The lawn is probably one of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of most gardens in Europe and the US. That is, in the minds of the people tending them. What they don't seem to grasp is that it is rather useless, high maintenance(resources AND time), soil depleting and rather ugly...
There are so many more pleasing alternatives that are good for you, good for the soil, for the environment. Vegetables, herbs, etc...
So here I am, stuck with this lawn, dried out, badly trimmed, roots growing straight into hell... sigh, sigh sigh.
Under the motto, if you have a problem, do something about it, I came up with a solution, after considering several options:
Letting it dry out just makes the soil underneath even more arid and hard to maintain.
Taking out the grass is laboreous and will be a repetitive chore over the next few months.
Spraying it to death is not an option... who wrote that on my mind's mirror???
So I've decided to cover it with cardboard. Grow mulch in the back of the house, acquire some rice straw from a local farmer and covering that cardboard with it. Spray it down for 2 days, and just plant straight into it. Resistent stuff at first, beans, corn, chillies, eggplants.
To get the kitchen garden started I did buy 5 cubic metres of black soil(din dam sir, thank you), mixed it with cow shit and put that in between the cardboard and the straw/grass clippings from my lawn).
This was planted with the afore mentioned plants, as well as seedlings given to me by friends and family. Thyme, oregano, peppermint, black mint, thai mint, culanthro(not cilanthro).
To protect my precious seedlings I have interplanted them with these herbs as well as some marigolds and garlic, the chili should help as well.
On the borders long beans are being grown to climb the fence. More will follow as I go along building soil.
I tried to post pictures but it didn't work, goddamn computer maffia, makes me life impossible.
Wouter
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