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Grow Green
ORGANIC GARDENERS LEARN TO ADAPT TO NATURE
By Dan Jackson news@flagpole.com
This time of year, you will find the most dedicated garden
ers in the backyard planting or seeding or hoeing weeds
or mulching. Most, though, are indoors, leafing through
gardening books and magazines and seed catalogs, recalling
last summer’s successes and mistakes and planning for the
spring.
Some make the extra effort to adhere to the strict rules
of organic gardening. Many say they want to avoid consum
ing the chemicals that industrial farmers use to grow the
idealized tomatoes, peppers and other produce we see
at the supermarket. Others add that it’s all about
the taste, that organic produce is fresher with more
vibrant flavors.
The practice of organic gardening seems to
hinge on a willingness to cooperate with
nature, rather than attempting to dom
inate it. Nature provides many solutions
to the kinds of problems that might plague
organic gardeners who want to shun chemical
fertilizers and pesticides that many say are harm
ful to health and will deplete soils.
Clyde Yates, owner of a company that works with clients
to set up, maintain and harvest vegetable gardens, says
that a family of four needs only six raised beds to cultivate
most of the vegetables they might consume throughout the
spring, summer and fall growing seasons.
Here are some basic tips, especially for newcomers who
want to garden using native, unimproved soils:
pyrethrins, a chemical derived from chrysanthemums.
Williams Garden Farm Manager Seth Nivens also recom
mends conceding defeat if a problem gets out of hand, and
advises complete removal of the plants to help evict the
pests from the garden.
Yates suggests learning to use a hoe properly to speed up
weeding. Hold the hoe vertically and swing, like a broom,
to slice off the crown of the weeds about an inch below the
surface. The blade should be parallel to the ground.
• During dormant season, seed the garden with cover
crops like rye, buckwheat, cowpeas or clover. These
crops help improve the soil and protect it from
erosion, and can be tilled into the soil to add
nitrogen before the next planting season.
Several local community gardens
practice organic gardening. Winterville
Community Garden hosts 79 raised, irri
gated beds near City Hall, complete with
improved soils, that are owned by the city and
leased out for just $40 per year. Gardeners will sign up
on Feb. 17. Bring cash or a check, and a dish to pass at the
potluck dinner hosted for your fellow gardeners.
Williams Garden is on a south-facing slope owned by the
Athens Land Trust and staffed full-time by gardeners who
supply fresh vegetables to its CSA subscription clients who
sign up for 12 weeks of fresh produce. The 5-acre former
pasture is laid out with neat rows of winter vegetables on
Get a soil test now, in early
February. Chances are good
the soil in your garden is
acidic. University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension agent
Laura Ney says that 90% of
soil tests recommend raising
soil pH. The extension service
offers sample bags of lime to
raise the pH.
Add compost and till into
native soil. Dug deeply
enough, compost will improve
pore space, allowing nutrients
and water to penetrate.
Organize raised beds using
some kind of edging. Raised
beds help keep soil loose and
deter weeds. They also provide
easy walkways between the
beds.
Mulch. Use compost or other Williams Farm
organic mulch to lower soil
temperatures in the summer, deter weeds and increase the
soil’s organic content.
Purchase quality, organic seed from known providers.
Many gardeners recommend Johnny’s, a provider in
Maine, and Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. You can pur
chase seeds locally from Cofer’s or Athens Seed Co. in
Watkinsville.
Select crops that are known to work, such as tomatoes,
squash, peppers and okra.
Include flowering herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and
hyssop, that attract beneficial insects that in turn eat the
bad guys like aphids. Attract your own army of wasps, and
they will take out those pests!
Site your garden as close to your kitchen door as possible.
You’ll be more watchful of changes, and harvesting will be
more convenient.
Set up an inventory of Organic Materials Review
Institute-approved products that you may need when
trouble strikes. Ney suggests stocking spinosad, soil
bacteria that is toxic to many pests; horticulture oil that
gardeners apply to plants to suffocate insect larva; and
one side, with the other side covered in winter with heavy
plastic to deter weeds for upcoming spring and summer
crops. Nivens cultivates the land using progressive “no till”
techniques that he says help beneficial soil microbial activ
ity. The land trust operates the garden as a learning envi
ronment, as well, and invites volunteers to help out and
learn about organic gardening on Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 10 a.m. to noon during the growing season.
The Handmade Garden is a quirky space tucked into
a low spot near Reese and Pope Park. Operated by Karen
Witten and Tommy Lewis Chester, it features raised beds
edged with rocks and walking paths that double as channels
for the water that pours through the garden during rains.
The space is owned by several nearby homeowners and
leased to the garden for $10 per month. Construction of
new student housing threatens to reduce sunlight for the
garden, so Witten and Chester have begun to plant more
fruits, such as blueberries, paw paws and figs.
One last tip from the Hungry Gnome: Be patient. Yates
says that with good preparation, organic gardening will be
less of a chore and can become a very rewarding hobby. ©
12 FLAGPOLE.COM | FEBRUARY 5
2020
ALGY FONTS