Matress in preparing garden ?

[Missy_Muffett]

Hello all, Im still in the process of preparing the garden beds, we have absolutely no top soil, in this particular area, lots of rocks & clay. So I have been layering newspaper,or cardboard or carpet, then sugar cane mulch, today I did another layer on top of that & include rooster pooh, I hope this question doesnt sound too silly , but could I use an old matress as I do the carpet?? Then cover that in mulch??? Also Ive been wrapping my vegies & coffee scraps in newspaper & adding this, to mix of mulch etc, is that ok??

[mischief]

What is the mattress made of?
If its one that has wire springs in the middle then I cant see how the plants will have anything to grow into.
If its one of the old type with coarse fibre middles then you may be able to get away with it if you use liquid manure tea to help feed you plants and have the fibre moist.
Interesting solution, I cant wait for you to try it just to see what happens!

[gardenlen]

g'day missy_muffett,

well that is how molleson introduced permaculture to the local audience around 30 years ago. he threw a mattress on the ground cut a hole through it planted a banana and covered it all with a generous coating of mulch.

can't see why not there will be some material like in carpet that won't rot down and the steel springs will take a while but hey whatever, go for it.

len

[pippimac]

Maybe if it's a floppy old kapok matress with no springs, but it would take years to break down if left in 'matress-form'.
Also, watch out for carpet. Unless it's really old, it will have plasic woven into the backing and it will drive you nuts forever.
Unless you've got really unusual soils, clay is really good!
The things you mention, aside from chook poo, are very high in carbon. Can you get hold of grass clippings/weeds/general green stuff? Horse poo's good as long as your area's not high in phoshorus. My local lawn guys will drop off as much clippings as I want.
New gardens take quite a while to settle, especially since it sounds like you're starting from scratch. I suggest getting lots of cover crops in over winter and planting edibles in the spring. 'I'm unfamiliar with your climate, but daikon, rye mustard and lupins are a good winter cover crop here. Broad beans are great too, but they're too tall to 'share'. All these plants will grow happily in new beds.

[Missy_Muffett]

thank you for the reply's, I will give it ago, & photograph what happens!!!

[Missy_Muffett]

Just a quick update on the matress, no need to post picys, NOTHING has happened looks exactly the same as when I dragged it out there in February. Back to the drawing board.

[pebble]

What's it made of?

[eco4560]

My guess would be that it is carbon dominant and if you have layered hay or sugar cane mulch over it, that is carbon too. You may need to pee on it, or put a layer of manure on it. And maybe a generous splash of molasses to make it tastier to the compost critters.

[gardenlen]

february is not a long time agao it may take up to 12 months++??

yes introduce some green spoil lucerne hay, sugar cane mulch, whatever!

the big benefit is you are not dumping it into landfill

len

[sweetpea]

Missy Muffet, I'm confused about the carpet, it's full of toxic stuff, you know? Even if it's wool, the backing could still be synthetic. so you're only using it on pathways, not on growing areas?