Health-Defense by Bill Gottlieb

Author:Bill Gottlieb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale

CREATE AN ORGANIC GARDEN ON THE CHEAP

Fresh food free of toxic chemicals, healthy soil that’s better able to resist droughts and floods, tasty veggies that are as close as your own backyard—these are all good reasons to start your own organic garden. But maybe you’re concerned about the expense of starting one. Well, here are five easy ways to start an organic garden on a budget.

1.Forgo the beds. If the cost of supplies needed to build raised beds gives you pause, don’t worry. You don’t need them. Organic Gardening magazine recommends that cost-conscious gardeners mound up soil and plant vegetables among the flowers and landscape plants they already have growing. Parsley makes a beautiful border plant, and basil comes in ruffled and dark-leaf forms that are wonderful mixed with flowers (and yield lots of leaves for making pesto). And since you won’t be dousing your veggies in toxic pesticides, you don’t have to worry about chemicals doing collateral damage to other plants.

2.Find free mulch. A bag of mulch may cost only $3, but that provides just enough for 2 square feet. A better idea is to scavenge your recycling bin and yard waste for free alternatives that can cover your entire garden. Try laying down sheets of newspaper directly on top of the soil or using grass clippings as mulch. Both add nutrients, help water stay in the soil, and suppress weed growth (so you won’t have to shell out for chemical weed killers). You can cover your repurposed mulch with straw, perhaps from a decorative bale you saved from last Halloween or Thanksgiving. The decaying straw will feed the soil. If you don’t have any leftover straw, a single bale usually costs about $5 and will cover much more than 2 square feet.

3.Be fruitful and multiply. Some plants have higher yields—and therefore greater cost benefits—than others. A tomato plant, for instance, can cost $1.50 and will yield up to 12 pounds of tomatoes. Considering the cost of heirloom tomatoes at a local market in the summer, that’s a savings of $60 right there. Zucchini is another money-saver. And homegrown greens save you cash and provide supernutrition. (Greens lose many of their nutrients in the time they are shipped or as they sit on store shelves.) Plant lettuce and arugula, and you can harvest fresh greens into midsummer.

4.Make your own pest sprays. Herbs are natural pest deterrents, so if you start a simple herb garden, you’ve already got a built-in money-saver. But for a persistent pest problem, there’s no need to spend money on hazardous chemical sprays. You can make your own spray by mixing some hot, soapy water with chopped up hot pepper and garlic. Here are other ways to stop pests without spending too much.

•Keep some bowls of water in the garden to attract insect-eating birds and frogs.

•Plant pollen and nectar plants, such as nasturtium or alyssum, to attract good bugs (they eat the bad bugs).

•Plant vegetables in spots where they get the correct amount of light, spacing, and moisture (so they’ll be healthy enough to resist pests).

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