Garden Culture Magazine UK 35

Introducing the new

DAYLIGHT 200W & 300W LED Fixtures 2.3 µmol/J Fixture Efficiency

460 µmol/s Total Output

m

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s Dim

x 558

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Light distribution optimised for 1m x 1m area •

Full spectrum output LED luminaire, with Far Red components

•

Dimmable - 20% - 40% - 60% - 80% - 100% power

•

Optimised spectral output to provide the best light for plant growth, including Far Red

•

LUMLED LEDs

•

Passive heat dissipation design = No fans

•

Silent running

•

Low heat

•

Energy saving and environment friendly

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Traditional values contemporary thinking

download our catalogue at highlighthorticulture.co.uk

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Find the Organic in you

CONTENTS

Top 10 DIY Organic Pest Control

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS

DON’T START WITH

54

15

60 AC 1 CONTROLLER

46

WHO’S GROWING WHAT WHERE

95

Global Air Supplies

80

GUERILLA GARDENING I N TH IS ISSU E O F GA R D EN C U LT U R E :

HEMP

11 Foreword

72 Water Conservation for Sealed Hydroponic Environments

12 Author Spotlight

74 Trending Now

15 Product Spotlights

78 Best of the Blog

23 #FeedYourself

80 Hemp: So Much More Than You Think

24 Organic Gardening for Healthy Plants

86 Cover Crops A Cornerstone of Organic Growing

30 Going Beyond Organic

90 Wild Violet Weeds:Tasty Medicinal Gems

36 Plant Steering: Mothers and Cuttings

95 Who’s Growing What Where

42 Sea Delights

98 Cow Farts are No Joke

46 Guerilla Gardening

101 Hungry Bumblebees

54 Top 10 DIY Organic Pest Control

103 Hello, Houseplants

60 A Word Of Advice: Don’t Start Growing With Organics

104 5 Cool All-Natural Tricks For A Thriving Garden

68 Sacrificial Plants

7

FOREWORD & CREDITS

FOREWORD

R

ight now, more gardens are growing than at any time in our history. One of the good things to come out of this pandemic is an increased interest

in food self-sufficiency around the world. Sales of seeds and star ter plants are at an all-time high, and progressive “grow” stores are busier than ever. Fur thermore, organic gardening techniques have everyone’s attention.

When it comes to organic growing, there is no easy or single way to do it.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be easy, because it can be. In her article, Organic Gardening For Healthy Soil, Plants, and People, Anne Gibson lays out the basic principles we should follow when growing our food outdoors. You’ll see that working with nature is simpler than you think and that you can achieve excellent results in the garden.

Growing organically indoors is another story. Everest Fernandez has some great advice if you are just starting: he recommends not growing organically; at least not right away. Commercial fertilisers are often balanced and will provide your plant with all they need in each stage of growth. After a couple of successful crops, try organics.

Once you are growing organically, you’ll need to know how to naturally control the inevitable pests that will show up on or around your plants. In this issue, Rich Hamilton provides us with his top ten ways to do that. In Going Beyond Organic, Evan Folds reminds us that eating is an agricultural act and that we can all mobilise to help change a toxic system.

For good measure, we’ve thrown in an article introducing the many benefits of hemp, written by newcomer, Jesse Singer. And in preparation for your beach vacation, Albert Mondor shares a list of some delicious plants you can find by the sea.

It is a subject we are passionate about, and after reading this edition of

CREDITS SPECI A L TH A N KS TO: Albert Mondor, Anne Gibson, Caroline Rivard, Catherine Sherriffs, Doug Jacobs, Evan Folds, Everest Fernandez, Jesse Singer, Martyna Krol, Rich Gellert, and Rich Hamilton.

