Permaculture Gardening on a Shoestring Budget

Chapter 7: The Science

        As I said in Chapter 2, you start a permaculture garden with either newspapers or cardboard, then get weed-free hay or pine straws, then mulch. Now I want to explain the science behind it. How many of you remember the basics of biology? How many of you went to school to learn the fundamentals about the soil when farming? This is a science that is so simple to explain, you do not even need a diploma to figure out the science. So I will try and explain this as best in layman's terms as possible regarding the science of the soil.

        Why is it important to cover the soil with papers first before layering with straws and mulch? First of all, papers and cardboard cuts off sunlight to the ground. This means grass cannot grow in that area for a good while. Because of the lack of access to no sunlight, the grass cannot gather energy from the sun to grow and spread their roots. In scientific terms, grass cannot photosynthesize. After a while, grass is dead enough in the ground to where worms and slugs start to eat the grass and the grass roots. Also, the bacteria provided by decomposing papers and/or cardboard will feed and strengthen the soil.

        The essential bacteria alone will give the soil immunity to fend off disease, especially when you grow plants. If the soil is strong with essential bacteria, the plants are protected from seed to harvest. Meanwhile, weed-free hay or pine straws will provide optimal nitrogen for the majority of plants the majority of the year while mulch provides a steady flow of trace minerals to the soil. Meanwhile, as the papers decompose, the lack of grass roots and an abundant amount of moisture gives the soil oxygen. When the soil has oxygen, seeds have a much better chance of germinating. For plants that do grow, roots spread and grow deeper, allowing for plants to take up more water without damage.

           If a permaculture garden holds a lot of moisture in the long run, then plants that are dependent on water will actually grow without being surrounded in water. Take for instance watercress, an herb that is so water dependent that people grow the herb traditionally in standing water. In a permaculture garden however, if you put down the materials correctly, the moisture will hold long enough to where you can grow watercress without growing them in standing water. The same case applies for a Japanese spicy delicacy called wasabi. That plant is well known for depending on water on a conventional farm. Again, in a permaculture garden, moisture is held long enough to where wasabi can hold water.

          Considering the shortage of water in many places throughout the world, people have to consider alternatives like planting drought tolerant trees, harvest water, and use sub irrigation unlike a sustainable ecosystem which is created. With water being scarce, a permaculture garden would save gardeners an enormous amount of money in costs to grow rice. Rice is the most heavily water dependent crop in the history of world. Think of the gallons of water that are used every year to grow rice. Now think about how much easier and cheaper it would be for people to create a permaculture garden and grow rice. I do not think you should try growing rice until the permaculture garden is well aerated.

         Think about it, growing rice, watercress, and wasabi in an aerated garden covered by straws and mulch instead of using an awful lot of water to grow these crops traditionally. That is one way to conserve water to continuously hydrate the people around the world. Another thing to do (even though I have no desire to do this) is grow these foods with a hydroponic method. I choose the former because again, I am trying to help you folks create a nice garden on a shoestring budget.

         Now let's talk about the science of a conventional garden and why it is contributing to the shortage of water throughout the world. If you read the Holy Bible, you would know the story of Adam and Eve after getting banned from the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve were banned, Adam was forced to work the field every day by tilling the soil. That was how conventional gardening started.

         Scientifically, why is it bad to till the soil? With the modern day technology including a roto tiller, you disturb the soil of earthworms and slugs. There other organisms that help keep the ground fertile. When you till, you immediately endanger the lives of those orgasms and destroy the essential bacteria in the soil necessary to sustain the health of the soil. Eventually because oxygen is exiting the ground, the ground will compact, making it difficult for roots to spread and take up more water.

          I can understand the frustrations of several conventional gardeners because this happened to me multiple times. Having to water, fertilize, take out weeds regularly, and get very little yields for all that effort. This was the reason why I watched videos involving Paul Gautschi, Geoff Lawton, and James Prigioni about how to garden without having to break my back (figuratively) every year. Without these men and learning about how the Garden of Eden worked, I would not have been inspired to do a permaculture garden. Do we really need to spend time and money on something that is failing us? No. Watering regularly is wasting water. If you have to water in a permaculture again, do not give the plants a lot of water. Fertilization is not much of an issue, but if you need quick fertilization, create your own compost using a combination of nitrogen and carbon.

          Fertilization from a natural standpoint is important. Aside from covering the garden, another benefit is providing a steady flow of trace minerals from straws and stick mulching. Stick mulching has a plethora of trace minerals. Calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, zinc, copper, etc. Wood ashes provide the soil with minerals almost immediately when you water. But stick mulching provides the soil with minerals steadily, allowing for the plants to become nutrient dense from seed to harvest. You cannot provide these kind of nutrients in a conventional garden with N-P-K or Miracle Gro plant food. You got to have a cover and patience in order for this to work.

         Make no mistake, I feel for the people that do a conventional garden thinking that working the soil regularly every season will improve the quality of the garden. However, you keep working that garden without protecting it season after season, the soil depletes, causing the soil to become sterile overtime. You can restore it with the materials that I mentioned, but you got to be patient. Bottom line folks, if you want a quality garden, you got to be patient as the materials you provide to cover break down in the ground. You cannot expect to yield quality food if you constantly rush things to satisfy your need. That is pretty much what I can tell you folks about this scientifically without using fancy words.