Organic farming today is transforming from a little-known trend into a full-fledged movement for conscious, rational and responsible gardening. Calling to work in accordance with nature, and not contrary to it, this approach allows you to save energy and resources, and enjoy every minute spent on your site. And grow high-quality, environmentally friendly crops in your garden without hassle, forgetting about watering, weeding and even digging. The smart-lazy approach is the basis natural farming, revolutionizing the idea of your own vegetable garden and garden.
Organic farming – hassle-free gardening for the rationally lazy
Every summer resident dreams of rich harvests that do not require extra effort. And the concept of a “lazy” garden is increasingly becoming part of our everyday life. But the very principles that make it possible to simplify the process of growing your own crops remain, if not a mystery, then something akin to science fiction for many. A hassle-free garden that does not require weeding, watering or even digging is not a myth or an impossible dream, but a reality. But to achieve results, you will have to not only radically change your approach, but also revise your ideas about traditional farming methods.
The basis of the “lazy garden,” as the principle of organizing your own garden and vegetable garden based on the laws of organic (or natural) farming is often called, is a responsible approach and respect for nature. And there is no point in making the mistake of thinking that you can do nothing at all, but still get an excellent result: it is not lazy gardeners who achieve success, but intelligently lazy gardeners. The ability to competently distribute resources, minimize all labor-intensive work and effectively use the entire area of your small plot is not only a reality, but also the only the right approach. And organic farming isn't just for those who don't have the time or energy for "regular" gardening. This whole philosophy and a special approach to gardening and vegetable gardening, accessible to everyone, regardless of age, knowledge and experience - to those who want to live and create in symbiosis with nature, and not just use and deplete its resources.
Focusing on getting the maximum from the soil and not harming nature, organic farming uses natural mechanisms for restoring soil fertility, carefully analyzing the laws of their renewal. And the perception of soil not just as a resource, a medium for growing plants, but as a living organism with a unique ecosystem, any intervention in which leads to an irreversible imbalance, radically changes the perception of the very process of growing cultivated plants.
Following the laws of nature itself, without interfering or destroying, but only helping it to the best of our ability and knowledge, organic farming teaches us:
- appreciate your work;
- correctly allocate resources and time;
- do not waste time on unnecessary (and often causing great damage) procedures;
- Once again enjoy the time spent on your site.
After all, you also need to learn how to relax in the country, and not work every minute. And sometimes it is much more difficult to rebuild the way of thinking and perception than to master new methods.
Three main “nots” of natural farming – the basis of a hassle-free vegetable garden
Organic farming allows you to abandon all the most complex, labor-intensive components of classical gardening - the fight against unwanted vegetation, regular watering and soil cultivation.
Organic farming is based on three principles:
Principle 1. Don't dig!
Instead of digging, active and deep cultivation of the soil, organic farming calls for conservation natural environment soil and just maintain and improve it, maintaining air and water permeability, without harming the original inhabitants of the soil, using natural means for renewal and restoration and creating a high-quality humus layer.
Principle 2. Don't weed!
It is better to fight weeds not with the most ineffective method - complete weeding, but with their systematic oppression, considering the “main enemies” of any summer resident as one of the valuable natural resources.
Principle 3. Do not water!
The most labor-intensive and resource-intensive component of caring for your garden is perceived as inevitable. But if you reconsider the approach and do not enrich the soil with water, but store it in it, then you can forget about watering.
Of course, organic farming is not only about avoiding watering and fertilizing. In everything, from measures to protect plants from pests and diseases to the issue of fertilizing, you should “listen” to nature and rely on natural mechanisms protection and self-regulation, which cannot be invented more effectively. A hassle-free organic garden is a healthy garden that produces strong, resilient plants. Natural agriculture has its own approach to the selection of seedlings, seeds, tubers, selection of plant communities, compliance with crop rotation and rotation, and to sowing or planting, individual, respectful of the characteristics of the crops themselves.
“Well forgotten old” natural farming
Unfortunately, about natural farming in Russian Federation is still known to few. We often have it in a new, sometimes even innovative or alternative approach. Although the essence of natural farming is not the invention of new technologies, but a return to the roots, attention and respect for nature and its laws, which everyone knew about hundreds of years ago. WITH technical progress, in just a hundred years, the ability to grow crops in accordance with nature and without harming it gave way to new methods, which led to catastrophic destruction and depletion of soils. For decades, “scientific” but unnatural farming methods, and the original, centuries-old traditions and the practice of creating a garden without hassle was practically lost.
Adherents of traditional agricultural technology are convinced that organic farming methods are of little use in private gardens and orchards and require large resources and costs. But in practice, the opposite is true: even on your 6 acres, you can be convinced that natural farming opens up gardening from a completely new side. On small area much simpler:
- understand natural mechanisms and begin to act together with nature itself;
- move from soil exploitation to its conservation and improvement;
- start rationally using the space and getting large and high-quality harvests even in a small garden without hassle.