PRESIDENT Eric Coulombe eric@gardenculturemagazine.com +1-514-233-1539 E XCU T I V E ED I TO R Celia Sayers celia@gardenculturemagazine.com +1-514-754-1539 ED I TO R Catherine Sherriffs cat@gardenculturemagazine.com DESIGN Job Hugenholtz job@gardenculturemagazine.com D I G I TA L & SO CI A L M A R K E T I N G CO O R D I N ATO R Serena Sayers serena@gardenculturemagazine.com +1-514-754-0062 ADVERTISING ads@gardenculturemagazine.com PUBLISHER 325 Media INC 44 Hyde Rd., Mille-Isles QC, Canada J0R 1A0 GardenCultureMagazine.com ISSN 2562-3540 (Print) ISSN 2562-3559 (Online) Garden Culture is published six times a year, both in print and online.

Garden Culture, we hope that you are crazy about organics too.

Happy growing, Eric 3

@GardenCulture

@GardenCulture

@GardenCultureMagazine

@Garden_Culture

D I ST R I B U T I O N PA R T N ER S • Maxigrow • HydroGarden • The Growers Wholesale • Highlight Horticultur e • Nutriculture

© 325 Media

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from 325 Media Inc.

GA R D EN CU LT U R E M AGA Z I N E.CO M

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

I’m a big indoor grower. Growing up in the city, it is natural for me to grow inside; I love that.

Author Spotlight

G

Rich Hamilton

arden Culture Magazine is proud to have a wide variety of knowledgeable writers from many different backgrounds. We’d like to

introduce you to our friend, Rich Hamilton, an industry veteran, indoor growing exper t, author, and host of the podcast, The Hydro Chronicle.

Is there a motto you grow by?

What you give is what you get. Plants need care and attention to get the maximum expression out of them. Put the time in, and they will reward you.

What is your favourite plant to grow?

I’m a big chilli and herb grower. I grow them in my kitchen so I can dress and enhance my food with fresh condiments, dressings, and rubs.

Indoor or outdoor, where do you prefer to grow?

I’m a big indoor grower. Growing up in the city, it is natural for me to grow inside; I love that. I love seeing the relationship between the natural and the modern world together in the same space.

What is your favourite podcast?

Easy! My podcast, The Hydro Chronicle, which is now available on iTunes (shameless plug!). I love Joe Rogan’s podcast. What that man has done for modern media is incredible; he’s a true inspiration.

12

Where in the world would you like to travel to next?

I would love to spend some time travelling in Ecuador and stopping at the Mashpi Lodge. If you haven’t heard of it, check it out. It’s a modern lodge set in the hear t of a rainforest. I would love to take some time out and write a new book there; I’ve had an idea for one rattling away in the back of my head for the last few years now. It’s about time I got it out. 3

Are you interested in writing for Garden Culture Magazine?

We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email introducing yourself with a sample of your work. editor@gardenculturemagazine.com

900 PROPAGULES PER GRAM,

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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS

GROWING PRODUCTS

BudBox PRO White XL- HL [120x120x220cm / 4’x4’x7’4’’] BudBox strives for best results with industry-leading PAR reflectivity. BudBox Pro is built to last, with 25mm powder-coated frames, tempered steel poles, and metal push/click connectors. All PRO models are available in either PRO White or Mylar (Silver), have 20% over-sized vents for acoustic ducting, access doors, an uplift irrigation bar, and double-stitched seams. There’s also a night vision window, a waterproof tray, hanging bars, acoustic deadening silicon end pads, double cuff vents, screened passive vents, roof hanging straps, main door clips, clear floor space, and the canvas fully unzips.

A huge range of sizes available. Highest reflectivity! Contact your local hydro store TODAY and be sure to give @budboxgrowtents a follow to see the latest.

DAYLIGHT 300W LED DAYLIGHT LED lights have caused quite a stir amongst growers who look to them as a route to high-yielding and quality crops, now surpassing that of their HID predecessors. The new 300W DAYLIGHT LED unit brings all the advantages that the 660W is known and loved for but also allows for growers intending to cover a smaller area footprint. With an optimised, full-spectrum of light (including the much needed far-red), there is arguably no better light to cover a 1m x 1m area.With dimming options to satisfy even the most demanding control freaks out there and no internal fans to break, it becomes a no brainer to make the switch!

Get to your local store for more details or contact Maxigrow now!

