Rooftop composting: Lasagna gardening... in pots
Rooftop gardening
October 30, 2009
Many of you know Lasagna Gardening, a compost system that use different layers (as in lasagna).
Long story short, in autumn you shoud cover the garden with newspapers, then throw the kitchen scrap over them.
In spring, you should buy some new soil and cover it all.
In the last years I use this system in my rooftop pots, avoiding:
-the bad smell of the kitchen scrap (I live in a warm zone)
-to buy and transport new soil every year
The scraps don't look nice, so I will use some drawings instead of pictures...
 Well, the hot season is over and we have a balcony or rooftop full of pots with old soil from the previous cultivations.
Be careful, if you had mushrooms or mold the soil is infected, and you shouldn't use it again.
If this didn't happen, that's the way to fertilize it for the next year.
 Empty the first pot, wash it and put a thin layer of leaves or paper on the bottom (the browns).
 Cover with a thin layer of soil: it will absorbe the water from the scrap.
 Now the real composting starts, with the greens layer.
Throw your kitchen scrap in the pot: fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells, coffee and tea grounds. Cut into small pieces the bigger ones.
You can also use some paper, hair and other organic material.
Do not compost meat, fish, cheese, flour derivates and cooked foods.
Do not compost weeds, because they could born in the pots.
 When the first pot is almost full, cover the scraps with at least 15 cm of soil.
 Take the soil from another pot and repeat the steps all winter long.
Try to dig in a pot after 3-4 months and you will see that your scraps are almost cooked, they will be similar to soil and with a good smell too.
 Read also:
November gardening tips: autumn tasks
December gardening tips: Winter gardening
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