Rumours of food shortage and escalating prices at the grocery store are a very good reminder to put in your own home garden. Small groups are forming to help one another out by planting gardens and utilizing even the smallest of spaces within communities. Whether it be tomato plants in pots on a patio, potatoes in a paddock, or a variety of vegetables in several gardens. It is more than possible to grow enough food to feed several families in a localised area.
As a beginner gardener, what stopped me even starting was the idea of the strenuous task of digging the hard ground, turning the soil, pulling out the grass and sifting the soil in preparation of being able to start planting.
But then one day while searching the endless gardening tutorials on YouTube, I stumbled across the Back To Eden Gardening Documentary Film – How to Grow a Vegetable Garden. This method is meant to change the game and make gardening enjoyable, with a lot less work.
During the course of the documentary you are walked through a step-by-step process how this method works. The Back to Eden gardening method brings us back to how the earth naturally grows plants. There is a promise of no weeding, no watering, no tilling, and of course a bountiful delicious yield.
No matter what the climate we live in, this method of gardening will work wonders in your back yard. The primary way to use this method is by re-creating the environment that plants were originally meant to thrive in. Plants in nature grow where there is no one to tend to them, yet they grow abundantly, there is no one to weed them yet they flourish. It is indeed a miraculous event only God could have orchestrated. What would happen if we let God take care of our gardens, just like he does with the rest of nature?
Getting Started
This method works best as a process that is split up into steps. Remember, everything is done as organically as possible and the steps must be completed within a few days to maximize the end results.
Firstly decide where you want to place your garden bed. Measure out a patch of grass that is free of rocks and invasive weeds or remove these if they are present. If you already have a garden, then you can use this same method directly over the top.
Next up you need to layer cardboard or several layers of newspaper directly over the grass making sure you overlap as you go and covering in any holes. Depending your your plot you may need a lot, so you may want to ask friends to collect newspapers and cardboard for you, or ask at a local business where there is usually an abundance in supply.
After this, you’ll need to put down a layer of compost – approximately 30cm is good. This can be lawn clippings, mixed with other organic material such as non intrusive weeds and torn up toilet roles. This layer does not need to be broken down before applying it over the intended area and the thicker this layer the better as it will break down quickly.
On top of this layer you’ll need to distribute an even amount of manure. This is normally available free or for low cost from a farmer or from someone who keeps horses.
Once you have completed all of these layers, you are ready to put on your wood-chip layer of 15-30 cm. Wood chips are the key when it comes to this method. Picking out the correct wood chips is vital. That means it needs to be a good mix of tree bark, branches and leaves that are chipped into pieces using machinery. It is definitely worthwhile putting a call into your local council and asking if their roadside or parks contractors would bring you a load. Otherwise call a local landscaping gardener and negotiate a price. Quite often they just want to find somewhere to dump the wood-chips so they tend to be very happy to help out.
Water the garden area regularly for approximately four weeks before planting to help break down the layers. You will be surprised how quickly the cardboard disappears and how moist and broken down everything is in this short time frame. This method will also aid in turning hard clay or unworkable earth into an abundant garden area.
The next step is always the exciting part. This is where you get to plant your seedlings. If you are anything like me, the hardest part of this process was actually waiting for the garden bed to be ready for planting. This time waiting can be efficiently utilised by starting to collect your seedlings for planting and even starting some seeds off in containers. Mapping out where your varieties will grow is also an fun exercise.
Depending on climate and rain fall, the only time you should need to water your seedlings is when you plant them. We have had a couple of very dry summer seasons, so a quick water on occasion is necessary but mostly the normal rain fall will take care of your watering needs. A moisture gauge is a good investment to check levels, since this type of garden can look deceptively dry on top.
Most of all, have fun with your garden. I am sure it will soon become a much loved and very practical hobby as it has for me, especially when you begin to reap your abundant harvest.
Back To Eden – A New Garden From Scratch
Future Coverings
Keep layering and try not to dig the soil over as this will break up the microorganisms that develop within your garden. The following season you can place more compost, manure and wood-chips on top. Weed should be sparse, but pull out as necessary. Sprinkling a fine layer of grass clippings onto the top layer regularly helps to keep a good supply of nitrogen going into the soil as the rain will wash this down through the wood chips.
Pests should be minimal – if you have them it will be because the plants are not hydrated enough, too hydrated, or do not have enough sun. Pests are natures police force … they are designed to clean up unhealthy plants.
Genesis 8v22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