Warp Drive If you are looking for a high performing 600W digital power pack, but at a price that isn’t going to bust your wallet, then you need to check these out! Fresh out the gates are the new WARP DRIVE digital ballast from Maxibright.

Reliability, durability, and price point all rolled into one, meaning the luxury of digital ballasts at a price accessible for everyone!

If you are after a top-class digital power pack on a budget, then get yourself down to your local hydro store or contact Maxigrow for more details.

Improve Your Water Quality With an Ora Reverse Osmosis (RO) Machine The Ora RO machine removes chemicals, contaminants, and up to 99% of mineral salts that contribute to the hardness of water. It uses four levels of filtration, so you’re left with only clean, pH-neutral water ideal for use with everything from humidifiers to hydroponic systems and for mixing powdered nutrients.

Ora RO machineprocessed water produces no powdery residue, so it’ll protect your equipment and increase the useful life of your expensive hydroponic products too.

If you value a cleaner higher quality crop, make sure to use an Ora RO machine on your next grow.

For more information visit Nutriculture.co.uk

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GROWING PRODUCTS

Warp Drive Pro - Variable

AC 1 CONTROLLER THERMOSTATIC CONTROL The Easy Way to Control AC Fans The latest addition to GLOBAL AIR SUPPLIES’ range of controllers, the new AC 1 is the easy and effective way to control AC fans.The controller has two modes to ensure you can maintain a perfect environment. Either set fan speed manually or control thermostatically.

•Mode 1 - when the temperature probe is connected, the controller will thermostatically control your grow room environment.

•Mode 2 - when the temperature probe is disconnected, the controller will run at the minimum set speed.

Alongside its fixed-powered cousin, this variable wattage digital power pack allows full customisation of light intensity for the grower, meaning complete control over your plant’s growth! Perfect for dimming in summer when temperatures creep up too high.A quick dim down of intensity could well mean the difference in life or death of your crop.

Coming complete with high-quality components, these extra durable power packs provide a genuine product to growers, at a price point that won’t offend you.

For more information, get down to your local store or give Maxigrow a shout for more details.

The AC 1 automatically increases and decreases the fan speed to maintain your set temperature. When at or below the set temperature, the AC 1 CONTROLLER controller maintains your minimum speed.A vital feature of the new AC 1 is the built-in overload protection Global Air Supplies that monitors the controller’s internal temperature. In the case of overload, the controller switches the fans to full speed, protecting your equipment from overheating.

AC 1 is compatible with all single speed AC fans up to 5 Amps.

Visit GlobalAirSupplies. co.uk for more info.

Green Age Organics A concentrated organic solution formulated to increase nutrient absorption and stimulates biological activity.

Green Age Organics accelerates a plant’s development by stimulating metabolic enzymes.The explosive, healthy root development provides plant support and increased nutrient and water uptake. Fortified with humic acid, it increases the quality and yield of what you are growing, and the controlled release of nitrogen fuels long-term green growth.

Containing organic carbon to encourage healthy soil microbe populations, Green Age Organics improves soil structure, soil fertility, and the air/ water ratio. It supports optimal water retention in the substrate due to the presence of stable organic matter.

Follow @ GrowthTechnology for more great gardening products.

16

New Ready to Use Foliar Spray

HYSHIELD™

From the makers of Hygrozyme This is a product that enhances conditions for better plant establishment and growth. HYSHIELD improves plant health and growth and fights fungal infections. It also helps the plant’s ability to survive in high heat, cold stress, and drought conditions. This foliar spray eliminates the need for synthetic pesticides and boosts the plant’s immune system for natural pest management. A natural product, HYSHIELD Improves the quality of flowers and fruit as well as boosting seed and clone development. Barrier against mould, bacteria, and viruses.

Available now from Highlight Horticulture.

Give @highlighthorticultureltd a follow for more great products.

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GROWING PRODUCTS

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS DAYLIGHT 200W Sometimes, the best things do come in small packages. For growers who find space at a premium, the DAYLIGHT 200W LED provides the much-needed solution.

