As a society, environmental sustainability and health-conscious living have become important factors when making decisions about food. This has led to organic gardening becoming more popular and less of a fad.
The term ‘organic’ can feel like a buzzword that is thrown around with little meaning. So, what exactly is organic gardening?
Soil health
One of the key principles of organic gardening is maintaining healthy soil. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants.
Fertile soil can be achieved in a number of different ways, but the most common is composting. This is a great way to enhance your plants as well as get rid of natural waste such as garden trimmings, vegetable peelings, and even paper.
Compost helps to improve the structure of the soil, the biodiversity, and the aeration. It can be used as mulch to retain moisture and prevent evaporation, especially in the hotter months.
Biodiversity
Typically, organic gardens celebrate diversity for wildlife as well as plants. Companion planting helps to encourage plant diversity. This is where you locate certain plants next to each other which are mutually beneficial. For example, some can help with pest control, pollination, and disease prevention.
Planting with pollinators in mind helps encourage wildlife activity in your garden. Bee populations, as well as other insects, are struggling, and they are incredibly important insects for the planet as a whole. Grow a wide variety of native plants to encourage insect activity.
Chemical-free
While there can be a place for chemicals in commercial food growing and gardening, the benefit of organic gardening is that you don’t have to use any. This is beneficial to your health as you are making sure you only consume the freshest food.
If you are worried about pests getting into your crops, make sure to set up some polytunnels to go over your plants. Not only will they protect your plants from any pests that may nibble away on them, but they are also great for protecting your plants in colder weather. This means you can grow food all year long rather than being restricted by the seasons.
One combination of plants can help to repel caterpillars. If you are growing cabbages, plant some sage nearby. Not only will this keep your cabbages safe, but you can use fresh sage in your cooking. It will taste better when it is fresh as opposed to the dried variety in supermarkets.
Sustainability
Organic gardening practices sustainability in a variety of methods. The overall aim is to reduce the ecological footprint of the garden.
If you want to temper your water usage, try installing a drip-feed system. Drip irrigation applies water to the roots and soil directly, reducing wastage through evaporation. If you couple this with a layer of mulch on top, the amount lost through evaporation will reduce further.
