Languages available:
...Welcome
...Schöne grüße
Enjoy our free, audio and meditation downloads...Click here
Walking the Path using Openhand's 'spiritual compass':
Full film freely from our hearts
Organic gardening basics
Many of us have never done any gardening before. Here is a brief introduction to organic gardening courtesy of LILI
So what is organic gardening?
It’s getting down and dirty to produce your own fruit and veg (organic of course, which means no chemical fertilizers or pesticides – you don’t want to poison your garden, wildlife or your family).
What you get is fruit & veg in season all year round (more in the summer of course), fresh, organic, and straight from the garden – once you’ve done it you’ll realise the difference in taste. Food grown using chemical fertilizers really doesn’t taste the same, because chemical fertilizers are water soluble, and so are taken up by the plants as they drink, whether they need them or not; they grow faster than they would naturally, and become large and watery. Finished compost, or well-rotted manure (well-rotted is a phrase you hear a lot, but it’s important) is not water soluble, and plants can take as much of it as they need.
As for pesticides, let’s take slugs as an example: slug pellets or other pesticides will certainly kill them, but not all of them, as there are so many. The poison will become concentrated in the birds that eat slugs, however, and could seriously reduce their population, resulting in an epidemic of slugs, with nothing to eat them. You’d then need more pesticides, and you’d end up in a toxic downward spiral, which probably isn’t a good idea in your back garden.
You can try to produce all your food from a half-acre plot, or grow a few herbs in a window box. If you live in a tower block, with not even a window box, you could rent an allotment (contact your local authority). It’s a fantastic hobby that will keep you fit, provide you with fabulous food, and enhance the environment.
what are the benefits?
No pesticides, which harm soil micro-organisms, wildlife, and of course, humans.
No chemical fertilizers either, whose water solubility means that when it rains, they are leached from the soil, into ground water or water courses, and cause problems due to excess algal growth starving other organisms of oxygen. The production and distribution of pesticides and chemical fertilizers requires energy, emissions, factories and trucks; who needs them?
Organic gardening uses compost, which builds soil structure, and stops leaching of nutrients and soil erosion; the compost heap takes your kitchen and garden waste, instead of it having to be transported to landfill.
It also encourages earthworms, which aerate the soil, and break down organic matter to produce rich humus – chemical fertilizers and pesticides kill worms.
Food that you grow yourself has no packaging and doesn't have to be transported on trucks to supermarkets.
what can I do?
Don’t read too much before you give it a go, as there is so much information out there (some of it conflicting) that it can be a bit bewildering. Start with something easy – onions, potatoes, or beans, and just do it, while gradually reading more to increase your knowledge, and then grow more new things each year. Ask other gardeners – they’ll probably be only too happy to share their experience. Decide what you want to grow – what you like to eat, in other words; start a compost heap (from kitchen and garden waste); and get some garden tools (car boot sales are an excellent source). If you don’t have a plot that’s been cultivated already, there will be some initial hard work as you dig out all the weed roots – but it will be easier from then on, especially if you mulch (cover the plot in something to hold moisture and suppress weeds – straw is probably the cheapest and easiest mulch material). You can get a pH testing kit from a garden centre to test your soil. Most plants like a neutral to slightly acidic soil, but a well-composted, poison-free soil will balance its own pH, so don’t worry too much.
Plan your garden. Grow four beds – of potatoes, root crops, greens, and beans / peas, and rotate each year. This is an important principle of organic growing; different crops take different nutrients from the soil, and are attacked by different pests, so a new crop each year means that nutrients aren’t exhausted and pests can’t become established. Some plants stay in the same place for a few seasons (strawberries), or for good (rhubarb, fruit trees and bushes).
Buy organic seeds and do what it says on the packet. Sow brassicas (cabbages, Brussels sprouts and other greens), beans and lettuce in seed trays (around March, indoors or in the greenhouse), in compost from the garden centre (as it won’t contain weed seeds) – make sure it’s peat-free; later, prick out into individual pots (now you can use your own compost); then plant out in May. Other crops can be planted straight outside.
There are lots of different jobs to do at different times of the year, and for different plants – books will give more details, as well as exactly how to grow different fruit & veg - when to sow, plant out, harvest etc, and what protection they need. Beans need poles to climb, young brassicas need fleeces to protect them from birds and cabbage white butterflies, and so on.
You can control pests in various ways: rotation; companion planting (onions with carrots, and flowers between the veg – examples of good insect repellents are marigolds and nasturtiums); spray soapy water to repel aphids, and salty water for cabbage white caterpillars. An organic garden will have healthy soil and disease-resistant plants, with predators to eat pests - ladybirds, hoverflies, centipedes, and of course birds (cats are bad news); you could install a pond for frogs.
Watering is best done in the evening, so the sun doesn’t dry it out; it’s a good idea to install a rainwater butt. You can grow tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, aubergines and peppers in a greenhouse.
The mind can be like a prison...but remember, you are not inside it, it is inside of you.
Sharing evolutionary spiritual perspectives with your group...
Are you inspired by the Openhand work? Find out how we can help catalyse your spiritual evolution... Openhand Courses
Real Seeds (organic gardening)
If you are looking for a good place to buy organic vegetable seeds then I would recommend 'Real Seeds'.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/
They are not like other companies and have a real humaness about their venture. They'll encourage you to save your own seeds and only sell you seeds that are not hybridised or genetically modified (unlike other many comercial companies). They have personal experience of everything they supply. In effect, like the good old days, they are supplying from their own private collection. They specialise in things that are easy to grow rather than those things that require huge amounts of extra care just to produce a mouthful. They're really helpful providing detailed instructions with the seeds and are happy to help if you have any queries by email.