The exciting process of learning the laws of nature and starting to work in accordance with them opens the way to responsible farming and new ways to organize your own garden without hassle.
Galina Kizima - a guide to the world of organic farming
The laws and methods of organic farming have been applied in practice for more than 55 years by the main expert in this field, Galina Kizima. Being the author of more than a hundred books, manuals and articles on smart and successful gardening and horticulture, Galina Aleksandrovna Kizima is a frequent guest on television and radio, a renowned practitioner who modestly calls herself an amateur gardener. Even her opponents listen to her opinion.
More than twenty thousand gardeners and summer residents have already discovered all the benefits of organic farming thanks to Galina Kizima’s video course “Gardening without the hassle.” This is a unique course of fascinating videos that will help you not only understand, but also see how it works organic vegetable garden without hassle on the dacha plot and how much simple laws form the basis of natural agriculture. Like the author’s books, the video course is distinguished by its accessible language - you won’t hear complex terms or boring explanations in it, this is advice from a practicing gardener to fellow amateur gardeners.
A complete and accessible guide will show you how to put into practice the principles of natural farming and get environmentally friendly, healthy and record harvests of your favorite vegetables, berries and more, forever forgetting about digging, weeding and watering for a real garden without the hassle. And it will help you rediscover the pleasure of your favorite hobby.
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A correctly drawn up scheme for planting vegetables in the garden and a competent plan for placing crops in the country are one of the main components of spring events. When planning landings garden plants At a summer cottage, it is very important to take into account crop rotation or the so-called alternation of all vegetable crops grown.
Decorative and classic types of beds
Today, in the conditions of home garden vegetable growing Arrangement of several types of classical ridges is practiced:
- vertical structures They allow you to decorate unattractive walls or fences, minimize the contact of plants with the soil, reduce the risk of fungal diseases and reduce the growth of weeds. Disadvantages include the limited volume of soil and the need to apply frequent feeding and irrigation activities. Among other things, such beds are not suitable for growing perennial crops that can freeze out in winter period;
- deep designs have gained particular popularity in recent years. Such a ridge is a platform standard sizes, represented by soil dug up twice with manure or good compost to a depth of a couple of spade bayonets. Such a bed does not require digging for three to five years, and the soil can be loosened, watered, weeded and limed from paths laid along it;
- tall structures convenient from the point of view of processing vegetable crops. During construction, a trench 30-40 cm deep is dug. Branches and paper, as well as plant waste, should be placed in the dug trench, after which layers of fertile soil are filled in and lightly compacted. Bordering high design can be done like wooden planks, and slate or any other available material;
- warm designs they remind me a little high ridges. A ridge is dug a meter wide and of arbitrary length. A layer of fresh soil is placed on the dug surface. cow dung, after which he falls asleep fertile land. The surface needs to be shed generously warm water and cover with black polyethylene or non-woven material. Vegetables are planted in specially made slots.
Site planning using the Mittlider method (video)
Decorative ridges can add originality to a personal plot. A striking example - unusual shape or fencing made of beautiful materials. You can draw up a plan for the location of such structures online using special programs. Even amateur vegetable growers with little experience can do this kind of computer drawing up of a plan diagram.
Requirements for beds for vegetable crops
When planning vegetable beds, you need to remember that such structures mandatory must be sufficiently dry and level. Also, areas shaded by trees or buildings should not be allocated for garden beds. The right bed should warm up well sun rays. Experienced gardeners recommend laying out ridges in plots in the direction from north to south. A good result is obtained by arranging the beds with low sides, which prevent crumbling and help retain moisture during irrigation activities.
In flat areas, it is recommended to break out ridges and arrange them directly across the slope. If there are too large slopes, it is advisable to make special terraces, which are strengthened with wooden boards, logs or slate sheets. Such planting areas help protect the soil and grown plants from heavy flood waters or heavy rains.
Currently, they are especially popular the following options for the location of garden beds:
- geometric arrangement of square, rectangular or elongated ridges in parallel and perpendicular directions;
- radial arrangement in spacious areas with planting garden crops peculiar rays in a circle;
- angular non-standard location;
- spiral arrangement or rock garden ridges that can decorate any landscape and are optimal for cultivation garden strawberries or other low-growing berries.
The shape of vegetable beds can be completely different. Experienced gardeners prefer to plant a garden or summer cottage plot on fairly even, rectangular or square ridges. To give the garden an original appearance, beds can be round, oval, triangular or any other shape. In any case, when planning the location of the ridges, it is necessary to be guided not only by desires and personal preferences, but also take into account the features of the relief.
