Right on the money, but the more diverse the layers, the more diverse your nutrients will be. Try to add kitchen scraps, manures, leaves, etc. to get a good blend of nutrients. Good for you for starting early, too many people want to get a it all done in a week.

g'day wingy,

sounds good like 'billme' says yep add heaps of stuff, pretty much i would add anything in that is going to rot.

see our bale garden presentation it may offer some ideas.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens straw bale garden

The more the better prior to the planting season. You should have some great soil once everything has broken down into the soil.

billme, Do you shred the layers, before you spread them?
Or is it better to just lay them out the way you gather them?
How deep should each layer be?
Does this even matter or am I over thing this?

There are arguments both ways. Shredded material will break down faster only as long as it gets adequate oxygen. Many people put rough material and large stalks down first to encourage more air infiltration in the base, then do a series of layers on top of finer material. This is essentially a slower and cooler composting method, so the standard of mixing things together is the ideal. Layering is really just a better way of keeping track of quantities, so that the C/N ratio stays close to what you intend, and layering is more likely what happens in real life. A more thorough mix and shredding will get faster results.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Posting for other gardeners who want to try the "easy" way to build a garden bed by sheet composting. Fall is the perfect time of year in my mild climate to build an instant garden bed almost like magic. It may seem too easy to be true, but it works. I've done it numerous times with varied materials. Those gardens just get better & better.

This fall we're in a new location & are making new gardens. Just waiting for fall rains to return before topping the rough stuff with more finished compost.

I wouldn't make a garden any other way now that we've learned how to sheet compost to build great soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: OSU handout on sheet composting

Sounds to me like wingspings is going to try Lasagna Gardening and Pat Lanza's webs site that explains how to do that is linked below. Since Pat Lanza developed the concept of Lasagna Gardening she is probably the best source of information about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Gardening 101