I would consider doing this straight over the lawn IF I could let it sit for 2-3 months before planting. As it is, I'll have to plant in some almost immediately. Not having to cut the sod would save a step, but, seeing as my soil is difficult to dig, I don't think I'd have enough depth to plant into. The sod cutter would do several things., It would loosen up the top 2-3 inches, mostly grass and roots, AND it would give easier acces to the soil beneath the cut sod possibly to till a couple inches deeper to put on the lasagna bed as another layer. I'd love to go the permaculture route here, but don't know if it is feasible. 1" of coffee grounds, a 1/2" of shredded newspaper and a couple inches of compost is only around 3-4" deep. I have no leaves as brown material, and also don't have straw, though I could probably buy some. I'm having to buy the compost...14 yards of it...for these new gardens.

We shred leaves by mowing them and they get collected by the bagger attachment. Doesn't look like an option for you. Unshredded leaves didn't break down very quickly for me but I'm in NH and I didn't mix them with anything. It sounds like pine needles mixed with leaves would be good. You don't want a layer to compact. I suggest you watch Craigslist which is where I find free manure ads. Best find was a guy who added kitchen scraps, wood ashes and barn bedding to the manure pile. It was nicely composted so I used this for my top layer in the spring and planted directly in it. Last year I made too thick a pile of unshredded leaves topped with about 6-8" of fresh from the barn steer manure (no bedding material). The steer manure solidifed/crusted so the bed didn't decompose over winter like my first one did. I ended up digging large holes, filling with better material and using this bed for winter squash. A second, similar bed, was used for tomatoes and summer squash. Worked fine. Keep in mind that lasagna beds attract worms which will help in the decomposing process. I have also added the perfed edges from computer paper on a dot matrix printer at work. I would be added shredded newspaper if I could find the office shredder that got lost in a move. Just don't use glossy paper such as ad inserts. I've been very happy with my lasagna beds. Two are in second year of production. Two are first year after being built last fall. Never till. We've had a long, cold wet summer but I didn't have any mud or drainage problems whereas some neighbors lost their gardens. Six feet is a little wide. You don't want to do a lot of walking on your garden because it compacts the soil. I'm going to widen the second year beds and split them in half with a narrow path for weeding in the middle.

Thank you all. I have been lurking around GW trying to learn everything at once, but this is my first post. All of the forums have been greatly helpful. Can't imagine trying to learn all of this on my own :) I'm trying to turn the empty yard this house came with into something we can enjoy. I think it was too dry. I hadn't watered it since I built it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to :) Glad to know it doesn't end up getting hot. That helps my nerves :) It rained over the last couple days and it did shrink a few inches, so I will keep watering it. Does an inch a week (adjusted for rainfall) sound right? I'll keep adding layers too. I'll get grounds form coffee shops daily, but I'm out of browns. I could use shredded computer paper (lots to get rid of) but I'm not sure about the ink in a veg garden. Maybe I'll volunteer to do some raking in the neighborhood. Mustard Seed, would the carpet start to stink? Have a bunch of that to get rid of too but worried about smell. Not sure about direct seed or transplanting vegetables. Read about winter sowing and that sounds great so whatever I can winter sow I will. The rest I'll direct sow if this decomposes enough or if not I'll start in little containers. The area defiantly gets plenty of sun. From about 10 or 11 to sunset in the summer it will get full sun. Actually kinda worried that it will get too hot. We regularly get days 100* and hotter in July August. The house is ~6' away from the garden and has stucco siding. Not sure if that will be too much for it. May be building a shade structure for afternoon sun. We'll see :) Thanks Again Mike

I tend to think that many people believe they can "recycle" better than large corporations. IOW, just bury newspapers and cardboard boxes, turn it into compost and skip the middle man, since you are using it as decomposing material. You are saving energy, recycling, saving the landfills, and promoting an Organic garden with natural materials. I don't believe it for a second, now. As a teen I worked at a warehouse and we stacked broken down cardboard boxes outside the doors. After a rain, especially multiple rains this gooey slime would drip down the sides of the freight dock. It was nasty and sticky that never seemed to go away after the cardboard was picked up. Then years later using cardboard in my garden, thinking the way most do, I found cardboard two years later in the ground and even detected the gooey slime. That caused me to do some research and I found out that I was very far from Organic. I would have been more organic using Miracle-Gro. Here is what I found: Cardboard in cardboard boxes: Semi-Chem (semi-chemical fluting medium) is applied to stretch" the fibers, making it stronger and stiffer. Where the corrugated short fiber paper are usually used for peaks and valleys of each flute, then glued using starch adhesives. While these adhesives sound innocent enough since they are called, "starch adhesives" (usually shipped to the cardboard manufacturer as a powder) they are seldom made up of Tapioca dextrin, the adhesive used for postage stamps. They most likely will be incorporated with 5 to 15% resins, such as urea formaldehyde, and especially used for cartons where water resistance is helpful. Most dextrin combinations are heated upward of 600 degrees to create a stronger bonding agent. If the paper lacks the amount of wax necessary for good fluting, wax bars are introduced in the process. Newspaper ink: Since 2004, 95% of American newspaper ink is now soy based, as opposed to petroleum based. To make soy ink, soybean oil is slightly refined and then blended with pigment, resins, and waxes. Even though soybean oil is an edible vegetable oil, soy ink is not edible or 100% biodegradable because the pigments and other additives that are mixed with the oil are the same as those used in petroleum-based inks. However it does degrade four times as completely as standard petroleum inks. The fact that this newer ink has rave reviews how it can be "recycled" easier, doesn't mean it is safe for consumption. It only means the soy ink can be removed more easily than regular ink from recycled newspaper during the de-inking process. Maybe less of a concern, but still a concern is that 92% of soybean acreage in the US is planted with genetically-modified soybeans, which some believe can pose environmental and human health risks. I just don't think working so hard on my garden to get it right, I want to introduce consumer products into the soil if it's not necessary. The only motivation that I can see is that it makes you feel like you are recycling on the most basic level and saving a tiny bit of money. My cardboard and newspaper needs to go to a recycling plant or landfill and let dirt in my garden do the rest.