The Organic Home Garden

FEED TIME!

The last condition of a plants environment that you must deal with is nutrition. The first and most obvious is the need for sunlight. Your leafy veges clearly need lots of sun and will not do well if you restrict them to less than 6 hours a day! Too little sunlight and the plants grow slowly and are more likely to contract diseases and don’t taste quite as nice! Remember sunlight means sugars -

sunlight
Carbon Dioxide + Water ======= Sugar + Oxygen

to produce enough sugar to convert to starch or proteins your plants need a minimum amount each day to do more than just survive! This process is known as photosynthesis. (Here-in ends the biology lesson!)

Pale and Yellowing leaves

Vege leaves that are pale or yellowing may need more sunlight as might plants that grow tall and spindly – they are taller than usual since they are chasing more light and that is their solution – grow up higher!
A similar problem can be seen in fruits that seem to fail to ripen. Many fruits need sunlight to convert starches into sugars and trigger the ripening process so be aware of where you place your fruit bearing plants. I have moved my apple trees around the yard chasing the sun as the season has moved into autumn and they are still growing well as a result.

The second requirement are the minerals that normally are evident in the soil of your garden. This is where the quality of your potting mix comes into question. Good quality mixes will start off with a good balance and will need only a little supplementing as your plants start to take off. Cheap mixes, well you will see the difference in your plants in a very short time after planting them.

Give em a little boost

Powdered or pelleted organic fertilisers are the best place to start and some are made specifically for pots. These can be added at planting time and then a little later on as the plants start to grow. It really depends on the size of your pots and the types of plants as to the frequency.

The next most useful is the liquid fish fertilisers or seaweed mixes. These are gentle and carry more than just fertiliser effects – many trace minerals and growth promoters are found in these products and they are convenient to use as well. These are so gentle that they can be used every two weeks as a boost to the plants and also to improve disease resistance.

HARVESTING

The last consideration is the issue of harvesting your veges. With plants like tomatoes it is obvious when these are ready to go and by all means pick them at the peak of their ripeness and get the taste! With leafy veges, like lettuce, spinach and herbs it may profit you to have several pots for each variety so that you can give them a chance to rest and regrow after picking a few leaves for your meals. Also remember to add a little fertiliser after a heavy harvest of any plants to speed up their regrowth and get them out in the sun.

We have spoken already about the many good reasons for having your own vegetable garden and eating your own yummy organic food. Well this week I read how scientists have released research information which adds even more weight to the value of home grown food.

The encouraging news is that a 30 year study comparing conventional farming versus organic practices showed that organic practices gave comparable yields but “take up and store huge amounts of CO2”. The reverse is also true of the conventional farming practices which remove carbon as well as using oil products at a far greater rate.

Paul Hepperly, Ph.D., research director at the Rodale Institute states: “We’ve shown that organic practices can do better than anyone thought at sequestering carbon and could counteract up to 40% of global greenhouse gas output.”
(‘Regenerative 21st Century Farming: A Solution to Global Warming’, by Dr. Timothy J. LaSalle and Dr. Paul Hepperly; Rodale Institute.)

PROVEN STRATEGIES!

This is amazing news for many reasons. The most important is, that if the Australian farm industry was to convert to organic farming practices huge amounts of carbon could be removed from the atmosphere and this is a proven process. Unlike the plans with coal powered power stations and “clean coal” and mechanical sequestration this is proven science!
Add to this the huge savings in oil use in the farm practices in general (fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides) and you can see that this is great news.

ORGANIC FARMING DOES NOT BENEFIT BIG COMPANIES!

However, the huge investment by governments, petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies in conventional farming will make the conversion to organics very difficult. Organic farming practices also reduce the need for the great “GMO” break-throughs we are led to believe will save our planet as far as food goes! The only need for GM in farming is the failure of conventional farming to supply food without the huge inputs from oil and the parallel production of CO2.

A SMALL STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

Now, how does all of this connect with our little patches of veges in the suburbs! Well it’s obvious to me that if you are supplying a large percentage of you own vegetables and fruit, grown organically, then you also are sequestering carbon. Add to this the fact that you are not buying in food from outside your local area, less food miles, less CO2 emissions. Now this will go a long way towards neutralising your carbon footprint!

This information also has a huge implication for the purchase of organic food for those times you cannot get enough from the garden. Yes, it is dearer sometimes than the non-organic produce but you are also helping improve the atmosphere and consequently the future for your family and friends.

For more details go to:
http:/www.rodaleinstitute.org/20080425/gw6