Designed to cover a smaller footprint (of 0.8m x 0.8m) there is no better option for growers dealing with those tight spaces! Coming complete with the build quality the DAYLIGHT line is known and loved for, full-spectrum (including far-red), high-quality LUMLED chips are used, meaning an exceptional rate of growth from plants in a small area.With no internal fans needed for cooling, failures of units are almost a thing of the past. One of the most practical and affordable options for those looking to venture into growing under LEDs. Pop down your local store or contact Maxigrow for more info.

Bud Booster An original bloom additive from Green Planet which, because of its high level of phosphorus, helps promote blooming and assists in the plant’s metabolism during the middle of the flowering stage. Bud booster is a flower enhancer generally used by entrylevel gardeners to achieve a better crop.

This cost-effective product will increase the size and density of flowers using powdered phosphorus and potassium. The potassium helps improve the quality of your flowers or fruits and helps with the plant’s starch production.

Check out Easy-Grow.co.uk for more grow gear.

TNB Naturals

GK Organics

Seaweed Liquid Made from cold processed seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum), Seaweed Liquid is a powerful natural vegan plant booster that enhances root and foliage growth, yields larger flowers and fruits, and increases bacterial resistance. It’s also an excellent source of micronutrients and amino acids.

Seaweed liquid works with all fertilisers in any garden soil, potting mix, or other growing media. It can also be used as foliar spray together with foliar nutrients.

Visit Guanokalong.nl for more info.

CO2 Enhancer The Enhancer is an all-natural CO2 generator made from 100% organic ingredients. This safe and effective solution for CO2 supplementation creates a blast of CO2 that can reach 1200 PPM in a 50m3 space area for up to two weeks.

Activate The Enhancer by adding one litre of warm water.

Place the lid back on and remove its sticker, cover the small hole with your thumb, and give the bottle a quick shake.

The Enhancer works off the natural phenomena known as fermentation and will begin to disperse CO2 within a few minutes of being activated. For optimal performance, shake The Enhancer once a day in a 50m3 space and once every other day in a 10m3 space.

The simplicity and ease of use, and the fact that The Enhancer does not produce heat or require any additional equipment, makes it an excellent alternative for CO2 production.

Available from Highlight Horticulture.

Why Wait To Use Your Water?

Immediately give your plants clean, fresh water with HydroLogic’s TALLBoy dechlorinator. The TALLBoy removes up to 99% of chlorine, sediment, rust, silt, volatile organic compounds, and particulates down to 5 microns.

The TALLBoy quickly produces up to 454 litres per hour and has a long filter life of 29,000 litres.The product comes with a Green Coconut Carbon Filter for chlorine with the option of a KDF85/Catalytic Carbon Filter specifically for use with well water. If you know your water contains chloramines, upgrade to the HydroLogic ChlorashieldTM filter. Don’t risk harming sensitive root-supporting ecosystems with municipal water treated with biocides!

HydroLogic TALLBoy takes the worry out of your water!

Visit HydrologicSystems.com for a water filtration system that will suit your needs.

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GROWER TESTIMONIALS

@ADJUSTAWINGS420

WWW.ADJUSTAWINGS.COM

GROWING PRODUCTS

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS T.A. STARTER KITS Take advantage of the Terra Aquatica® 3pack Starter Kit, each containing essential products for growing 2 to 10 plants. Thanks to an attractive price point and a free product each time, the 3Pack Starter Kits are the fastest way to obtain professional results, regardless of your budget. SRP €20 T.A. Starter Kits are available in 4 versions, for every type of gardener: • •

TriPart® DualPart® (+ FinalPart®)

• •

DualPart® Coco (+ FinalPart®) Pro Organic® (+ Bloom Booster)

New Fulvic® Boosts Root Systems Terra Aquatica is proud to announce a new formula for Fulvic® ultra-pure and 100%-natural bio-stimulator. A new source of fulvic acid means it can now help stimulate more root development. Using it typically helps produce 15% more fresh root biomass than the previous formula.With new Fulvic®, your plants will be more vigorous and disease-resistant, with high essential-oil content. And that means earlier and more bountiful crops!