Scheme for planting vegetables in the garden: basic rules
In the process of choosing a place and scheme for growing vegetables on a personal plot it is recommended to focus on compliance following rules:
- Growing dill, salad crops and radishes does not have to be done in an ordinary way. Such garden crops are capable of producing enough high yield when planted as a seal for other vegetables. This planting allows you to obtain an aesthetically pleasing design for your garden and will significantly save the free space of your garden plot;
- beets, radishes, turnips, carrots and other root crops can be planted on the sides of the beds. In this way, it is possible to obtain a beautiful frame for other garden crops without inhibiting their growth and development. In the process of designing a garden plot, the rules of crop rotation must be taken into account, so the same crop cannot be grown in one place for several years in a row;
- as a border design for large-sized beds, it is allowed to plant such climbing plants like peas, beans or beans. Planting is carried out on the north side of the main vegetable crop, which will not allow climbing vines to block sunlight;
- It is best to allocate separate ridges for pumpkins, squashes and zucchini, which is due to the rapid growth of the plant and its spread throughout almost the entire free space.
It is also very important to maintain the distance between crops in a row and the gap between rows when planting seedlings and sowing.
Mixed plantings: planning beds (video)
Crop rotation in the garden: how to plant vegetables correctly
One of the simplest and most popular solutions for implementing crop rotation in home garden vegetable growing is is based on the division of vegetable garden crops into several main groups:
- leafy group - cabbage, lettuce, green onions, sorrel and spinach;
- the fruit group is represented by tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant and pumpkin;
- a group of root vegetables, represented by radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes;
- a group of legumes represented by beans, beans, lentils,.
The correct alternation of such plants in a personal garden plot should be carried out as follows:
- in the first year, fruit crops are grown in the first bed, root crops in the second, legumes in the third, leaf crops in the fourth;
- in the second year, fruit crops are transferred to the fourth bed, root crops to the first, legumes to the second, leaf crops to the third;
- in the third year, the root crops are transferred to the fourth bed and so on.
No less popular is crop rotation depending on the requirements of garden plants for soil fertility:
- high performance demands are typical for aster, pumpkin and cabbage;
- an average degree of demandingness is typical for nightshades;
- insignificant demands are characteristic of amaranth, amaryllis and umbelliferae;
- Legumes can enrich the soil composition.
Nightshade crops are represented by potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and bell pepper. The umbrella or celery category includes dill, carrots and parsley. The most popular amaranths are beets and spinach.. The pumpkin family is represented by cucumbers, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, watermelon and melon.
Popular brassicas or cruciferous vegetables include all types of cabbage, radishes and watercress. Soil-enriching legumes include peas and beans, and sunflowers belong to the Asteraceae family.
Crop rotation of vegetable crops (video)
Even in small beds you can get decent yields. Correct and timely planning of plantings and crops, as well as compliance with crop rotation is prerequisite obtaining the highest and highest quality harvest from small-sized household plots and garden plots.
You, of course, have thought more than once about how best to use the space in the garden, how to compact vegetables on them. Which cultures are compatible? How to organize a conveyor in a garden bed? All these issues can be solved by using mixed plantings of vegetables, the diagrams of which are given below.
Repeated and compaction sowing of vegetable crops
Compacted planting of vegetable crops has been used since ancient times. This way it is used more intensively usable area, because in the garden it is the most fertile and loose. We don’t spare mulch there, water it with all kinds of weed infusions, and of course, enrich the soil with compost and green manure.
combined planting of vegetable crops - beans, cabbage, corn
Compacted plantings are very often used in natural farming practices. After all, green manure and organic mulch not only fertilize the soil, but also heal the microflora - there are no severe diseases or pests. One of the conditions that must be taken into account when compacting crops is the characteristics of the vegetative development of combined crops. In a short growing season (30-45 days), crops such as dill, lettuce, spinach, radishes, arugula, and onions have time to grow. Watercress grows even faster.
The average period of development for such crops as early cabbage, garlic, onions and turnips is that they leave the garden by the end of July-beginning of August. The autumn harvest period for vegetables such as late cabbage, carrots, and beets. Well, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants leave the garden late.
mixed plantings sometimes turn out to be very expressive
Repeated sowing of vegetable crops mainly refers to crops with a short and, less often, medium growing season. So, after leaving the salad bed, you can plant grown cabbage in its place. By this point, it will no longer interfere with the previously planted cucumbers, which will climb the trellis. And after harvesting the garlic, you can plant it in its place. Chinese cabbage. This is an early ripening crop, and before frost you can constantly pick off its succulent leaves for fresh salads.
Plant compatibility
Combined planting of vegetables is very effective if you choose good companions for the main crops. After all, plants can inhibit each other, or vice versa, stimulate growth, development, and even protection from pests. It has been noticed that when potatoes are compacted with beans, the damage from the Colorado potato beetle is significantly reduced. And compacting cabbage with marigolds reduces the risk of attack by the white butterfly. But even here you need to maintain a reasonable balance - too large number marigolds will not help the cabbage, but will oppress it.
