Energy Efficient Gardening: Part 1

We, both as individuals and as a society, must pay careful attention to how we meet our energy needs. It is well past time to take renewable energy sources, such as the wind and the sun, seriously, and encourage both the use of and the research, and development of appropriate renewable energy system.

Organic gardeners work with both the sun and the wind in order to grow food and other plants. The wind helps pollinate some plants and the sun turns on that energy powerhouse known as photosynthesis so that plants can grow and thrive.

If the organic gardener has also incorporated a rainwater harvesting system in the garden design, such as a water barrel, the gardeners has reduced the need to draw on the water supply system as that which falls freely from the sky is being recycling and little energy is uses, especially if the rain barrel is situated a bit uphill or higher than the garden it is feeding.

A drip hose can be attached to the spigot of the rain barrel and opened when the garden needs water. Gravity will carry the water to the plants.

Adding mulch to your garden beds is an effective way to conserve water, reduce weeding and enhance your garden’s fertility.

There are a number of benefits to adding mulch to your garden beds. They include, for example, water/moisture conservation.

Mulching is also a good way to reuse the leaves that fall from trees, if you do not have a tree in your yard, perhaps the neighbours do. They may only too willing to allow you to rake up, bag and carry off the leaves.

You can add some leaves to your compost, put some on the garden bed and leave the rest in the bags over winter to provide leaf mould for your spring garden.

You are feeding the soil and diverting the leaves from the garbage dump, a win-win action.

There are six words that will help you create a garden that thrives. The words are right plant, right place, and right time.

When you place a plant where it gets the sunlight it needs, Nature become your co-gardener. The sunlight falling on the soil will not only warm that soil but will with the right amount of water, encourage the seed to grow and the plant will continue to do so until it produces the fruit or flower you are seeking.

Organic gardening provides fresh food and thus improves our personal food security; it also reduces our need on petroleum based products and enhances our resilience or our ability to withstand catastrophic changes.