I use one layer of cardboard. You will need many layers of newpaper to achieve the same thing. I sprinkle some dirt on top or put old hay or bags of fall leaves on it to keep it down. You can use just about anything but I think a sprinkling of dirt from the garden where you are working is the easiest. I don't bother to remove all the tape and labels either. It gets brittle and breaks up easily after a summer on the ground.

I'm planning on doing some planting this weekend too! I'm hoping its dry enough to get my green peas and carrots planted. I can put in the brassicas I have growing in the coldframe too! Yippee! It's spring!

Raining today :-(

Spring! Yay! I would soak paper (both newspaper and cardboard) until it is totally wet and lay it out. Then put straw over it to help keep it wet and it'll look better as well. Use a water hose to keep it all wet and that should keep it in place.

Herbert

Wow, greetings from Los Angeles where we are dealing with our SECOND day of 102 degree heat. Nasty. :( My chickens are melting and you guys are just now thawing out. Weird!

Bleah, I hate the heat. :(

Velvet ~:>

It does stay in place better when it's wet but the first rain will take care of that.

Wow, Velvet! That's hot!! I hate the heat too!

Thanks everybody, I just could not remember what everybody used and as I will be planting this week-end I wanted to be prepared!! Yippee, Yippee!!! Geez Velvet, how do you stand the weather? I hate the heat especially when it is that hot:( 70's and 80's is about all I can take! My strawberries came today, I am sooo excited!!!! runningtrails you sound as excited as me :) I can hardly wait to get my hands in the dirt!!

The wind blew my cardboard away with carpet and a few bricks on top!I peg it down with tent stakes part of the time.Cover it with anything organic but I like shredded leaves best.Sawdust looks nice too.Posy Pet

What if I used the straw/chicken poop from the chicken coop when I clean it out? there is never tons of poop mixed in the straw.

We have used cardboard with good results. Last year we put manure/bedding on top of the cardboard between the corn rows.

There can be some issues with using uncomposted manure on a veggie garden, opinions,fears, studies vary.

We put it straight on though, but plant above ground veggies not root crops right in it.

Brendasue

brendasue: So you are saying it would be ok to put it on top of the cardboard in-between the rows? I was worried that run-off from the straw/poop might be a problem. To strong since it has not been composted first.

Using uncomposted materials on the garden can pose risks including illnesses such as Salmonella, higher weed numbers, & nitrogen deficiencies. Some worry about these things more than others. We happen to believe it is far better than any imports that can be found on the market, but this is just our opinion.

This is just what we do. Knowing our hay/straw mix can make more weeds we deal with it quickly with a hoe or cover w/plastic(this happens later in the season), knowing wood shavings can bind the nitrogen in the mix we add coffee grounds, and knowing using uncomposted manures we wash & cook veggies grown in it.

We don't normally use uncomposted materials on things we eat raw, such as our eating tomatoes or cucumbers. For those we either use composted stuff or plant in a section that had bedding waste added the prior fall & tilled in. For squashes, we simply pile bedding on an unused incline & throw some seeds. They grow like weeds!!

It would be unfair for me to say that the runoff won't cause a problem, as I don't know for sure being everyone does things different. I will say that I don't worry about it and havn't had any plants burned from the fresh bedding. Perhaps it's the way we apply it, and make sure it doesn't touch the plant stalks.
Brendasue

I use wet newspaper. I soak the paper really well then lay it down in sections (like the whole section a, whole section b etc). I put soil on top of it then poke a hole in the newspaper and plant my plant. I also put on a layer of mulch on top of the soil that I made from my wood chipper. Good news to report. Last year was the first time I did the newspaper and this year still no weeds where I had put the newspaper down last year. WOW!! I was blown away... Now the question is do I have to do the process all over again or does that newspaper last a couppla years?

This year I tried a little cardboard and perhaps I did not understand the concept because it is so thick it is kind of hard to work with. Then I was in the store and asked them can I have a buch of the flattened beer cases they were recycling. That cardboard is thinner and yet should still do the trick. I am going to try that. I will let you know.

Now about the chicken poop. I saw on one of the soil threads where they put the raw poop in trenches so far from the planted rows and it was stated that it was a good fertilizer but I would not try that near foods that will not be cooked. When trying to find that thread I found another that is VERY interesting. It is a discussion on chicken manure.

I was wondering if you use the deep litter method (I don't) and you only change the litter every 4 months then does that count as aged manure?? Or do you still have to remove it and let it age?

Lastly Nelda I never had to weigh my newspaper down any more than as described and I had no problems with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: from the soil forum

I would like to know the answer to that deep chicken litter question too.

The cardboard will soften when it's wet for a bit. It just takes a few weeks on the ground first.

Thanks to everybody, I think I will just use dirt on top of the cardboard - I don't want to get sick and I certainly don't want to make my family sick! Using uncomposted chicken poop/straw between the rows - sounds scary. Thanks to everybody for your imput - I am glad that I asked first! :)

msjay: thanks for the link.

what are friends for??

You're welcome.