The ability to secrete organic compounds that inhibit or suppress the development of others is called the allelopathy effect. But no matter how hard they try to study and systematize this phenomenon, it is impossible to obtain reliable data - too many factors influence the plant during the growing season. Everyone's areas are different: temperature regime, humidity, lighting, prevailing winds, soil composition, etc. Therefore, successful combinations in some conditions may “work” completely differently in others. But that's no reason to ignore someone's successes, right? We need to take such decisions into account and adjust the “combination” already in our beds.
When placing plants in the garden bed, you can take into account not only the compatibility of vegetables with each other, but also intersperse decorative and herbs. Then the garden will become not only useful, but also beautiful. The compatibility of plants during planting, tested in practice in our conditions in Kazakhstan (Table 1), has so far collected little data. But they are all successfully used.
Table 1
| peas | eggplant, corn, calendula, cucumber, carrots |
| strawberries | lettuce, marigolds, beans, garlic, spinach |
| cabbage | onions, beets, celery, dill, marigolds |
| kohlrabi | onion, lettuce, beets, cucumber |
| onion | carrots, beets, tomato, celery, savory |
| carrot | peas, onions, lettuce, tomato, sage |
| cucumber | peas, radishes, beans, cabbage, peppers |
| pepper | cucumber, salad, beans |
| salad | carrots, cucumber, radishes, strawberries |
| tomato | parsley, beans, calendula, nasturtium, basil |
| beans | eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, cucumber |
Potatoes and cucumbers, beans and onions, strawberries and cabbage do not get along with each other. Carrots “do not like” all umbelliferous plants - dill, celery, parsley. Fennel is generally a pest, and it is better to plant it in tubs. It is also better for hyssop to find a place in the backyard.
Mixed planting of vegetables in the garden
Almost schoolchildren know about the successful “duet” of carrots and onions. Separately planted onions from 1 sq.m in our conditions yield approximately 2.5 kg, and carrots about 6 kg from the same area. And when they grow together, we collect 9 kg of vegetables from the same area of the garden bed! They protect each other from pests, so the efficiency of space use doubles.
And of course, mixed plantings in the garden need to be grouped taking into account the height of the plants, and the plantings should be layered. And also watch the growth - they grow differently, some quickly gain green mass, others slowly. It is better to plant compactors at a lower height than the main crops. Layering creates favorable conditions for roots and generally makes better use of solar energy.
Mixed planting of vegetables: schemes
It is advisable to place combined plantings of vegetable crops on stationary beds. The soil in them is not dug up every season; its structure is improved annually due to the death of the roots of vegetables, flowers and green manure. Different crops and crop rotation reduce soil fatigue, and working in such beds is much easier than in a traditional vegetable garden. Here are proven schemes for mixed vegetable plantings:
planting scheme (cabbage and beets)
- The scheme combines landing late cabbage and beets. Inside a square of 80 × 80 cm, seedlings of 4 cabbage bushes and 9 beet plants are planted. A handful of ground is placed into the hole eggshells and a glass of compost. Beetroot is harvested in September. The yield is 3-3.2 kg per sq.m. Heads of cabbage harvested in October increase in strength to 10.5-10.8 kg on average. Total weight is about 14 kg, not bad?
- Scheme of combined planting of tomatoes and beans. The distance between plants in a row is 30 cm. A line is installed along the rows of bush beans drip irrigation, and beans are planted near each dropper. The tomatoes are placed in the center of the bed in a checkerboard pattern with beans (between the drippers to avoid excess moisture). Along midline the beds are missing a stationary trellis. In our conditions, beans produce 2 harvests and on average yield 1.6-1.8 kg per 1 sq.m., medium-sized tomatoes - 4-4.5 kg. For the winter we do not prune the bean bushes, but the stems tomato bushes remove by cutting low.
planting scheme for tomatoes and bush beans
And finally, a short lesson from Galina Ivanovna Kizima, who masterfully uses compacted planting of vegetables (video):
Mixed plantings vegetables, the diagrams of which you saw here, in no case cancel crop rotation in the beds. If, for example, you plant beets in their original place, then next year you will get root vegetables the size of a gulkin’s nose. But this is the topic of the next publications, so stay with us and subscribe to article announcements.
Not in nature large areas occupied by one species.
There is always a mixture of herbs in the meadow
, in the forest - not only different breeds trees, but also shrubs, grasses, mosses.
Even in a field where only one crop is planted after plowing, weeds grow.
We, too, can create a vegetable garden in which plants coexist. How to do this? The answer is simple - use the mixed planting method. To do this, you need to know which plants are good neighbors, and plan the territory to ensure the closest possible proximity different cultures. They should not grow in large masses, but in adjacent rows or holes.
