Planting Through Newspaper Sheet Mulch

Sheet mulching is a powerful tool to retain moisture against the soil surface and help plants in hot weather. You can (and should!) sheet mulch around existing plants, but you can also plant through the sheet mulching -- watch to see how I did it recently! Sheet mulch: (1) Very light sprinkling of nutrient-rich substance, such as well-composted manure (not necessary for sheet mulch in pathways) (2) ~1/2 in. thick layer of newspaper or cardboard (3) 4-6 inches of mulch: could be wood chips, old grass clippings, dead reeds, old leaves, twigs, weeds, etc. Our front yard, right around our house, is not part of the public garden and looses a lot of maintenance time to it. I've been working section by section to pull out the invasive grasses, sheet-mulch, and plant veggies and flowers so that we have a better Zone 1. (Zones = arrangement of plants and utilities on the property according to frequency of use -- Zone 1 is right around the house, so should feature the things you visit every day, that need extra attention.) Here, I'm planting organic Dutch Yellow Shallots through the newspaper sheet mulch I laid down about a week ago. Despite the 80-90 degree heat in that time, you can see the clayey, grass-eaten dirt under the sheet mulch is still damp and not rock hard. The "nice soil" is a mixture of soil from the chicken coop and old pine needles (a little extra acid is good here since the soil is very clayey, which means it has an alkaline pH, around 8. The most beneficial pH for most plants, especially short-lived veggie garden plants, is around neutral, leaning towards acid: 6-7 pH).