Aquafarm®, Waterfarm®, Ebb&grow® Now Made With 100% Recycled Plastic Terra Aquatica®’s famous growing systems are now manufactured entirely from recycled plastic. And not just any plastic! The plastic in question comes from recycling containers for glass.

Recycled plastic system

“While looking to improve our product, we wanted the best possible raw material: waste-free and sustainable. Using plastic that’s already been used for recycling seemed ideal!” comments Sébastien, General Manager of Terra Aquatica.

A Sustainable Approach Rotomolding is a unique technique that has many qualities. The finished product is solid, and unlike injection molding, the material is not damaged during the manufacturing process and retains its mechanical properties. Terra Aquatica® is thus able to guarantee these products for life. Rotomolded plastic can also be recycled over and over again when using this technique.The team at Terre Aquatica are very excited about this sustainable and circular economy based approach.

“We want our products to produce as little waste as possible and to be able to join a new production cycle when the time comes,” explains Sébastien.

op Sh ow Gr

100%

Recyclable Plastic

Ro tom ou ldi ng

g hin us Cr

Energy Efficient In the same vein, WaterFarm® and AquaFarm® are also adaptable, modular, feature an anti-light and anti-UV barrier to protect roots, and are energy efficient.

They consume less than 2W.There’s a reason they’ve sold several hundreds of thousands of units over the years. These hydroponic systems may have been invented over 30 years ago, but their future is certainly looking bright.

Visit eurohydro.com to see all the tried and true products brought to you by Terra Aquatica.

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See the most recent Product Spotlights right from your phone or tablet.

visit: GCmag.co/Product-Spotlight

FEED YOURSELF

s unitie m m o al c o r ts loc ; people wh o p p u d er lf s ourse togeth f ficiency an u Feed Y ings people self-s e and br passion for roduc p s u o i t a share owing nutri gr

Culture is teaming up with Feed Yourself, a

progressive

movement

that

and has

urban

gardening

already

attracted

followers in the thousands!

The campaign is all about shortening the distance from farm to fork and takes many forms, from growing tips and food security to sustainable production awareness. Feed Yourself supports local communities and brings people together; people who share a passion for self-sufficiency and growing nutritious produce. A heart-warming example of this is the Feed Yourself giveaway, where 20 Hydroponic start-up kits are going to go to worthy causes and organisations.

ROOFTOP GARDENS

CON TA I N NER GAR VEGETABLE PATCH D E N

GARDENS

COMMUNITY GARDEN

I

ntroduced in our last edition, Garden

VERTICAL GARDENS

F L E S R U O Y D E #FE URBAN

GROW GREEN ROOM HOUSE ROOFTOP GARDENS

BALCONY GARDENS

This awesome giveaway, of course, would not be possible without the generous donations made by The Growers Wholesale and Ashton Hydroponics Ltd & Lumatek. They have provided tents, nutrient starter packs, pots, saucers and lighting kits. The contest is immensely popular, with people all over the UK nominating organisations from schools to care homes and everything in between. There are still some kits available, so go to the Feed Yourself Facebook or Instagram profiles and let us know about other deserving organisations!

“We are really pleased with the level of engagement we have seen with this giveaway, but it doesn’t stop here,” says Matt Clifton, CEO of Product Earth and Feed Yourself. “In the coming weeks, we will be introducing the Feed Yourself Community Hacks programme. We will be sharing home videos of growing tips and innovative ideas from our community in exchange for £25 to help share and spread knowledge, but also help those that may have been financially impacted by COVID-19”.

Join the #feedyourself movement now on Facebook & Instagram! 3

@feedyourselfuk @gardenculturemagazine.uk facebook.com/feedyourselfuk/ 23

BY ANNE GIBSON

work with

nature 24

ORGANIC GARDENING

This closed-loop cycle of turning ‘waste’ into healthy soil was the basis of how I learned to grow food from a young age

I

grew up in my family’s backyard garden. On a quarter-acre block in suburban Sydney, most of our food came from our abundant vegetable garden, fruit trees and a productive flock of cheeky chickens. Mum preserved our fruits and vegetables, made jams and relishes, and nothing went to waste. I learned from an early age where our food came from.