There is a lot of information on this topic on the Internet... I'll just share my experience...
First of all, you need to choose the main crop, then select a neighbor that has a beneficial effect on the main plant. Throughout many years I plant together tomatoes and basil and lettuce... peppers and beets... corn and cucumbers or beans. tall plants will protect the lower ones from direct rays of the sun and create a more favorable microclimate for them. You still need to be more careful with corn... it’s better to plant it separately for seedlings or cucumbers... one year I planted corn and cucumbers at the same time, but the cucumbers didn’t sprout... I had to replant them, but the corn was already growing. ..and it grew and grew... as a result, the cucumbers remained small and underdeveloped in the shade of the corn thickets.
It is worth planting aromatic herbs nearby that repel pests. You just need to make sure that they don’t drown out the main culture. Plant marigolds, calendula, and nasturtiums scattered throughout the vegetable garden. Last year we had an aphid invasion... and only one young seedling was spared by it. It was a pear with calendula and other herbs growing under it...
Consider the timing of crop ripening. If you harvest one crop early, it is worth finding a replacement plant for it. You can't leave the ground bare. It is mulched and green manure is planted. When choosing crops, you should pay attention to reducing competition between them. Plants with deep root systems will get along better with those with shallow roots; species with low nutritional requirements will not interfere with those who need a lot of nutrients; tall, spreading crops will protect those that like light partial shade from the sun.
Only the neighbors' water needs should be similar.
For example, early cabbage will simply go great next to celery
Just don’t confuse it - exactly early varieties cabbage... as soon as we harvest the cabbage in mid-July... celery will spread throughout the entire bed and will continue to grow until September-October, depending on the climate.
The most popular neighbors in the garden
Tomato - basil... tomato - parsley... tomato - salad
Early cabbage - celery... cabbage - marigolds... cabbage - nasturtium
Carrots - onions... carrots - garlic
Potatoes - beans...
However, do not forget that advice is just advice, and not a command for action... using this table you can choose the most convenient combinations for yourself.
Another piece of advice... make it a rule to keep records of all actions performed at your dacha. I have a treasured notebook where I write down everything I do... I start with the seeds in stock, then... what, when and where I planted (seedlings, in a greenhouse, in a garden bed)... what and with what I did combined, and at the end of the season I make a note side by side whether I liked it or not...
This year I decided to keep new statistics for myself in Google spreadsheets... I'll see what comes of it, starting from the seeds for now...
And in my treasured notebook I have already noted for myself that this year I will plant together:
Eggplant + Vigna (Chinese beans)
... Carrots + tomatoes + basil (I won’t change my observations)
... Corn + pumpkin + cucumbers
... Broccoli + cucumbers + peas
... Pepper + beets (this also remains unchanged for me)
... Leeks + beets
... Onions + beets + carrots
... Early cabbage + celery.
I’ll be sure to show you in the group what came of it
Don't be shy - share your experience!!! How do you combine plantings?!... What conclusions did you draw for yourself?!... Maybe you have the opposite bad experience combining plantings?!... Be sure to write about it, any experience you have is simply necessary for each of us
Do-it-yourself “correct” beds
I have my own house and a plot of 7 acres. We have been using the garden for 20 years. So, in recent years, I began to notice that the earth was becoming heavy, water- and air-tight, and the harvests were getting poorer and poorer. In the fall, it became a shame that so much effort, time and money had been invested, and the result was almost zero.
Something had to be done, but I didn’t know what. That’s when B.A.’s book fell into my hands. bagel “Vegetable garden in a new way. The revolutionary method of “doing nothing.” This book changed my entire thinking and allowed me to take a new look at cultivated plants, on weeds, on pests, on the soil and in general on mother nature. In nature, everything is interconnected: one with another, another with a third, and so on along the chain. And then I looked on the Internet, saw a lot of interesting, smart, instructive things, and in the spring I decided to implement the basic principles of organic farming in my garden.
With the onset of spring, my husband and I divided the garden into “Right” beds – 90 cm wide and 8 m long(although the length can be arbitrary), row spacing is 60 cm. The width of the bed should be such that you can reach the middle with your hand, because you cannot step on the ground either when planting or when weeding.
Row spacing should be wide to provide plants good air exchange and illumination, since scientists have long proven that plants are taken from the soil in the form nutrients only 30% of the required energy.
We also chose a width of 60 cm because of its convenience when mowing with a lawn mower. The brought soil and compost were poured onto the beds on top and everything was mixed together with garden soil. The beds turned out to be slightly raised, but not high. Several beds were fenced off with wooden boards - there was not enough material for everything.
