Sustainable & organic gardening
Growing your own organic young plants
Every gardener should consciously use increasingly scarce resources and reduce environmental impact and pollution. Sustainable gardening starts with cultivation. You can find tips on how to grow plants as sustainably as possible here.
Making your own potting compost
Conventional potting soil often contains peat. Although peat is rich in nutrients, it is extracted from bogs. The extraction of peat releases a lot of carbon dioxide. In Germany alone, this accounts for around 7% of total greenhouse gas emissions. It also destroys habitats for rare animal and plant species. For these reasons, you should make your own potting soil. You can find instructions for this in the magazine.
Plastic-free gardening!
Plastic is a big problem for the environment. Therefore, do not use plastic pots for growing. Instead, use pots made from coconut fibers or upcycle suitable containers such as berry hulls or egg cartons. You can do completely without pots with a soil baler. This is a press that you can use to press small soil balls for growing. This makes planting easier and saves you a lot of waste. You can read more about the soil baler in our magazine.
Organic, open-poillinating seeds
In order to obtain resistant, healthy young plants, you should buy organically certified seeds. Then you have a guarantee that your seeds come from organically managed farms that do not use synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides. In addition, organically grown varieties are usually seed-resistant and suitable for home-growing. You can find out more about seed-resistant varieties in the article "New varieties for new diversity". You will also find an article in the magazine on how to obtain your own seeds of vegetable varieties.
Growing vegetables organically
Organic gardening means promoting a healthy ecosystem in the garden. The greatest possible biological diversity is important for this. The more diverse the species, the stronger the self-regulating mechanisms can work. In addition to the greatest possible biodiversity, the soil plays a central role. The aim is to maximize biological activity in the soil to maintain and promote soil fertility.
Improve garden soil
- Measures such as mulching, organic fertilization and year-round ground cover improve your soil. Microbial activity increases and with it the conversion and decomposition of organic matter. The soil structure and properties improve. You can read more about the individual measures in the article "Improve your garden soil simply and naturally"
- First find out what type of soil you have in your garden. Use the simple soil test to do this. You can find instructions in our magazine. Depending on the soil type, you can then take appropriate measures to improve the soil
- Work your soil very gently. Avoid digging and using heavy machinery. You can easily create new beds using the no-dig method (see magazine). Make sure that your soil has a loose crumb structure.
