'morning, I had never seen anybody here state that covers would not work along with the Ruth Stout method, so that was why I did it. For me it worked as well as anywhere else in the gardens. Cannot say that I have seen entire gardens grown in hay, however, I might be well on my way. Seems to be much less work than yearly tilling and weeding. You could not disturb the surface without hundreds of worms wigling about. I find the hay method truly amazing. Maybe I was 'icing' along the way. When I found a good continual source for free hay I made the move. First I applied char, then paper, then hay. Between layers I added some bone meal once, then hay, then homemade woodchips, then hay, then 1/2 bag sand from Lowes to fight slugs, then hay followed by the sand. The sand seemed to upset the slugs. Finaly grass clippings with leaves mowed along in. All that got me to where I applied the cover in late September. If I did something wrong let me know because it sure was easy on my back. Best regards.

When I raised Rabbits and spread the manure they produced around the garden beds I had no more problem with raccoons, or any other wildlife, then when I did not use that manure. Same with chicken, horse, cow, and the Llama (Alpaca, Vicuna) manure I used. Ripe produce, tomatoes, corn, lettuce, eggplant, peppers, etc. was what attracted them, not the manure.

hellerlake wrote ... "The arborist's chips I have gotten always came full of shredded leaves and/or needles which begin to break down immediately. There's plenty of nitrogen/organics. As for mulched beds that have not loosened up, what were they mulched with? Bark? Bark is naturally imbued with a waxy substance to protect the tree from moisture. It's suberized. It never really breaks down, and incorporates into the soil because of the suberization. Eventually, it breaks down into waxy, little fibers that form a crust on top of the soil. " An arborist friend once had a 25' tall birch tree-spade moved to his front yard. To start, the hole was half where the lawn was, and half in shrub bed that was never rototilled - same soil to start - but had a barkdust layer maintained for at least 10 years. The half circle in the lawn when dug, was pretty much unchanged. But old bark had decomposed enough to improve the bed soil. Down to 12" depth it was darkened some, and crumbled. It was handy to have seen the side-by-side comparison where the soil history was known, to see the change on the bark side, versus the lawn compacted by mower tires and bag weight side. Sometimes I've applied both. The last home in south Oregon, I put down about 8 truck loads of the chipped tree branches first, then laid barkdust on top for a more groomed look. 20 years ago, when we got about 30 big truckloads at my mother's 2nd acre in Beaverton, the wood chips with plenty of branch wood broke down pretty quick, which was nice. Thought it may be worth adding ... One golf course superintendent I worked under at Columbia Edgewater Country club in Portland, some year back, used to add fine barkdust to the sand for some of the new greens. It was because they decomposed - but decomposed slowly. The new greens were about 3% to 5% bark and the rest sand. His education was in agronomy. From what I've seen since then, the method makes sense.

I agree the first layer should have been cardboard or a thick layer of newspapers (4-6 sheets). I have been using lasagna method since 2007. The first bed was built that year as ingredients became available. I got fresh grass clippings from a neighbor. I bought two books about lasagna gardening from a used book store. I didn't plant until the spring of 2008. Following author's directions, my bed was at least 24 inches tall but it compacted over winter and eventually became even with surrounding lawn. I found a source of composted horse manure that was mixed with kitchen scraps, ashes and bedding over the winter. The horse owner liked turning the pile with his tractor bucket. He loaded as much as our utility trailer would hold for $15. Each spring, I would add a couple of inches of this composted manure to the top of each bed. The year I planted spinach very early, I got great spinach but the second planting made in a different bed after I added composted manure was even better. In the spring, I might fork over a bed. The soil is loose because it rarely gets walked on. The whole idea is not to have to use a tiller. Yes, surrounding lawn with several kinds of runner weeds/grasses tries to invade the bed. I have started putting a layer of folded newspaper around the bed covered with grass clippings after I use an edger. If a bed has gotten too weedy which tends to happen with my winter squash bed because it goes months without hand weeding due to all the vines, I put down black plastic to kill the invaders. Takes a few weeks. Then they are much easier to lift out with a spading fork. I have also grown winter squash and anything with large seeds in a fairly new bed. Things grown in hills work the best. I dig a hole in the mess of leaves/grass clippings/etc , put in a handful of organic fertilizer, then fill with well composted manure. I plant the seeds in this. Last year's winter squash crop was stupendous. The manure I haven't liked is fresh steer manure with a lot of sawdust in it. It takes longer to break down and seems to harden into impervious chunks. I think counting the time since January to harvest, you'll be within the recommended time for many vegetables' safety as long as you don't add fresh manure. I would not use any top soil unless the top layer of what you have isn't fine enough for small seeds. Let worms help do your "tilling". I think after the second winter, the original layer of newspapers has disintegrated. I have concrete reinforcing panels as trellises held in place by steel posts. When I plant peas/snap peas I just hoe up the seed bed. There's no need to till. In general, I use a spading fork if there is a weed problem left from the previous season.