One bed contained 4 rows for planting seeds of onions, carrots, beets, and radishes. I planted seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and cabbage in two rows in a checkerboard pattern. Vegetables were planted according to the principle of “good neighborliness”, i.e. compatibility of cultures. For example, onions along with carrots and beets (along the edge of the bed). In general, beets are considered an “extreme” crop; their place is at the edge of the garden bed. She planted tomatoes with peppers, cabbage with celery and beets.
Combined plantings are good because the plants (at least three species) do not oppress neighbors, but help each other.
Don't expect a harvest without mulch!
Further, following the principles of organic farming, I mulched the plantings, but did this only when seedlings began to appear (late spring - early summer). Mulched with mowed grass, but always dried a little in the shade. The mulch was watered with a solution containing effective microorganisms and then water was poured on top again. Beneficial microorganisms begin to work when established warm weather with an air temperature of at least 25°.
Throughout the summer, I added more and more mulch (about once every one or two weeks). Ideally, the mulch layer per season should be at least 5 cm.
And with potatoes we did this: the bushes came up after the first weeding and hilling by the whole family mulched with straw and hay. Of course, we had to work hard, but then throughout the summer we no longer weeded, and the Colorado potato beetle appeared much later and in smaller numbers. The area under potatoes was small, about 4 acres. The strawberry bed was also mulched with mown grass, where clean berries were then collected, and there were no rotten ones at all. Weeds grow through the mulch, but very little. To avoid them altogether, you need a dense layer of mulch of at least, as I said, 5 cm.
Mulching is especially important in hot weather, but in rainy weather you need to be careful, as mulch can rot, especially on heavy soils.
And yet it has many more advantages: protecting the soil from drying out, reducing labor costs for weeding, enriching the soil due to the decomposition of organic matter by soil microorganisms and bacteria.
Wormwood instead of chemistry
Separately, I would like to dwell on ways to control pests and diseases in organic farming. To combat pests, I planted plants in the beds that repel them. For example, next to the cabbage I planted marigolds, hyssop, sage and a lot of dill.
White butterflies circled and circled over the cabbage, but I never noticed any pests on the leaves. I added basil to the tomatoes and peppers, which not only repels insects, but also improves the taste of tomatoes and the structure of the soil. I planted onions and carrots close to each other, since the onion fly is repelled by carrots, and the carrot fly by onions. Wormwood repels many pests, especially the Colorado potato beetle. I have several wormwood bushes growing in my garden in different places, but off to the side, not in the beds. With the help of wormwood, I saved eggplants from the striped pest. In the summer, when all my spicy plants and flowers bloomed, there was such beauty in the garden, and the smell was amazing!
I fertilized only once, in the spring, and only foliar. Next season we plan to use our own solutions and fertilizers.
In the fall, we plant the vacated beds with green manure (white mustard). The use of green manure is another principle of organic farming. They enrich the soil with macro- and microelements, their long rhizomes loosen the soil and increase the humus layer of the soil.
When using organic farming, the land before winter should always be covered with greenery and in no case bare.
And in conclusion, I want to say: in order to carry out “perestroika” in the garden, my husband and I had to work a lot, but the whole family is very pleased with the results of this work! In addition, next season there will be much less work, since the beds will already be permanent, all that remains is to loosen them (up to 5-7 cm) and plant the plants.
If you follow the principles of organic farming, the humus layer in the garden bed will increase every year, as a result of which the yields will increase significantly, and (most importantly!) they will be absolutely clean from an environmental point of view.
Dear gardeners, switch to organic farming! It really works - tested practical experience. Believe me, this is a very interesting process, because Mother Nature has long taken care of everything for us, we just need to watch her and try to disturb her as little as possible!
Seedlings in diapers
I really love experimenting in the garden. I take a plastic bag for a sandwich measuring 20x30 cm, without unfolding it, put 1 tbsp on the left edge. l. (with a heap) of prepared moistened soil, then I place a seedling in the middle of the lump of earth, and on top another 1 tbsp. l. earth, and I roll everything up in the form of a roll - I “swaddle” the seedling, like swaddling a baby. I wrap the edge of the bag (you can tighten it with an elastic band). The leaves of the seedling should protrude above the film.
I put the formed rolls in a kiwi container (you can use a cake container), 13-15 bags fit. In short, in three containers I got 42 seedlings, and they all fit on one windowsill. I place the containers themselves in small trays from semi-finished products.
Then, when the seedlings grow up (after several weeks), you need to unroll the rolls again and add 1-2 tbsp. l. land. Regular care: watering, lighting.
The seedlings grow remarkably well, and by the time they are planted in open ground I have healthy and strong tomato seedlings with an elongated root system.
With this picking method, the most important thing is that the root system is not injured when transplanting to permanent place, and the root tip is not pinched, which contributes to further growth roots deeper, where the plant will find more moisture and will not depend on watering.
