How to make a lasagna bed

Cobus Smit, garden writer and designer and food garden expert, who conducts ‘Let’s Talk Rubbish’ workshops, uses Earthprobiotic bokashi bins and bran in his garden. He recommends using the pickled matter from your bokashi bin to create a lasagna bed. This is layering waste, including that from your bokashi bin, directly into your flower bed with other material, moistening each layer as you go; this can also be done in a large planter or container

1. Start with a few layers of torn cardboard and newspaper. Note: this will suffocate the lawn and any weeds in the spot where you’re building your bed.
2. Top this with twigs and sticks and cover it with dry ‘brown’ materials like dead leaves and straw, plus more torn paper and cardboard.
3. Add a layer of pickled bokashi kitchen waste.
4. Top this with a loose layer of fresh ‘green’ material like grass clippings and leaf prunings. Add more ‘brown’ material, then more ‘green’ material. Once it is 30cm high, or your container is full, top with a 10cm layer of any type of soil, cover it with newspaper and mulch with dry grass, straw or small wood chips.
5. You can plant directly into this bed or pot. Just add a handful of good fine compost or earthworm castings to your planting hole.