Know that healthy soil = healthy plants:
The follow-on is healthy plants = healthy people! Healthy soil is brimming with life. It can be created and maintained by ensuring there is sufficient organic matter in the soil for breaking down to provide a full range of nutrients to plants. It is critical for the production of ‘humus’ which provides a habitat and food for soil microbes that support plant health.
Additions by gardeners to keep soil healthy include mature compost, worm castings, green manures (soil building crops), mulch, and occasionally other natural fertilisers. One of the best signs of healthy soil is an abundance of earth worms.
Maintain humus in garden beds:
Humus is also known as “black gold”. It is created by nature through maintaining healthy soil as described above. It is spongy in texture, is excellent for retaining moisture, improving soil structure, regulating delivery of nutrients to plants and increasing the overall resilience of plants. Humus is known to lock carbon from the atmosphere back into the soil which is said to assist in the battle against climate change.
Use a variety of organic fertilisers:
Including those described above. The greatest fertiliser is well-made mature compost as it also provides plenty of organic matter. Depending on the pH of soil, your garden may also benefit from natural inputs such as lime or dolomite for acid soils or sulphur for alkaline soils. For a full list of commercially available fertilizers for organic gardening CLICK HERE.
Practice crop rotation:
Crop rotation is rotating families of plants grown in any one area to prevent a build up of disease-causing organisms in soil. Regularly changing the family of produce in each bed allows beneficial microbes to keep soil-borne diseases and some pests under control.
Recycle by composting or worm farming:
Composting and worm farming not only provide you with valuable fertilisers for your garden, they assist you to recycle and make use of waste from your home! The types of waste you can recycle include fruit and vegetable peelings and scraps, grass clippings, leaves, pruning waste, manures, newspaper, etc.
Protect garden soil with mulch:
Mulch is a cover for your garden bed to retain moisture, protect your soil from erosion and the elements, prevent weed growth and assist in the quicker breakdown of organic materials needed for providing nutrients to plants. Hay, straw, sugar cane, grass clippings, green manures and cover crops are examples of common materials used as mulch.
Avoid synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.: Synthetic chemical fertilisers supply nutrients but damage soil health. Chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides can kill beneficial microbes, increase soil diseases, and may be toxic to birds, beneficial insects and amphibians.
Once the health of your soil improves, your plants will build up a natural resistance to pests and diseases, and weeds should also become less persistent. In the meantime, there are suitable organic products which can be used where diseases or pests are endemic or unrelenting.
For a full list of commercially available fertilizers for organic gardening at contact: info@bfa.com.au
GARDENING TIPS & HINTS:
The following are traditional remedies to common garden pests and problems.
Foods:
* Garlic (a popular pesticide and fungicide)
* Chilli (for caterpillars)
* Chives (try Chive tea for apple scab)
* Coriander (try a spray for two-spotted mite and woolly aphids)
* Milk (for downy mildew and black spot)
* Chamomile tea (this is excellent for damping-off and powdery mildew)
* Kelp (for general pest and disease resistance)
Plants:
* Marigolds (French and African for nematodes)
* Horseradish (leaves for brown rot and curly leaf)
The above information has been collected from OGA certified grower, Lyn Bagnall, who last year released the book 'Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting'.
For a review of this book, please CLICK HERE or alternatively you can visit Lyn's website and blog: www.aussieorganicgardening.com