Having planted my tomatoes in two rows in a checkerboard pattern in a narrow box bed, I mulch them with hay and straw (but not fresh!). A bed with ripening tomatoes looks so beautiful that it’s simply impossible to describe! And the harvest is so large that until the New Year, my whole family eats fresh tomatoes.
By the way, this picking method is very well suited for apartments where there is little space for seedlings, and much less land is used. You can pick other vegetables and flowers in this way. Try it, you will definitely like it. It really works!
ORGANIC FARMING GARDEN – MY REVIEWS
Vegetable garden "for sloth"
The most interesting thing about organic farming is that the increase in soil fertility can be translated into permanent and almost offline mode work. And another article - the best for that confirmation.
It's not like that, guys...
At the beginning of my gardening journey, I used the experience of my parents, that is, I first dug up the entire vegetable garden, and then created beds up to a meter wide, leaving 30-40 cm gaps between them. Then, of course, I struggled with weeding the plantings, taking out all the grass torn out of the site. But every year it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong, because the work was constantly being added and added.
This became especially noticeable after I started growing seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers on my own. At first I only bought it at the market, but when I was once cheated there with the varieties, I decided that now I had to take this matter into my own hands (now I have already compiled a pretty good garden collection, but every year I test one - two new varieties or hybrids).
When I was finally convinced that there was no longer any possibility of doing agricultural technology in the old way, I began to study the works of advanced gardeners. The one that made the greatest impression on me was the Meat Tlider. Thanks to his articles, I fully realized that the wisest thing to do is to abandon the “nomadic” beds, replacing them with boxes installed in once and for all selected places, thereby eliminating trampling of the earth, which leads to deterioration of its structure. But at the same time, I left the width of the beds themselves as usual (about a meter), but increased the passages to 70 cm.
Practice has shown that if you fill the surfaces of the beds with organic matter in the fall, then under this “coat” by spring you can get moist and loose soil, which you don’t have to dig, but simply loosen it with a hoe.
But where can you get so much mulching material? I began to grow green manure before winter and collect leaf litter along the clearing along which I walk to my plot, and stopped disdaining the weeded weeds. Why wear them? compost heaps? It is wiser to leave it in place, increasing the thickness of the mulch layer, which will serve as extra food for various worms, bugs, fungi and microbes. In addition, in the ground “under a fur coat” the passages made by worms and empty
you are from rotten organic matter through which water passes with air and nitrogen dissolved in it. In other words, soil fertilization occurs almost “automatically”! It is generally accepted that nature independently creates 1 cm of humus in about 100 years. If we help her, then this process can be accelerated significantly.
Correct timing
My next step was to switch to ridge planting of potatoes, which also saved me from the need to shovel the entire area of the plot. By creating parallel trenches 10 cm deep and a spade bayonet wide at intervals of 70 cm, the soil only has to be laid to the right of them. Very convenient and economical. I called this method of planting “under the sloth”. Using the same method, I now plant corn (the distance between the rows of this crop is 1.2 m, and between the rows I place cucumbers or pumpkins), sunflowers and climbing beans. The only difference is that I don’t dig trenches for these plants, but loosen strips of earth 30 cm wide.
As for cucumbers, I came to the clear conclusion that in the southern regions they should be grown in three periods. And that's the only way!
First, I plant the seedlings in the greenhouse between April 25 and May 1 and get a good harvest in early July. I plant the second batch of cucumbers with seeds in open ground on May 15, and they give me their fruits from mid-July to mid-September. And I plant the third wave of cucumbers in mid-August, which allows me to enjoy the green ones almost until the end of the season. At the same time, cucumbers of the first and second terms can be either varietal and hybrid, or parthenocarpics. But the third term - only parthenocarpic. The fact is that by September 1, figs ripen, the flowers of which simply ooze with nectar, and therefore bees, flies and hornets race to them, pollinating the cucumbers at the same time. At the same time, I note that cucumbers can be grown from stepchildren, but their survival rate will be worse than that of tomatoes.
A week before planting cucumbers and tomatoes, I water the beds well and immediately cover them with film, pressing it tightly to the ground along the entire perimeter. Under it, the moist soil warms up well, and the evaporation of moisture is practically eliminated.
When planting, I use hydrogel, which I carefully place in the holes around the plants, which allows me to forget about watering for 10 days.
It is also important that when watering, water can turn barely hatched seeds upside down in the soil, and then they will certainly die. To prevent this from happening, after planting I always compact the soil slightly. And if the weather is hot and windy, then all watering is done only through a non-woven material, and from a small watering can and in small portions.
I urge all readers to dig as little as possible. Do not destroy its structure! Don't walk on it unless necessary. Take care of her. Switch to simple loosening with a depth of no more than 5 cm. After all, back in Soviet times, agronomist T. Maltsev proved in practice that no-till cultivation is the most promising and correct. Deep loosening deteriorates its structure and leads to overgrinding.
