Marc at Garden Desk made a couple of posts recently about his tomato growing plans for next year, and in the process some interesting points came up, not only in the posts themselves but in the discussion too.
In my last post I said if you asked 100 gardeners for advice, you would get 100 different answers. I think the same must be true if you asked 100 different gardeners what their gardening goals were.
Imagine how boring the world would be if we were all white males of European decent! By the same token, imagine what it would be like if all gardeners had exactly the same goals in mind. As a gardening community, and as a world, we are much stronger because of our differences and our different goals.
Some people make a living growing food and raising animals, and most of these people are committed to the idea they are providing an important service to the world. In this case they are concerned about finances, as well as producing usable food that people want to buy, in the largest quantities possible.
Some people are plant breeders, who are concerned with finding the perfect combination of genes, and discarding everything that’s not quite there yet, wherever ‘there’ is.
Still others are home gardeners like Marc who loves tomatoes, in particular loves to see the differences in strange heirloom varieties and seeks goals like the earliest fruit or the tallest plants.
If you ask any of these people for advice, they will offer it from their own perspectives, and it will all be a little different.
Zero Air Miles
If you buy food from the store or market, it comes from somewhere. It has to be transported, often from great distances. It will generally have been produced with chemical and energy inputs, as well as someone else’s labor. If you throw half of it away, this is really wasteful. Literally, you are wasting food that could be used to feed hungry people or just not produced in a wasteful way in the first place.
Assuming you’re an organic gardener, the only thing wasted if you throw something away you grew yourself is a bit of sunshine and your own time!
The most important goals for your garden have to be the ones you set for yourself. If it weren’t for your own goals, there wouldn’t be any point in having a garden in the first place. Whatever those goals are, feeding yourself or others, seed saving, plant breeding or just enjoying nature and biodiversity, this has to be your top priority in any garden.
Don’t let anyone tell you you are doing something wrong in your own garden! At the same time, don’t be immune to input from others, because there’s lots of good information out there, especially for people just getting started. It can really save you a lot of time by not making the same mistakes others already have.
Inputs and Outputs
While you’re enjoying yourself and pursuing your goals, give some thought to what you’re doing. A garden really needs very few inputs.
If you set up a garden with new wood that comes from cleared land, is milled and transported, that’s really a huge resource you are using unnecessarily. It’s expensive too. Consider using used materials in your garden, like stones or bricks, or recycled wood. Stones and bricks will last longer than wood too, which can be very useful.
The same is true with peat products. While it’s true they are a renewable resource, they are generally not mined in a sustainable way and often have to be transported long distances. If you live next to a peat bog, this is one thing, but otherwise as an alternative to peat products consider getting compost made from municipal (council) waste which is available in many areas, or better yet making your own compost. Consider why you think you need peat in the first place, because it’s rarely necessary for use in the garden. Peat is useful for indoor plants or starting seeds, because it is weed free and sterile. It can also be useful for outdoor potted plants, because local soils are sometimes not well suited for this. Since your garden is neither sterile or weed free, there are usually better and cheaper alternatives to peat.
Don’t be fooled by peat free alternatives either, like coir, which also have to be milled and transported long distances! These are generally as wasteful as peat, and usually more expensive.
Consider most chemicals and fertilizers are also very wasteful as well as almost always unnecessary. Almost everyone’s garden will do fine if you rotate your crops, make and use your own compost, and grow nitrogen fixing plants from time to time.
Consider collecting rainwater from the roofs of structures near you garden, perhaps your own house. Perhaps collecting grey water from your house is an option. Perhaps you have other renewable sources of water nearby.
While tempting to the beginning gardener, power tools like tillers are not usually very useful. Consider getting one used, borrowing or renting one, until you are really sure it’s needed. Non-electric power tools use an astonishing amount of fuel, often as much as a car, and in some US cities cause 15% of the air pollution. Consider using something electric, or sticking to hand tools.
Finally, if you do end up with extra food that’s usable, consider ensuring it gets used. Process and store it for later use, or give it away. If you do throw it away, you aren’t hurting anyone or anything, but you can only do good by making sure it’s used somehow.
