Nature’s Way

Originally published May 13, 2022

Since I was a kid, I helped my mom in our backyard planting flowers and annual tomatoes. I credit her with my green thumb and deep interest in growing things from seeds. As I grew up, I continued to learn about gardening and was lucky to score a job at an organic farm/produce market. Long story short, the universe smiled on me and said, “This is what you want, and this is what you need.”
I enrolled in many types of gardening programs over the decades and have adapted biodynamics and organic ways to grow food. Many folks who plant gardens aren’t familiar with these methods of growing; my best suggestion is to order a book online or go to the library to see what they offer for growing food naturally. Books I highly recommend are Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, No Work Garden by Ruth Stout, and any book by Elliot Coleman. Two of these writers I have been lucky to have met in person!
Just the other day a young man at our local grocery store asked me what the word organic meant when he saw me selecting organic lettuce. For those not familiar with growing food without chemical help, here is the definition straight from the internet. Organics: relating to or derived from living matter and/or food and farming methods produced or involving production without the use of chemicals or artificial agents. Does that sound complicated?
Way back in time when your grandparents planted their vegetable gardens they used manure for fertilizer from their chickens, goats, horses, or cows. Applied in the fall or early winter, the manure would break down over months and worms would multiply in it and break up the soil clods. It was an easy and natural way to repurpose waste materials, methods passed down from the preceding generations. Weeds, vegetable waste, grass and hay clippings would be tossed into a big pile that would shrink in size as it decomposed, giving a warm spot for the worms to gather and chomp away. Worms produce something called worm castings, also a great fertilizer. They eat something and excrete the waste which becomes worm castings. You can buy this or just go the natural route as explained and grow your own worms! As the saying goes, build it and they will come, as long as it doesn’t contain any chemicals.
Just as important as worms are to our gardens, so are the bees. Bees have always been and still are nature’s pollinators. Without bees, we wouldn’t have many of the vegetables and flowers that rely on their pollen being carried on the hairy legs of bees from plant to plant. According to some sources, bees are responsible for $15-30 billion annually in various crops. Albert Einstein said many years ago that if bees disappeared all together, humans could survive about four years before our own extinction. Why? Food crops would not be pollinated as they are now with bees. A pollinated plant produces a flower, fruit and/or vegetable. Did you ever try pollinating a plant by hand? I once used a paint brush to tickle off some pollen from one plant to pass it to pollinate another. It is time consuming and highly impractical on a large scale. Big scale food production relies on bees to pollinate fruit trees, blueberries, cherries, some nut trees, avocados, grapefruits, the list goes on and on. It is essential that we keep our bees alive even if you fear them; they are key to our existence.
This month I read a suggestion from a natural gardener and I held off mowing our lawn to allow buttercups, violets, and any flowering weeds to attract and feed bees. When we eventually mow the lawn, we will rake up the cut grass and add it to our compost piles along with brown leaves and spent coffee grounds. I’d rather feed the earth in a productive way than feed a dumpsite we call the landfill. If you love gardening like I do, you will always be exploring new options and ideas.
(Karen Cohen loves to garden organically. Greenbrier County First Annual Seed/Plant exchange is being held Sunday Apr. 23 at The General Lewis Inn, Lewisburg, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. All gardeners are encouraged to bring seeds in envelopes to swap and plants in pots to exchange. Please send comments, questions, and tips to: natureswaykaren@gmail.com)