Our family only bought milk and seasonal fruit from local farmers to supplement what we didn’t produce ourselves.

Dad taught me how to use grass clippings as mulch, rake up chicken manure and sawdust from their coop, collect garden prunings and fireplace ash, and recycle our kitchen food scraps into a giant 3-bay compost system. This closed-loop cycle of turning ‘waste’ into healthy soil was the basis of how I learned to grow food from a young age.

I didn’t know at the time this would later be called ‘organic gardening.’ We were living sustainably, using onsite resources to recycle nutrients, working with nature by planting suitable crops for our climate and eating nutrient-rich foods that tasted amazing. Even the cabbage white butterflies that hovered in the garden didn’t last long with the chickens around. Pest management was easy too!

Why Everyone Should Garden Organically Wendell Berry once said: “I can think of no better form of personal involvement in the cure of the environment than that of gardening. A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world. He is producing something to eat, which makes him somewhat independent of the grocery business, but he is also enlarging, for himself, the meaning of food and the pleasure of eating.”

Growing a food garden not just without chemicals, but by adding value to the environment by improving soil quality and plant health, is a sustainable practice we can all participate in. The rewards are immensely satisfying.

A few of the benefits of organic gardening include: • Minimal risk of toxic chemical residues in your food, garden soil, environment, pets and wildlife.

• Fresh nutrient-rich, flavoursome food with optimum nutrition to build a healthy immune system.

• Connection to nature, fresh air, sunlight and exercise, improving physical and mental health.

• Fewer weeds, pests and diseases because of healthier plants and living soil with increased biodiversity.

• Save money by being more sustainable and self-reliant, reducing the need to buy food and garden supplies by recycling nutrients from the kitchen and garden.

Interplanting and rotating crops of different plant families maintains a balanced ecosystem in an organic garden

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D E L L I F R E W O P #

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ORGANIC GARDENING

work with

nature Grow ing a f ood ga rden no t ju s t w i t hou t chemic a l s, bu t by a dding va l ue t o t he en v ironmen t by imp rov ing s oil qua l i t y a nd p l a n t he a lt h, is a sus ta in a bl e p r ac t ice w e c a n a l l pa r t icipat e in. T he re wa rd s a re immensely s at isf y ing

Maintaining a chemical-free garden encourages predator insects like ladybirds to manage fungal diseases and pests

Heide Hermary, the author of The Essence of Organic Gardening, encourages us to think of organic gardening as “not about just substituting toxic chemicals with less toxic ones, but about a whole different way of thinking and working. It is a conscious effort to cooperate with Nature in the creation of health and abundance for all.”

So what does it mean to ‘work with nature’? Is it possible to grow an edible garden without any chemicals or back-breaking hours of labour?

From personal experience, I believe if you apply principles when designing your edible garden, choosing plants and maintaining it, you won’t need expensive inputs or collapse with physical exhaustion! By imitating nature, we can create a healthy balance in our gardens, so they are productive, abundant and require less time, money and effort to maintain.

Key Organic Gardening Principles I follow a few basic guidelines that I’ve found make a difference in creating a productive paradise – be it a balcony garden, backyard or larger space.

1. Feed the soil, rather than the plants. Soil high in organic matter with a continuous layer of mulch creates a nutrient-rich, moisture-holding environment for plants and soil microorganisms to thrive. Nature layers the soil surface with leaves, decaying plant material and dead critters. Continual recycling and composting create humus. This practice works perfectly in our pots and garden beds too. Recycle your kitchen waste back out into the garden to grow more food. Over time, you will develop a precious asset in your soil.

Nature mulches and composts on the forest floor

27

NS CONTAI M PREMIU ID AC SILICIC

MY PLANTS GET THE TREATMENT THEY DESERVE Use Amino Treatment for: • Stronger stems • Faster growth • A tastier crop Growers can see the results of adding Amino Treatment in just 7 days!

AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE UK FROM nutriculture.co.uk

@hydroponicexperts1976

nutricultureuk

ORGANIC GARDENING

work with

nature Organic gardeners are stewards of the earth. We care about our soil, the health of our plants – particularly edibles, and create an environment that encourages all creatures to live safely

Autumn leaves mulch for an organic garden

2. Select plants wisely. Choose varieties that thrive in your climate and locate them in microclimates that suit their needs – sun, shade, moist or dry soil, protected from the wind, cold or heat. Plant in season. Forcing unsuitable species into poor soil or unfavourable growing conditions for their needs is a recipe for disaster! Don’t try to grow summer crops in winter. Stressed plants attract pests and disease, so give them the best chance of survival and growing productively by matching them to the requirements they need.

3. Focus on biodiversity. A healthy organic garden is an ecosystem with a wide variety of plants, insects and soil life.

They are all team players that work together for the common good. Avoid planting too much of one species as this encourages pests and diseases. A monoculture destroys nature’s balance. Mix up your edibles and crop rotate seasonally to help attract a diverse range of pollinators, beneficial insects, soil microbes and minimise disease.

4. Practice safe gardening. Avoid any artificial fertilisers or chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Choose certified organic and heirloom seeds and raise seedlings when possible unless you know your nursery doesn’t use chemicals.

Intentionally choose non-toxic materials for your garden instead of chemically-treated timber, PVC, manures containing vet medications and other contaminated inputs. Research well and do your due diligence on the source of your materials!

Heavy metals and chemical compounds can end up leaching into the soil, your food and eventually the water table. Read labels and look for certified organic logos on seeds and products to create a safe edible garden.

Organic gardeners are stewards of the earth. We care about our soil, the health of our plants – particularly edibles, and create an environment that encourages all creatures to live safely.

Growing organic food at home is a sustainable way to tread lighter on our planet and enjoy the delicious healthy rewards this deep connection to a garden can bring. 3

BIO Anne Gibson, The Micro Gardener, is an author, speaker

and urban garden community educator on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, Australia. Anne is passionate about inspiring people to improve health and wellbeing, by growing nutrient-dense food gardens in creative containers and small spaces. Anne regularly presents workshops, speaks at sustainable living events, coaches private clients and teaches community education classes about organic gardening and ways to live sustainably. She has authored several eBooks and gardening guides. Anne shares organic gardening tips and tutorials to save time, money and energy on her popular website - TheMicroGardener.com.

29

BY EVAN FOLDS

30

FOOD & FARMING

t organic h g u o b o h ds of those w , y d u lthier foo t a s e h h c t r e a g e o s a Pew Re son was t a o t e r g a in y d a r s Acco nth, 76% in o m t s a d the soil” p e h t ent to “fee m in e v s o d m l o fo cultura $50 y as an agri an almost

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r rned into 20th centu s today tu a ar ts of the h p , g y ream. rl in a e rm e in th onal fa the mainst ti it n h e v s n a o h c ” f ic hat star ted o n l practices onal. “Orga the ar tificia as conventi st to fa s se a n o e resp rowing twic r y that is g st u d in d o billion fo

Organic food is now found in almost all grocery stores, and the amount of certified organic acreage is increasing in every state. But despite all of the advances, organic still has a long way to go. Farmland that is certified organic represents less than 1% of all agricultural land in the US, and organic food makes up only 14.6% of all produce sold, according to 2016 numbers.

If we fix the soil, we fix ourselves. The question becomes, does “organic” fix farming? In a word, no. However, it is a step in the right direction

Still, the organic industry is growing rapidly. Driven mostly by health concerns, retail sales of organic foods more than doubled from 1994 to 2014. According to a Pew Research study, of those who bought organic foods in the past month, 76% say a reason was to get healthier foods. The public is waking up to the problems with our food supply and taking action with their food dollars.

While this sounds like positive news, it is essential to recognise that it was not until we messed up farming that we were compelled to fix it. Rather than follow the “precautionary principle” - which states that a new product or process whose ultimate effects are disputed or unknown should be resisted - we do the opposite, routinely approving chemicals for crop production that are dangerous to living systems and public health. The result is dead soil that is incapable of holding fertility, water, carbon, or life, and we are paying for it in so many ways.

