There are two ways nature will spiral: up or down, abundance or scarcity, life giving or toxic. This rings true for the garden as well.
Ecological gardening is a way of gardening that harnesses the power of these forces of nature. By setting up an environment for life we can build spirals of abundance in the garden where yields are increasing because life is promoted and nurtured.
The commonality between most ecological gardeners is that building the soil food web is essential for a healthy, happy garden. The initial input is typically 80% of the work and then the garden will take care of it self with minimal maintenance (ideally just harvesting).
In permaculture we look to nature for the ideal system of producing life. Look to a healthy forest system for example. Untouched by man, yet still has the ability to produce vast diverse, intricate, and beautiful connections with every element of the forest. The leaves that fall every Autumn create a carbon food source for the soil food web. This alone contributes vastly to healthy plants, as we know that without life in the soil the plants will fail to grow healthy and strong enough to fend off pests. The more carbon the more fungi. The more fungi the more connections in the soil. The more connections the more opportunity for larger plants (trees) to collect and distribute essential bioavailable nutrients. This is just one attribute of a forest!
A permaculturalist, a ecological gardener, or a gardener looking to increase yield and decrease input over time would add a carbon source (organic mulch) to the top layer of soil to enhance this powerful soil food web of life, and consequently increase the health, and production of the plants.
Another nugget of knowledge that the forest offers us is the importance of diversity and integration.
In every microclimate or niche of the forest there are a specific pattern of plants and animals. Plants and animals that work together perfectly in that environment. This dynamic can be called guilds. They have enough diversity to ensure there is a proper health in the soil (leave producers, nitrogen fixers, presence of microbial life etc), a pest control system, a pollination system, a production of food, and so much more that we don’t even know about. We want to imitate these natural guilds, and their functions in our ecological garden design. If our agricultural/garden work aligned with these natural patterns we can be producing enough for us to thrive in a relatively short amount of time!
When we look at the succession of a forest we find out an ocean of knowledge of how to exponentially increase production within our garden.
There is a trend that climax forests are fungal dominant, and bare fields are bacterial dominant. Why is this? Because there is a wealth of organic matter – primarily carbon. This carbon rich environment is where healthy fungi thrive. Healthy fungal networks create networks of mycelium which transport and break down essential nutrients into a bioavailable form. This allows for a forest to thrive, as the weeds are suppressed, nutrient + water availability to the plants and trees have increased which results in healthy plants and pests will not attack a healthy plant.
While it is true the fungal networks (aka world wide woods) is necessary for larger forests and fruit trees; smaller early stage succession plants like smaller herbaceous field plants need a more balanced fungal:bacteria ratio. Always know what stage of succession the plants you want to grow because then you know what and what not to add in order to optimize the system. Most typical gardens prefer more bacteria rich soils, and adding healthy nitrogen rich manure is a great way to feed the bacteria, and create an environment for field vegetables.
Now we know that the right environment is essential for healthy, nutritious plants we can look at the ways to achieve this ‘right environment’. As with any design you want to make sure the element (eco garden) is aligned harmoniously with the land and the people living there. Patterns to details.
Luckily there is a great range of eco gardens available to us. There is the lasagna garden, the hugelkultur, Mandela gardens, food forests, and other great forms of eco gardens. The common factor of all of these gardens is that there is often little to no digging, and the garden is built up with organic matter. Say good bye to ordinary grass lawns and hello to beautiful producing landscapes.
There are many ways to build eco gardens, and the land will also dictate what you should build. Generally there is a form of sheet mulching that occurs. It goes like this – first, a layer of carbon to kill the grass and suppress weeds (wet cardboard without dyes and with tape, and staples removed works great if done correctly). Then layers of nitrogen (fresh plant material, manure etc.), carbon (dry leaves, hay, wood chips, etc.) and with the option to put in a bit of rock minerals, or clay/compost soil amendments. Now you could also place these layers of organic matter over a pile of stumps and sticks which further increases the microbial activity, which further reduces your need for inputs, and further enhances the quality of output in your beds. Every bed is made different, and getting out there to make one is the greatest way to learn, and it reaps great benefits.
You can add ready to go soil with compost and then a final layer of carbon material for immediate planting, or let nature play its course and allow the microbes to break down the organic matter over a period of time. This is just like how compost works -why not bring the compost right into the garden! You can enhance this whole process by introducing a diversity of microbes into the environment of the bed through microbial rich compost, and compost teas. Soil disturbance is limited to a minimum because otherwise the fungal networks (which transport essential nutrients and information) would be destroyed and so with the health of the network. Use and value diversity. It creates resilient, abundant, and exciting systems.
All too often people are skeptical of feeding the world with organic permaculture/ecological farming techniques. In reality these natural techniques of farming and living are the most environmentally, ecologically, economically, practical, life giving options that have a proven track record. Plants will always grow given the right environments, just like gravity will always exist. We can harness and align with these Natural Laws, and life can be beautiful and abundant, without the amount of scarcity and stagnation that we have today. If everyone has a eco garden plot designed with natural passive systems instead of lawn that is mindlessly mowed week after week, then we can trade and get most of our food from our land instead of relying upon a vulnerable grocery chain store. It is a form of self sufficiency, and true sovereignty in so many ways. Say goodbye to toxic synthetic fertilizers, constant soil tilling, monoculture, and other conventional farming techniques, and hello to wholistic, natural, nutrient dense, vibrant, diverse permaculture farming techniques. You won’t believe how this alone can change the world.
I want to to thank you for this good read!! I certainly loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked to look at new things you postÖ
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.