After rain or irrigation, such land turns into a swamp with the formation of a soil crust when it dries. And I also urge all gardeners not to get carried away with weeding: do not keep the soil bare, something should always grow on it! After all, vegetation reduces soil temperature and significantly delays water evaporation. Mulching is shading the soil. Take care of this in advance. I wish everyone health and good luck in their dacha and personal work. And human happiness!
V.A. GIANTS. Sochi
I am glad for those who strive to live with the times, for those who are mastering the new science of agriculture, for those who are not afraid to admit their mistakes and are looking for new ways to communicate with the earth without sacrificing nature. But in almost every issue there are also letters that are simply upsetting.
About traditions...
Why can't people see their mistakes? Why don’t they feel guilty before future generations? They are destroying the earth, leaving no chance to restore its fertility and create a sustainable balance in nature! Moreover, without thinking, they also harm the health of themselves and their loved ones. Who exactly do I mean?
And those respected gardeners who are engaged in the “traditional” (or even worse, “old-fashioned”) way of running their farms. Do you think I'm being too categorical? Yes, I myself worry about these fellow summer residents! But still, let's think about it in detail.
So, what do people usually mean by “traditional farming”? Here's what:
suitable digging of soil with a shovel in autumn and spring, weekly weeding in summer, application of mineral fertilizers, as well as processing of plantings in gardens and vegetable gardens chemicals protection from diseases and pests. But can this really be called a tradition? Yes, one of the main agricultural tools of the peasants was the plow, but who said that they plowed their gardens from top to bottom?
They did this selectively and plowed shallowly, without disturbing the fertile layer. But the main thing is that before this they transported manure to the plots, embedding it in the ground.
It will be objected to me that at that time everyone had a large farm, and no one had any problems with the presence of such organic matter. And I don’t deny it, I just want to draw your attention to the fact that digging itself is not only pointless, but also harmful.
Let's move on. After the Great Patriotic War There were devastated villages and villages in which there was no livestock or poultry. To accelerate the development of agriculture, a number of forced measures were taken. Forced! In particular, chemists developed and introduced mineral fertilizers, thereby dramatically increasing the yield of almost all crops.
But the whole point is that the “mineral water” only replenishes chemical composition soil, and its balance is constantly disturbed. But the amount of humus from adding chemicals does not increase. Moreover, it is gradually decreasing! As a result, the land is increasingly depleted, plants, due to a lack of one or another nutrient, grow frail (at first glance this may not be noticed) and therefore become easy prey for pests and diseases. If you have depleted soil, increase its fertility, but not with the help of “mineral water”! Yes, of course, it will not be easy, you will have to work hard and be patient, because the earth needs time to recover. But almost any soil can be cured; don’t believe that there are “lazy” gardens! Get away from old stereotypes. Am I wrong?
...and about innovations
Many summer residents often think that natural and organic farming- it's the same thing. But in fact, no. In the first case we are talking about coexistence different plants on a certain unit of area, and each of them performs its role. For example, tall ones shade short ones from the sun and protect them from the wind, wild ones attract beneficial insects, helping to rid their cultivated neighbors of pests, etc.
Organic farming means running your own farm using waste products of flora and fauna. Here our helpers will be not only the plants themselves, but also everything that can move: from the simplest microorganisms to lizards and birds. I understand how difficult it is to evaluate, understand and accept all this.
In addition, having taken the first step and not getting a good result, many return to their usual methods. But everyone must go through this difficult and long path, because each generation must contribute to the restoration of the fertility of the earth.
My dears, try to start with a simple thing: sow the plots with green manure in the fall, do not leave the soil bare anywhere - neither in winter nor in summer. In the spring, simply loosen it shallowly, cutting off the grown grasses, and mulch your plantings with them, covering the beds from the sun, winds and showers (they wash humus deep into the ground). And the covered soil will always be moist, which will create favorable climate on the site.
Believe me, at one time I also stood at a crossroads, and not everything worked out for me at once. And even now I am looking for more and more new ways to get closer to nature. But I haven’t been digging or weeding for five years now, I just cut the grass and use it as mulch. Every autumn I fall asleep with leaves tree trunk circles trees and shrubs.
I don’t burn the branches left after pruning, but I process them with a chopper and scatter the resulting sawdust in the garden. I bury all food scraps (as well as paper and cardboard collected over the winter) in the garden at the beginning of the season. I water all the plants without exception with infusions of herbs and chicken droppings, spray baking soda, infusions of garlic, birch tar, I practice treatment with whey and vermicomposts. And all my plantings survive the winter without loss, even if there were frosts of -30°, and in the summer I always remove good harvests, even if the heat was 40°. That's it!
: GROWING EARLY ZUCCHINS IN MOBILE...
