Organic Growing
For me the enjoyment of gardening is multiplied when you are treating the plants you grow with the natural sustenance they could expect in nature but with the added love that you can bring to the growing of that plant. Before I started growing organically in the early 1980’s the use of chemicals seemed to cheat me of the challenge to garden naturally. After attending a field day of the Hunter Organic Growers Society, I started to look at the health and social implications of using poisons on the food I was growing to consume. Organic growing is not just about “not using chemicals”; it is building healthy soil so a healthy plant can grow. Many of the pest and disease in plants can be overcome if plant selection is appropriate for the growing conditions and the plant has what it needs to grow well. Natural resistance to pest attack is provided by the plants themselves.
We find a minimal need for inputs to the farm when we have manure from the cow and comfrey from the weed barrier to make compost which adds humus to the soil. Humus allows for moisture retention, microbes to convert minerals and organic matter to plant food and cation exchange to prevent leaching of the nutrient from the soil. Companion planting also plays an important part in growing organically. |
