Weed suppression and moisture retention for a bed of fall greens sounded good so a newspaper weed blanket came to mind. To plant: Radicchio, Red Surprise; Kale, Red Russian; Pak Choi, Toy Choi Hybrid; and Turnip Greens, Seven Top.
After raking the surface smooth . . .
. . . wet newspapers went down, overlapping well.
An old squeeze bottle filled with seaweed foliar fertilizer concentrate was used to sketch out a rough outline of where the seeds would go.
Then I took a knife and cut, removing some strips entirely, otherwise turning under the edges of the newspaper to make narrow rows for planting. The center and first two rings are turnip greens, ringed with one circle of radicchio. The pointy sections are pak choi, and the rest is kale.
To finish, a very light layer of grass clippings and netting over pvc hoops to keep the critters out while the seeds germinate. Nails at intervals along the outer sides of the beds hooked the netting in place:
Here’s the result:
The temperature has been down in the 20’s and the plants have weathered well. If there is any radicchio in there under the turnip greens I’ll never find it. That was pretty poor planning. It’s been a success overall–very few weeds to deal with and a good germination rate except for the radicchio which never had a chance under the super fast-growing greens.
What are your best ideas for low-weed gardening?
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The only problem with this is that many newspapers may use petroleum based inks yet, which can be very toxic (just ask a printer). This is the last thing that one wants in one’s garden, since it will likely end up in one’s food and pollute the soil. I would only use newspaper if I knew the publisher uses non-toxic ink.