Sheet Mulch Gardens with COSA – 06 FEB 2010

With Les at the helm, we had a great morning creating some new “instant veggie bed” sheet mulch gardens with Mickey and Finn at Children’s Organization of Southeast Asia. The technique is popular with permaculturists and involves making a layered bed of whatever organic material is available. The idea is to simultaneously 1) grow living soil, 2) suppress weeds, and 3) grow crops. And the idea is to cut down on heavy labor, or “growing without digging.” These beds were made with banana leaves, cow manure, water hyacinth, leguminous weeds like mimosa, as well as rice bran and rice straw. (Photos by Dan Powell.)