (although he would dispute that) of one of Seattles community gardens that developed the Interbay Mulching (sometimes called composting) sytstem. If Jon's description is still in the FAQs that is the one to use since many people have written about it without fully understanding what they were talking about.

Here is a link that might be useful: Interbay mulch in the news

Jonhuges nice pics. I like to take pics of my cardboard and mulch projects too.

Jaidog, I'm not sure about Interbay, but if you have both cardboard and burlap, why not do both! The cardboard is great as a first layer, even if you have sufficient other layers to smother the weeds, because the worms love all sorts of paper. Also no chance of stubborn weeds getting through an opening somewhere. The burlap will conserve moisture, which is a great benefit esp. in hot dry weather.

My experience has been the same as Mustard seeds said, the winter in our type of rainy temperate climate will supply plenty of moisture. Also the freezing/thawing works on breaking up the organic material. Your bed should be ready to plant next Spring. You will be amazed at how rich and friable the soil becomes without tilling. And it gets better with time (until all organic matter has been utilized).

Be sure to remove any plastic labels/tape from cardboard before using.

I have been following this thread and I really think I'm going to do this in the fall, my gardens are in desperate need of a boost and I am inundated with leaves in the fall and I have access to a lot of coffee grounds and grass! Even manure!

My question deals with garlic. I plant a bunch of garlic in October and I want to know if it's safe to layer all this stuff on top of the bulbs, or will it smother them?

Thanks!

Sounds like you'll be all set with compost materials. If you can shred the leaves before you spread them they'll decompose much faster & won't blow around so much. Even better cover with burlap bags as the top layer to keep it moist.

If you mulched the garlic before it should still work, but don't put cardboard on top of the garlic bulbs though. Could you plant the garlic more intensively to be able to renovate the other parts of the garden with the cardboard & layers? Or you could spread the cardboard leaving a gap for your row of garlic. Then do layers.

Once we switched to mulch, sheet composting, layering over cardboard for building new gardens, etc... gardening has become a lot more fun! It's so easy to plant & get good results in beds made this way I won't go back to digging, pick ax, pulling weeds, picking rocks, & aching sore the next day or week to have the weeds be sprouting right away again the next week.

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice. I've started the layering process on my 10' x 10' plot.

It rained here HEAVILY last weekend so I took advantage of the saturated soil and pulled a few weeds that had thick stalks. The remaining weeds were well mowed already. I laid down two layers of cardboard on top of the muddy soil, soaking each layer of cardboard. On top of that, I added a bag of grass clippings, partially decomposed leaves, dirt with worms (which came from a nearby compost pile), and coffee grounds. I added the same layers one more time, and plan to do it once more which will give me a pile almost a foot tall.

After this, I was thinking of adding a thick layer of mulched leaves in lieu of burlap. Will the mulched leaves accomplish the same thing as the burlap for the interbay method? For me, the leaves are easier to acquire -- not sure where I can get [free] burlap from.

by "mulched leaves" do you mean shredded by mulch mower? Shredded leaves make great mulch - good for retaining moisture, reducing weeds, and look nice also! I wish I had more during the summer. Shredded leaves do not blow away as easily as whole leaves, nor do they get as compacted.

I often use leaves as the top layer of a lasagne type bed, because they help conserve moisture and look tidier, and are a nice rich brown color. They hide the uglier materials (coffee filters, kitchen scraps, etc). I think they would work well in lieu of burlap. The burlap may possibly hold more moisture, but it would also look a little weirder.

Re: shredded leaves, they do make a very attractive mulch and I wouldn't waste them on a lasagne bed. I use those (when I can get them) to mulch the perennial beds.