Sustainable Gardening Ideas

archived here from this great site!

http://preparednessmama.com/permaculture-principles/

 

Principle #1 – Produce No Waste

Actively look for ways to re-use the leftovers from your garden. Here are some ideas

• Compost your kitchen scraps, yard trimmings and animal manure (but not from cats and dogs, please!)
• Begin vermicomposting. Red wigglers are your friend. They convert organic waste and vegetable scraps into amazing soil amendments.
• Make compost and manure tea to give your vegetable garden the nutrients it needs.

Principle #2 – Use the Edges

Make use of all the possible space you have for growing, no area is insignificant.

Photo courtesy of Texas Co-op Power http://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/nature-outdoors/keyhole-gardening

• Design your herb, vegetable and flower beds in unusual shapes
• Use the spaces closest to your house to grow the most used vegetables. Planting in pots and on decks and patios.
• Make a keyhole bed to conserve water and space. One of the basic ideas is that it provides easy access with minimum path-to-bed ratio – a “least path” design. The horseshoe-shaped beds are sized so you can easily reach the entire area standing in the keyhole. The beds can be situated near the house for quick access, or along your main pathway. Here is a fantastic article about creating a 6 foot keyhole garden from recycled paper and cardboard. It incorporates a compost bin in the middle.
• Grow heat loving vines like beans, grapes, kiwi, melons and squash on the side of a stucco or brick wall to benefit from stored thermal heat.
• Grandma had it right. Her herb garden was always outside the kitchen door!

Principle #3 – Incorporate Perennial Crops in Your Landscape

Perennial crops don’t need to be replanted every year so they conserve energy and the soil is not disturbed as much. That means less work for a busy gardener. Your yields might be slow at first, but these perennial edibles will produce for years in your garden. If you plant and properly manage an asparagus patch, it can produce for 15 to 20 years. That certainly conserves my energy!
Some perennial plants to consider:

• Asparagus
• Chicory
• Dandelion
• Rhubarb
• Sweet potato
• Walking onion
• Sorrel
• Comfrey
• Horseradish
• Jerusalem artichoke (Sunchoke)
• Artichoke
• Purple Tree Collards
• Bamboo
• Fruit trees
• Berries (black, red, blue, straw)
• Nuts

Principle #4 – Harvest Water in the Garden

How much water does your garden need each season? Plants need water for cell division, cell enlargement, and even for holding themselves up. If the cells don’t have enough water in them, the result is a wilted plant. In hot weather your vegetables will need at least 1/2 an inch of water per week.

• Build your soil so it can retain maximum water. If your soil allows water to rush off of your property, then it is likely that it can become more absorbent.
• Consider roof catchment when possible. Even in low rainfall areas, you can lose hundreds of gallons of rainwater. It can be channeled through downspouts and be collected in cisterns or barrels, for use in your garden. I’m going to place a rain barrel on my chicken coop this year.
• Utilize compost and mulch, sheet mulching and cover crops.
• Water only the root zones – have you ever placed a PVC pipe or upside down pop bottle with holes next to your tomato plants roots?

The ideas in this post come from the book: The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem by Christopher Shein. There are so many wonderful Permaculture design ideas, tips and tricks in here! I’ve added it to my gardening resource library to use as I continue to study Permaculture. Christopher’s website is a great place to stop if you are looking for more information and don’t miss the resources page.
Other books that will give you information about the principles of Permaculture:
Getting Started in Permaculture by Ross and Jenny Mars
Perennial Vegetables –A Gardeners Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles by Eric Toensmeier
This is one of my favorite books. It encourages me to be self-reliant. I love the way she brings it all together – I find it magical and I read it every year. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. Also visit her website for more information.
Composting is where its at! Organic Gardener’s Composting by Steve Solomon is free on Amazon as I write this, but well worth it even if you have to pay. I refer to it frequently. Another stand by in my gardening library is Let it Rot!: The Gardener’s Guide to Composting by Stu Campbell.
Websites to check out:
www.greywateraction.org
www.urbanpermacultureguild.org
www.harvestingrainwater.com