Ruth Stout's System

I use a modified version of Ruth Stout's method. I became a fan when she wrote a column in the very early issues of Organic Gardening back in the 1950s. She had easy access to tons of very cheap spoiled hay; we don't. I began enlarging my vegetable garden last fall when I began to worry about the economy, and now I am enlarging it even more. For no-effort clearing, buy the best quality highest mil large black plastic covering you can find at any hardware superstore; it can be used over and over. Spread it out late summer over the area you want to plant the next spring. Peg the corners down securely with heavy stones. Next spring roll it back a section at a time and drive garden stakes and run string to indicate rows. You will be amazed as you roll the plastic back, because worms have come from everywhere and eaten the dead and rotting vegetation underneath and you will see bare dirt. As you work each section, either till that row or not as you wish. Cover it with saved cardboard and/or layers of newspaper. Then toss grass clippings, leaves or pulled weeds on top to keep the paper from blowing away. I have learned even to keep the planted rows under the paper/weed mulch to eliminate weeding around the plants. I leave only a 2" bare strip down the midrow to insert each seedling in. Try buying space-saver variety seeds, even if you have space, and start the seeds indoors in February. My garden alternates 4' rows with 4' paths, all mulched. Plant everything down the middle of the row, setting and securing a cage (mine are made from sections of 5' or 6' fence wire, rolled into about a 20" diameter cage and secured by bending down the clipped wires over the opposite side) over each plant. Secure from high winds/storms with metal poles driven into the ground and tied to each cage. The cages/poles have lasted over 20 years for me. I leave no space between the cages running down the row. Besides keeping the garden tidy and easy to get to,

sounds to easy to be true BUT will try it already have piled leaves
wii get straw on as soon as possible sure does make sense.