DIY Sheet Compost for Your Garden

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One of the first projects on the homestead was to clean out those nasty raised garden beds. I'm greatful the homestead I bought came with four such raised beds but they were a MESS!

I planted garlic for the first time ever in one of the raised garden beds. My first crop on the new homestead! I'm curious how they will turn out come spring. With that raised bed I covered it with leaves and ripped them up to help the composting process go faster.

This garden bed I wanted to see the effects of composting manure which is also called sheet compost. I covered this with ripped leaves as well to help speed up the compost pile so it’s ready for a spring planting.

Prepping your garden in winter is critical to a bountiful harvest come spring and summer. This prepping process restores vital nutrients to the soil.

How should I prep my garden in the winter?
To start properly weed the garden removing any weeds or unwanted growth by the root. Be careful not to break weed at the base leaving the roots intact as they will continue to grow and spread at a rapid pace once you place fertilizer.

Top the soil with leaves or straw as a protective layer but also to add to the compost itself. This will help keep the soil intact under and protect it from wind that could erode your raised garden beds. It’s especially important to make sure you don’t use any diseased leaves or other products that have been treated with chemicals or pesticides. If they are, it increases the risk of those breaking down and leaking those chemicals and pesticides into your new composted soil and thus getting into your harvest.

Why use cow manure?

Ever drive down the road during winter/early spring past a farm and catch a whiff of that unique smell? That’s cow manure being sprayed over the field. As manure slowly decomposes it improves the soil and texture to add nutrients to it. In particular it supplies nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus along with many other nutrients.

Preping your garden beds for spring is simple and has huge benefits in doing so. Spring will be here sooner than we expect. With the prepping done before hand we can now walk out and start producing come spring!

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