Newspaper will decompose gradually, and if you want to add solid
"amendments", like compost, before the newspaper breaks down completely, all
you have to do is poke holes in it with your garden fork.

Seem like a good idea. I assume the earthworm living in the soil will
take care of pulling organic material from the surface to inside the
soil. This means I don't need to actually work the amendments into the
soil. Great!

Jay, I'm curious about two things:

1) In any given week, how many hours of work do you think is appropriate to
keep your garden in shape?

2) During the "special weeks", at the beginning & end of season, how many
hours of work do you expect?

Normally, I really don't have a block of uninterrupted time for
gardening. I can only steal some time here to plant a flower, make
some time there to remove some weeds. I tend to spend only 10 to 15
minutes in the morning to do anything related to gardening and that
includes the time to water the flower boxes and the flower garden, and
walk around the garden to just enjoy the view.

In the special week in the spring, I can convict my wife to let me
spend some time working on the garden, and that is when I get most
things done. Here, I am talking about one afternoon work.

Jay Chan