I am curious why lasagna gardening is safe for growing veggies, when building a compost pile uses the same directions-layering brown and green materials that eventually get very hot. Why doesn't that kill the seeds that are planted? And doesn't the process of breaking down of the compost material steal the nutrients needed by the growing plants?
I killed off a ton of my vermicompost worms by using a mix of manure and dried stuff, so I'm a little leary of trying the lasagna method now.
Just curious,
Julia
Lasagna gardening is a way of speeding up the gardening part of growing things as you add all the waste in the bottom of the bed then add some soil to grow your veg/flowers and as the plants take a while to reach the waste with there roots, by the time they do, the discomposure has already started, it cant get as hot as the soil placed on top acts like an insulator and wont allow the sun/heat to penetrate the same as it would if stored in a heap, the next year you just add more layers of waste and this rots down too so you end up with a good rich fertile soil, but the same will be the case if you add the rotted compost from your bin/heap, but it will take longer for this to happen as you need to wait till the waste in the heap composts down to the right texture and depending when you start your heap will depend on how fast it will rot down, so the end result will be the same, just a different time scale. As for the Lasagna way killing off the seeds, and the weeds you add to your heap, the temp in a heap will reach far greater than it will spread out on a bed for the lasagna method, plus the fact, it is not a good idea to add plants to a heap that have any weed seeds on them as IF the heap dont reach the right temp, then you will get germinated weeds growing back in your garden when you use the compost from the heap, remember some seeds germinate faster with some heat, I would recommend you get a book from the library to read up on these two methods as it gets a bit complicated if you dont understand it all and you will learn more about how to manage your soil and growing methods easier. good luck. WeeNel.
I think I will play it safe and put my layers down over the fall and winter, and by the time I am ready to plant the seeds everything should be cooled and ready.
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