Living Off the Land, Part 2: Organic Gardening

Last year, Mr. H. worked tirelessly to help me install our first organic garden. We chose a site with lots of sunshine that was protected from the wind, on the North side of our property. Our garden last year was a moderate success, producing plenty of tomatoes, squash, green and butter beans, but lacking the overall wow factor. We added some soil amendments, tilled it up, covered the whole thing in fall leaves, and allowed it to sleep for the winter. We are hoping that our garden this year will have far more vegetables, and far fewer weeds. I think the first year with any garden is always a losing battle with the weeds that grew before, but subsequent years of mulching, tilling, and planting yield a beautiful result.

As is my habit every January, I curl up with the abundant seed catalogs that start rolling in, and plan a gorgeous, elaborate garden full of lush-looking plants. That's all fine and good on paper, but many of those plants can't stand up to our Southern summers, or they are just too particular about soil and water conditions to make it around here, so I always have to amend my list, adding in those old Southern classics like okra, yellow squash, butter beans, and bell peppers. They can take the scorching heat, weeks of drought, and days of unrelenting rain that makes up our climate.

This year, I'm going to try to only use seed from the Seed Savers Exchange for my garden. This is a wonderful organization that is trying very hard to continue species of garden vegetables that have almost become extinct. They specialize in plants that have been grown for a hundred years or more, many of which came over as seeds with our immigrating ancestors. Due in large part to commercialization and hybridization of the seed industry, these old-timely standbys have swiftly been going the way of the horse and buggy.

Right now, my 20x30 garden plot is sleeping under a bed of leaf mulch, awaiting it's spring plowing and seeding in March. I try to maintain organic garden practices as much as possible, relying on my compost bin to supply mulch and nutrients, and only using natural soil amendments when necessary. I did plant some bunching onions, garlic, and a strawberry bed during the fall for overwintering, but other than that, I haven't been out to the garden much.

Organic gardening takes time and patience. Because the whole point is to avoid chemicals that stay in the soil for years, you can't just go spray a fertilizer when things are looking bad, or a pesticide when you have tomato worms. Instead, you have to apply natural nutrients and fertilizers, and allow your garden to take care of the pests itself. A healthy garden will host healthy insects that eat the bugs that kill your plants. Ladybugs, for instance, eat aphids, which can cause a host of problems for tomatoes and roses. Spiders eat all sorts of insects, as well, so allow them to roam freely in your garden, as long as they are not poisonous.

With a little time, a little caring, and a lot of patience, organic gardening can save you lots of money at the produce market. Try it out and see. Many people can start with a tomato plant in a hanging basket or pot on their front porch. Grape and cherry tomatoes look beautiful in hanging baskets, and bush-style tomatoes don't have to be staked, so they stand in pots quite nicely. Herbs can be grown in window boxes, and beans on a trellis. You don't have to have a large garden or even a backyard to grown your own food.