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Gardening
Veganic Gardening
by M. Joy Katz "Butterflies"
At the weekly farmers' market, I asked the many local organic growers if they used blood and bone to grow their produce. The common reply was "yes". I didn't know what to purchase with our dollars: food grown with chemicals that hurt the soil's fertility and our own health or food grown in blood and bone (yuck!). I went on an organic inspection along with the local certifier This made buying organic food less desirable because of my strong stance on veganism. I needed a solution to this problem. I never thought I would get my hands in the dirt with the worms (nor would anyone else I know ever think this of me), but I decided to grow the food (vegan-organic) for Gentle World's Vegan Paradigm Center on the north island of New Zealand, called Shangri-La.
We started with two large plots for vegetables which were a success…watermelons beyond what we could eat, delicious sweet corn, excellent potatoes, and tomatoes to give away free to everyone I knew in town five times over! Yes, the gardens could have been more successful, but it was enough to inspire me to want to learn all I could. We added a third garden plot for next season. These 3 large garden plots are surrounded by native bush. The pristine rivers that come straight to us from the surrounding bush flow by the gardens as our irrigation source, if necessary. (It usually rains enough to water the gardens naturally.) Our goal, among many other goals, is to grow all our own produce next summer (winter in the U.S.). In addition, this year we planted 95 fruit trees: mandarins, oranges, avocados, pears, plums, apples, feijoas, blueberries, bananas, etc.
Gentle World's Vegan Paradigm Center in Hawaii also has a vegan-organic garden, but it does not supply us with all our produce, yet. Here we use a raised bed system of no tilling.
The 'Veganic' gardening system we use avoids chemicals, as well as livestock manures and animal remains from slaughterhouses/processing plants. Alternatively, fertility of the soil is maintained with vegetable composts, rotation, mulching, (we covered all 3 of our gardens with a thick layer of hay mulch and put them to sleep for the winter) and other methods. Next season we will plant a green manure cover crop. By growing our food veganically, there is also a greater hope of eliminating transmittable diseases and bacteria. We find growing 'veganic' to be a healthier and more compassionate alternative.
Soil conditioners and fertilizers that we use include: lime, gypsum, rock phosphorus, dolomite, rock dusts, rock potash, wood ash, hay mulches, composted organic matter (fruit and vegetable rinds, leaves, and grass clippings), green manures or nitrogen-fixing crops, liquid feeds such as comfrey or nettles, and seaweed (fresh, liquid or meal) for trace elements. Seaweed is best used harvested fresh from the sea as opposed to washed up and sitting on beaches. For now, these are the methods we are using. We have also been enlightened to the system of "no tilling" which is gentle on the earth and doesn't kill worms. We are moving in this direction. Returning to Hawaii, I went to a natural food store and found tomatoes with a sticker saying "Vegan Tomatoes"; organically grown with neem oil and vegan fertilizer. There must be others who feel similar thoughts and are demanding the growers to elevate the standards. I also received word that New Zealand's organic standards have recently been amended by not allowing the use of blood and bone anymore. I believe this is because of England's problems with mad cow and hoof and mouth disease.
Veganic gardening in our magnificent setting in New Zealand has been fulfilling to my soul and beyond anything I ever conceived of before. Anyone interested in seeing pictures of the land can visit our web site: www.gentleworld.org
M. Joy Katz "Butterflies", Gentle World, Co-author of Incredibly Delicious; The Vegan Paradigm Cookbook. gentle@aloha.net
A message from Hempfood.com:
Before you begin gardening learn more about the benefit of eating organic food. There are so many organic products out there it can be hard to keep track of your organic diet. Thankfully when you grow your own herbal remedies and your own organic tea you know exactly where it comes from!
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