Some tips, tricks and golden rules for sustainable gardening
Building soil fertility
To get the most out of your allotment while gardening organically it is key to keep your soil alive and to constantly sustain soil fertility. Yes, you can use fertilisers alone to keep your plants going and growing as for example hydroponics shows. However, it should be your goal to work with nature and that means to keep our ground and base, the soil, in a living and healthy condition.
There are several ground rules that help you to establish and nurture your soil:
"First, minimize plowing, tilling and digging. Second, use compost, grass clippings, leaves and other organic mulches on a regular basis to promote and sustain the soil food web. Third, always keep the soil covered with live crops or, at minimum, an organic mulch. Whenever you are not growing a food crop, sow a cover crop so the carbohydrate pipeline isn't shut off." (Building Soil Fertility, Doreen G. Howard. I recommend you all to read the whole article.)
Compost
- making good, healthy compost lies at the heart of sustainable gardening -For some making compost is an art and there are many ways to make a variety of different composts, each containing a unique mix of nutrients ... but it doesn't have to be as complicated as that. When it comes down to it, not even a container is needed, you can simply build a heap by piling up the garden and kitchen materials as they come. Don't cover the ground when starting the heap since you want earthworms to come up in order to help the process along. When you turn the compost over from time to time the materials will mix and break down more easily.
Some general rules apply:
- never compost meat, fish, or bones, they might attract rats and don't add to a healthy, nutritious compost
- cooked food only in moderation, if at all
- no cat litter or dog faeces
- citrus peels only in moderation, if at all
- leaves from conifers and evergreens take much longer to break down than brown leaves, usually between 2 to 3 years, only use in moderation, if at all
Hot heap
You can also build a hot heap. For this you should get all your materials together in order to build the heap or to fill the bin in one go. Here the mixture of green and brown materials (see a list here) is crucial in order to get the process started, best if you have both in equal amounts. Some broken up twigs and sticks and other more bulky materials spread out at the bottom of the heap keeps it nice and airy. Then add in roughly equal layers greens and browns. A sprinkle of wood ash in between the layers adds to a good compost mix. The heap should heat up within days, so much that you can feel it radiating its warmth. You can turn the compost over after the first two or three weeks and repeat this procedure a few times before leaving to rest until fully composted. It takes usually about half a year to a year until everything has broken down into nice and crumbly compost.
Wormery
Wormeries are great for fantastic compost within only about 3 months. There are many expensive ready-to-use wormeries on offer, but it's more fun, cheaper and environmentally friendly to build your own. Please email us if you are interested in diy instructions. Dendrobaena Worms (Dendrobaena veneta), which are confusingly also called European night crawlers (Eisenia hortensis) are in fact the same worms, or Tiger Worms (Eisenia fetida) are the best to get started. You can get these in your local fishing shop or order them online. Start with 250g to 500g of worms, they will multiply quickly and you will soon be able to compost more even quicker. Make sure your worms are kept in the dark, they don't like light and might try to escape. Best if you let your greens, cardboard, kitchen scraps and preferably some horse manure as a great starter rot for some days before you introduce your first batch of worms to the box. Feed them regularly, but be careful not to overfeed. Avoid bulky materials, best if you can shred the material in order to make life easier for your worms. More great tips here and faqs here.
Leaf mold
It improves your soil, great as mulch and as a fertiliser. Collect autumn leaves in big plastic bags or mesh containers, add water to make them rot more quickly and leave until the following year. Use as mulch or dig into your garden beds. Leaf mold left for 2 years and longer makes a fantastic ingredient for seed and potting compost.
Seed compost
Make your own with 3 parts leaf mould, 2 parts sharp sand and 1 part home made compost: mix it up, put through a garden sieve and hey presto!
Home-made organic fertilisers
They make a wonderful liquid fertiliser for your garden or allotment plot. The process of making these comes with an almost unbearable stink and I don't think I will ever get used to it, but I'm happiest when I'm feeding my plants with all this home-made goodness.
Nettle manure
Collect enough nettles to fill the container at least half way, a large bucket or medium sized rubbish bin (45l) is perfect. Best if you crush and break the stems a little in order to speed the process up. Needless to say, use gloves for this! Fill up with water to cover all nettles. Use a weight, large stone or the like to keep nettles covered by the water. Leave to brew for about 3 to 4 weeks and your fertiliser is done! Dilute to use as tea, roughly 1 part nettle manure, 10 part water. Continue to top up with fresh leaves throughout the year. In autumn, early winter you can add the remaining manure and sludge to your compost.
Comfrey tea
Same procedure as above using Comfrey or Seaweed.
Comfrey makes a fantastic, very nutritious plant feed. Comfrey is one of the only two plants, next to Alfalfa, to contain Vitamin B12 (crucial for blood formation, neurological functioning, and DNA synthesis). Comfrey tea is particularly great for feeding tomatoes. Some more info here. Dilute 50/50 for use.
Seaweed fertiliser
You don't need to rinse your seaweed since the sea salt actually contains beneficial minerals. It makes a very strong fertiliser and 1 cup of fertiliser is enough for a bucket of water, otherwise you run the risk to burn the roots of your plants.
Worm juice
Another reason to consider getting a worm farm is the natural liquid by-product which gathers on the bottom of the box. It's rich in nitrogen, contains phosphorous, potassium and over 60 other nutrients and minerals! Add 100mls to 1l of water. After the first use repeat feeding your plants after 6 weeks and again after 3 months. When applied as a seed dress it helps germination.
Companion planting
This is a complicated matter... religiously hailed by some, completely dismissed by others! Well, I suppose that leaves it up to the individual gardener to experiment and see what happens. Personally, I like the idea and have the feeling that there is something to it. I started to experiment with it and so far can't complain.
What's the theory behind companion planting then?
Every plant has its own unique chemical footprint, they release different chemical agents, either through their leaves or their roots. Plants 'communicate' with their environment through those chemicals, thus some plants can benefit or suffer from another plant's chemical make-up. There are some other advantages, too. Here are some examples:
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Produce a chemical that deters pests that are attracted to its companion
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Produce a scent that reduces the pest's ability to find its companion
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Provide food and shelter for beneficial natural pest predators
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Reduce weed seedling numbers, by shading or choking weeds
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Produce nutrients or growth stimulants for companion
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Provide support for climbing plants
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Provide shade for its companion
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Change or enhance companion plants flavor
Crop rotation
Crop rotation helps to keep soil fertility and contributes to overall pest and disease control measures. If you grow the same crop in the same place year after year you will get a build up of pests and diseases specific to that crop. And the same crops feed on the same nutrients from the soil until these become inevitably unbalanced and eventually depleted. Crop rotation is a prevention measure.
Saving seed
Try to save some seeds every year and it saves you money, too! Look out for seed swapping events or organise one yourself. ...
Water matters
save water harvesting rain water ...
Sowing, planting, pests, food preserving, celebrating!
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