Converting the Backyard Lawn into No Till Raised Garden Beds

Wanted to share my latest (nomadic) homesteading project - converting the lawn into raised, square foot garden beds for the fall. We are on a quarter acre lot in the city and received the green light to convert a portion of the backyard into beds, so I got to work right away.

2 garden beds – each 4’x 24’ – for a total of 196 sqft of planting area. Protected from the (still) intense Texas sun using fabric row covers held up by arched cattle panels.

Here’s how I did it:

I started out killing off any grass and unwanted seeds over the area using a no-till method called "solarizing". Using 2 mil clear plastic drop cloth, I covered the designated area for about 3-4 weeks in July/August. This creates a greenhouse effect raising the temperature above what the grass and seeds (and most other organisms) can survive.

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During and after solarizing

I brought in about 3 cubic yards of good quality garden soil from a local soil yard. As I placed the soil, I mixed in:
Cornmeal – A mild fertilizer for the garden bed, which also stimulates a beneficial fungus called tricoderma. (1-2 lbs per 100 sqft)
Dry Molasses – adds carbohydrates to the soil to feed microbes. (2 lbs per 100 sqft)

Once all of the soil was in place, I scratched in to the top inch:
Lava Sand – The coarse texture and paramagnetic properties helps hold water and nutrients in the soil. (8 lbs per 100 sqft)
Green Sand – good source of potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium and many other trace minerals. Has a texture similar to sand, but with the ability to absorb 10 times more moisture. (8 lbs/100sqft)
Kelp Meal – An excellent source of trace minerals, enzymes and root stimulating hormones. (1-2 lbs/100sqft)

Once all the materials for a healthy garden bed were in place, adding beneficial microbes kicked off the party. A local aquaponics store that I frequent offers customers a free gallon of compost tea, which is loaded with good bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. These microbes will colonize the soil and convert the minerals and humus into nutrients accessible to the plants.

To organize the area into square-foot sections, I separated the four rows in each bed with hemp string and crossed these rows with thin lines of nitrogen-fixing clover spaced a foot apart creating 96 square foot sections in each garden bed! I used wood chips to create a border and path between the beds.

When the clover began sprouting, I planted radishes, beets, bok choy, kale, collard greens, parsley, carrots and swiss chard. I’ll be planting broccoli and cabbage in a week or so - just before a couple days of rain are expected. Even though these veggies prefer to grow in cooler temperatures, their seeds can tolerate (some even prefer) warmer soil during germination. Be sure to check before sowing.

Lettuce, spinach, green onions and arugula will go in when the weather gets cooler.

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Top: Clover used as a nitrogen-fixing cover/divider crop. Bottom: The first radish and beet sprouts.

We are off to a good start with two well prepared beds. Looking forward to sharing our progress through winter.

Happy Fall Gardening!