I think they're a great credit to gardening authenticity. I was very happy with them last year and am happily using them again.
They have two books in their book section both of which I bought and recommend - one is a great book about gardening called 'Grow Your Own Vegetables' by Joy Larkcom - "this is the book to have if you have any questions about gardening. Even if you never get any other book, this one will sort you out for all your veg-growing questions."
The other is the 'Back Garden Seed Saving' by Sue Stickland that could be a life saver in coming times of global change especially given the manipulation of commercial seeds going on at large.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/books.html
Growing a green manure
How to grow a green manure - By Andy Hamilton
Your soil will love you for it, wildlife thrives in it and weeds are deterred by it. Here is the what, why and how of green manure
Any organic gardener worth his or her salt should be aware of green manure - essentially one of a number of plant species that can be grown and then dug into your soil to improve its quality or nutrient levels.
For many years I would simply leave my plot bare over the winter months and it was not until I read a simple sentence in a gardening magazine that I became a green manure avocate. The sentence read, 'Plant green manure; you don't want your precious soil left bare'. I pictured the dust bowls of the 'dirty thirties' in America and decided that my allotment's soil was indeed very, very precious.
It is unlikely that our allotments will become dust bowls, or our back gardens barren wastelands, but erosion and drying can be the result of leaving your soil open to the elements. And if you're not using green manure, you're making more trips in the car to the garden center or the nearest stables to pick up manure or compost.
Magic manure
Green manure can provide nitrogen for the soil and will also increase levels of oh-so-important organic matter, improving topsoil depth, water-holding capacity, nutrient content, friability, and soil texture. What's more it can be very cheap, especially if you save the seed year after year.
Another added benefit is that when the ground is covered, weeds find it harder to take hold. Imagine green manures as a good friendly house sitter, one that feeds your cat and puts the rubbish out on the correct day and deters any burglars. Indeed, even wildlife will thank you for growing green manures.
Do you use green manure? Give us your tips here
The frogs and beetles really enjoy a layer to hide amongst on my allotment, and they have thanked me by devouring some of the pests that can be problem. In fact I am thinking of opening a frog hostel on my allotment as there are so many living there now, especially considering how harsh the winter has been.
It can seem like a bit of a minefield when considering sowing a green manure as there are many different sorts with varying characteristics, useful for many different applications and sown at various different times. But don't be put off, just consider your soil's needs and you will find the correct green manure below to suit it...
Mustard (Sinapis alba)
Mustard is great if you want a quick-growing green manure, and can be sown from March right through until about September time (depending how far north you are). When grown late the bees seem very thankful for flowers during the dying months of the year. It grows very quickly (in about 1-2 months) and is particually good for soils that lack organic matter due to its fibrous content, which helps give structure to fine soils when dug in. What's more, as mustard leaves are edible they can be used as crop too.
I tend to follow a potato crop with mustard seed as it can help rid the area of wireworm. Grow until the first flowers appear then dig in. Sow thinly in 15cm rows, 3-5g per sq metre.
Winter Tares (Vicia sativa)
Sow in the spring, late summer or early autumn and it will be ready to dig in after 2-3 months. It won't give much ground cover if sown in the autumn as it grows slowly so don't expect it to keep the weeds down for you. Winter tares is not a big fan of acid or overly dry soils but will tolerate most others, and will fix nitrogen in the soil. It should be sown, not broadcast, at a rate of 20g per sq metre.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
Alfalfa is in the pea family and might already be known by many as one of the seeds in sprouting mix. Sow between late spring and the middle of summer - it will take about a year or more to grow. Indeed given the optimum condiditons it can live for up to 12 years!
This makes alfafa an ideal crop to sow on a patch of earth that may not be cultivated for some time. Many allotment societies will have a rule concerning how much of a plot must be used to be deemed to be under cultivation, and, as alfalfa can be sown and left, it will be considered by most as using a plot, thus keeping the officals off your back! However, it should be cut back two or three times over a year to encourage new, fresh growth. Broadcast at 2-3g per sq metre.
Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
Phacelia is a beautiful plant with vivid blue flowers and can also be grown on a wildlife-friendly plot in order to attract bees and hoverflies. When used as a green manure it should be cut down before it flowers. It can be sown in early spring and then dug in after about two months or planted in late autumn to be dug in during spring.
Phacelia will thrive in most soils and as it is a bushy plant it should also act as a weed retardant. It is not frost hardy and many of my plants have died off during this cold winter (2009-2010), however it has kept the weeds down and the dead plants have now been dug in. I will allow one or two of the surviving plants to mature before cutting back in order to obtain seed for the next season. Broadcast sow at a rate of 2g per sq metre.
Hungarian Grazing Rye (Secale cereale)
I have sown this in October before, but only because I live in the south of England. Further North it will be safer to sow by September. Hungarian grazing rye is left over winter and its dense, grass-like foliage is enough to frighten off most weeds. Sow thinly in rows 20cm apart - or broadcast the seed at a rate of 16g per sq metre.
Trefoil (Medicago lupulina)
Sow in spring to late summer and Trefoil will make a good ground cover for the winter months. It will take around 3 months to grow and will withstand most light and dry soils. Trefoil will not tolerate acid soil. It is a low-growing plant and can be intercropped with taller crops such as maize.
Original article:
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/how_to/438015/how_to_grow...