Throughout the years, we have been told to till the soil and put in the effort to keep weeds from taking over. The problem is that we cannot do this every single year mainly because of a variable of responsibilities and the level of energy we have in the long run. In other words, as we get older, we cannot work the garden the way we used to in a conventional style. This is why you cannot till the soil and leave the soil exposed after planting seeds. If you observe nature, when there is a cover, the ground is soft and buoyant. However, in an exposed garden, the soil is anaerobic, meaning there is no aeration, making it difficult for the soil to absorb moisture. If the soil cannot absorb moisture adequately, the roots cannot spread.
It is important that you use some sort of raw material to cover the soil whether it is leaves, pine needles, or stick mulch. While this process is a slow process in creating new compost for the soil, the soil will gain in nutrients within a year. Sometimes it will take a few years to create new compost depending on how much fungus can get into the soil to attract the worms and bugs. Remember, soil needs fungus for strength and thats trength can protect crops and fruit trees from diseases. If you do the work upfront while you are young, you are going to benefit from the garden as you age.
How successful can a permaculture garden be in terms of capability? During the first couple of years, it will take work. However, as you are tending to the permaculture garden, the worms and bugs will work hard to break down the material. As a result, the materials create a quality compost that you cannot find at dirt places. Can you have success the first year of doing this permaculture garden style? Well, I will tell you a story.
During the garden season of 2019, my only cover was a thick layer of pine needles. I grew tomatoes, corn, okra, eggplant, and peppers. I had success with tomatoes, okra, and a little bit of corn. I realize that I did not have other mulch variables that could have provided everything to sustain the garden. The fact that the pine needle cover alone gave me a moderate yield of tomatoes and corn proves that this can work. However, I did not take into account that corn requires a lot of nitrogen. Since I did not have stick mulch to provide the nitrogen alongside dried blood meal, I did not get optimal yields of corn
Then the flood of Tropical Storm Imelda hurt the majority of my garden. However, I had a few tomato plants survive nearly 3 feet of flood water. The majority of my okra survived, thus the garden was not at a total loss. The other plant that survived was a wildly grown peppermint plant. Putting down a cover can help even in a major flood situation. It was a miracle in September 2019 following the flood from Tropical Storm Imelda. In the end, I managed to harvest over a dozen okra. Before the flood, I also had success with cucumber using a layer of pine needles for a mulch.
Just imagine what happens if you use a variable of mulching instead of a single layer of mulch. Not only will you cut your use of water, but also cut your use of fertilization. If you were to sell your fruits and vegetables grown in a permaculture garden, your profit margin for how much you food you sell goes through the roof. The purpose of a permaculture garden is to allow nature to do the work that God did in the Garden of Eden, cutting out your need to work the garden immensely. As time goes along, you learn about something called patience
The reason why a lot of people give up on gardening is mainly due to little or no patience. It is hard to blame those people because they do not get enough information on how to sustain a garden. While pulling weeds out of a garden may seem like it takes a few minutes, the reality is that pulling weeds takes a lot of work. In exposed soil, weeds can be tough to pull out. Some of them break off, leaving roots deep into the soil. After awhile, people give up and decide not to garden the next year. From my own personal experience, there was a time when I wanted to give up because I was frustrated dealing with weeds. That and having to make sure the plants were watered and fertilized.
This alongside watching documentaries from Paul Gautschi and Geoff Lawton were the reason why I quit doing a conventional garden. I was tired of spending money and working hard to fail when I could spend less money and let nature go to work. Because of my failures, listening to Gautschi and Lawton made me go out and experiment. When I realized that I had enough access to sticks to fill a barrel, my quest to acquire mulch from a tree service was unnecessary, saving me a lot of money in the process. Because of using raw materials straight from my own property, I saved a tremendous amount of money. No need to water regularly, no need to fertilize. Bugs were seldom a problem because the plants were not stressed.
How long does it take for materials to breakdown? It honestly depends on the quality of the soil. If the soil is arid, it could take a while because with the materials, it would take a few inches of rain with that material for the moisture to get into the soil. With that moisture will come fungus. It would take about two years for the arid soil to aerate and attract the worms and bugs to break down the materials. In good soil, it would take 6 months to 1 year for the worms and bugs to break down the materials. For anyone gardening in the desert, try not to fret if you do not get results in at least the first two years. The soil has to adjust from being arid to being sustainably moist.
Once the original materials break down, continue adding material. You can pullback the material periodically to check the progress of the native soil. If worms and bugs are present, the soil is live. You don't need to put in a lot of work because the soil will gain in nutrients over time. You can observe the garden like a camper observes nature out in the woods.
After the breakdown of the materials, you can plant seeds in the garden those for you living in the desert. You will have a good chance of yielding fruits and vegetables. A good gain of tomatoes, corn, root plants, and peppers. Then as more materials continue to break down, you can subsequently grow water dependent crops like watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. Watercress, rice, and wasabi could be factors as well. You do not need to spend money created a hydroponic garden if you have the patience to start a permaculture garden regardless of location.
Starting a hydroponic garden costs a lot of money and it requires maintenance for sustainability. As for composting, using materials and being patient will be a big money saver compared to buying mushroom compost or compost tea. If you can succeed intending to a permaculture garden the first couple of years, the garden will take care of itself to a point where you can evolve from doing that to farming. If you create a permaculture farm, watch your animals carefully when it pertains to grazing.
The long term success of a permaculture garden means you can yield enough food to feed a family year round without going to a supermarket. The food quality is much higher since the soil is full of minerals for sustainable health. Imagine, high quality food straight from the garden. The food is healthy, tastes good, and you have energy. No need to waste gas to go to a supermarket because you will have the food until winter time. Usually after 5 years, the permaculture garden can go without water because the fruit trees in the garden alongside the mulch will keep plants moist for long. Especially if there is a heat wave, the trees will protect certain plants.
To conclude, I want to reiterate this one more time. Before you garden, test your soil. See how deficient in nutrients the soil is before you use the material. If the soil is safe for gardening, put down the materials like cardboard first, then either leaves or pine needles, then top it with stick mulch. Pine needles did me a favor last year, but I am using three variables to mulch and fertilize the garden all year long. You do not need to waste your money on a chemical fertilizer that specializes in nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. You need a variable of minerals to keep a plant healthy because if they are not, the bugs will eat your plants. Do not waste your money on chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Do the work upfront and exercise patience. Yields will increase year after year if you stay patient.
Finally, never buy hybrid nor genetically modified seeds. Always buy heirloom seeds because hybrids require you to spend money year after year. Most corn seeds, tomato seeds, green leafy seeds, green bean seeds, and green pea seeds are genetically modified. Research a list of non-genetically modified seeds before purchasing. With all that said, I wish you folks luck on establishing your own permaculture garden. Thank you for your time.
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Permaculture Gardening on a Shoestring Budget
Non-FictionThis is a book for people that are fed up with food prices at the supermarket. Wanting quality food? This is your guide to growing food while cutting costs in the Spring season.
