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The edible garden – part 1
By Zahrah Nasir
Chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter this morning, heavy snow gusting
sideways across my line of vision and wondering which gardening subject readers
may find of interest next, it suddenly struck me that the majority of
ingredients for the Vegetable Spaghetti sauce I was ‘inventing’ actually came
from my garden.
I pondered this for a while. Should I write about herbs, maybe vegetables or
fruit, then, all at once it hit me. Why not tell you about all of these things,
plus many more, in the guise of ‘The Edible Garden’?
Therefore, over the coming few issues I hope to easily explain, so that novice
gardeners will understand the process too, not just those with previous
horticultural experience. After more head scratching and stomping of feet,(they
were cold), I decided to pretend that this magazine is in the process of
creating an ‘Edible Garden’ from scratch and now intend to write along these
lines whilst knowing full well that few of you will be starting with a totally
undeveloped patch of ground
However, each and every step will also be applicable to those of you engaged in
altering or upgrading an existing garden of whatever size, big or small, that
you have the privilege to work with.
It is just a matter of studying the ideas, some of them possibly totally new to
you, and the properties of the species I put under the microscope and then
selecting the things that you personally consider to have an application in your
own particular growing space
As this magazine is headquartered in Karachi, I will, predominantly, be
concentrating on the climate and soil conditions in that city but will, where
possible, offer alternative suggestions for those of you residing in other areas
of the country. All you really need to do is indulge your imagination and set
about turning your garden fantasies into a wonderfully creative reality.
So, take a deep breath and here we go!
Imagine a bare plot of neglected earth, let’s say 50 square yards, with nothing
but a boundary wall and an entrance gate. Not being an architect, I am not going
to bring in the imaginary size or location of a house at this juncture but
concentrate only on the creation of an ‘Edible Garden’. Neither am I going to
suggest an intricate, therefore expensive, arrangement of flower and vegetable
beds at this early stage but aim to tackle each imaginary object as they arise.
The fine tuning will be totally up to you!
Firstly, irrespective of the final layout, the most important item to deal with,
well before anything else and, presuming there is a water supply of some nature,
is that all important base material – the soil.
Nothing can be achieved if the all important soil is sour, sad and grossly
unhappy and here is where I bring in my first innovative step – the aim of
creating an ‘Edible Garden’ is going to be based on a ‘No Dig Garden’ too.
Imagine a productive garden that does not require the back breaking chore of
digging!!!!!!!!!!! I promise, it is possible and has been proven in progressive
gardens around the world over quite a number of years so is not merely a flash
in the pan idea. This no dig gardening method has been scientifically researched
and monitored in countries as wide apart as Australia, U.K., U.S.A., Germany,
China and Japan and has had some fantastic, chemical free, results. Therefore,
it’s time it was introduced in Pakistan and what better forum than right here in
these pages!
Immediately after having offered the figurative ‘carrot’ of no digging, I must
back track and correct myself to say that it does need to be dug once, but once
only, and this is when you begin to prepare the site.
The new garden site is, presumably already inhabited by a variety or scrub and
weeds and these need to be removed before the work of creating an ‘Edible
Garden’ can begin. Therefore, the ground should be dug as usual, only this once
I promise, and as many perennial shrubs and weeds removed as possible. These
should be disposed of in one of two ways:
1. Haul the lot to the nearest real, not imaginary garbage disposal bin.
2. The far better option is to immediately construct a compost bin in one corner
of the garden plot, either made from wire mesh or corrugated iron sheets .Chop
any tough/woody stems and put these in the bottom of the compost bin to aid
drainage and air circulation, piling the softer weeds on top. This compost bin
will then be the first of the necessary two and the compost from them will be
used in rotation. (More about composting another time).
Now that the land has been cleared there are two more options to consider:
1. The entire area should be leveled, stones removed and kept on one side for
future use and then the existing earth completely covered with at least a 4 inch
layer of new earth, purchased from a reliable supplier, and this then topped
with a 2 – 3 inch layer of well rotted organic manure or compost. I admit that
this is a costly process but, if you want to begin planting immediately then
this is the best method to use.
You may have an initial problem with deep rooted perennial weeds which refuse to
be eradicated but keep on pulling them out and you will be victorious in the
end.
2. The other option, but one for which lots of patience is required, is to cover
the leveled ground with a light excluding ‘mulch’ which will kill the most
difficult of weeds but preferably needs an entire growing season to do this.
Suitable mulching material includes opened out cardboard boxes or thick layers
of opened out newspapers, both of which need to be weighed down with branches or
something similar to prevent them blowing away. A 10cm thick layer of straw or
‘boosa’ can also be a very effective, weed repressing mulch as long as there are
no thin patches. You may have to top up this mulch from time to time as the
bottom layer rots away and is, hopefully, dragged down into the soil below by
useful beasties such as earthworms. An occasional watering will assist the
mulching material to rot down. At the end of the mulching period, if you have
used boosa this should be left in place, if cardboard or newspapers then any
remaining large pieces should be shredded and added to the compost bin.
Quite naturally, if none of the above is economically viable then more
traditional methods of land preparation can be used.
Now that the ground is waiting to be planted we can move on to the next
important step, planting edible climbers around the boundary walls and, I think,
my selection of these will raise quite a few eyebrows!
To be continued………..
Ends
Pic caps:
1 .Colourful garden produce.
2. Useful Hollyhocks in season.
3. Edible Sunflowers disguise boundary walls.
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