If we fix the soil, we fix ourselves. The question becomes, does “organic” fix farming?

Many of us are not aware that the origin of artificial pesticides and fertilisers came from the World Wars.

The same factories that were built to make nitrogen and munitions in World War II are today used to make fertiliser, and pesticides were simply pointed towards crop fields instead of jungles. The notorious chemical DDT was discovered in 1939 and used extensively by the US military as an insecticide to protect troops in the field before it was ever used on food crops. Its production subsequently showed chemists the way to develop other toxic pesticides and herbicides like 2,4-D. As the wars ended, the new chemical age of agriculture began, and we went all in. By 1952, there were over 10,000 new and unique pesticides registered with the USDA. We did not understand the danger of them until after they were in use. There are currently at least 72 pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural applications in the US that are banned or in the process of a complete phase-out in the EU, Brazil, and China.

So, despite the emergence of organic methods, our agricultural system is still toxic. And because of this, so is our food supply. Consumers are responding to the toxicity of the food system by using buying power to vote for more organic food, which is a strong incentive for farmers to begin growing more organic food. The problem is that these market forces are far more enticing and lucrative to global food corporations.

In a word, no. However, it is a step in the right direction.

The term “organic” can be broadly described as farming and food that is not genetically engineered and grown without the assistance of toxic, synthetic chemicals. This is important because according to the Environmental Working Group, a full 70% of all fresh produce sold in the US contain synthetic pesticide residues, and many of them are directly linked to the detriment of environmental and human health.

The result of this burgeoning market incentive is lobbying

by Big Ag to dilute the organic standards to allow their ways and to fit the mega-farm scale of production, but also through massive consolidation where Big Ag purchases small organic food companies. Do an internet search for “Who Owns Organic Chart by Cornucopia Institute” for a sobering visual of who owns your favourite natural food brands.

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FOOD & FARMING FOOD

By capitalist design, Big Ag wants to control the entire USDA organic program. Through stacking boards and spending billions in lobbying efforts, the special interests of the conventional food industry creep into the organic realm, resulting in the acceptance of farming methods that would make the founders of the organic movement roll over in their grave.

Farmland that is certified organic represents less than 1% of all agricultural land in the US, and organic food makes up only 14.6% of all produce sold, according to 2016 numbers

We now have “organic” chicken CAFOs with 200,000 birds packed into environmentally-controlled buildings, and “organic” dairy CAFOs with 15,000 cows crammed into feedlots, and large “organic” grain shipments being sold into the US with no documentation.

In many ways, organic has become a new way for Big Ag to make more money. Data shows that people perceive “organic” to be a healthier way of producing food, which is an open question. There is no question certified organic food is cleaner, and it is safe to say that given similar soil conditions, organic food could be more nutritious. Still, it is essential to point out that there are no standards for nutrient density in the organic certification process.

It is an alarming realisation: we invented the chemicals that we are paying a premium for in organic food to protect ourselves from. And what’s worse, many times we are giving these extra dollars to the same corporations that invented the chemicals in the first place. Brilliant business model, but bad for people.

We are starting to wake up to our food reality, but some saw this coming a long time ago. One of the first known reactions

to conventional farming was Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who, in response to farmers in Eastern Europe that were beginning to experience the loss of fertility on their farms from chemical inputs, delivered eight lectures in 1924 now known as The Agriculture Course. It is an outline that has become known as “biodynamic agriculture”.

In many ways, Steiner’s methods were before their time, involving homoeopathic field sprays, planting by celestial rhythms, and new techniques for making potentised compost preparations. The concepts of life force and spiritual science that he championed are only now starting to become more popular. But the remnants of what Steiner brought forward have been here all along in the spiritual science of dedicated farmers around the world, and the lunar planting calendars of the Farmers Almanac.

Steiner’s ideas inspired many people, including Walter James (1896-1982), known as Lord Northbourne, whose interest in biodynamics led him to visit Switzerland in 1939 to invite the leading advocate of the times, Dr Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961), to present the first conference on biodynamic farming in Britain. The following year, in 1940, is when Lord Northbourne published a manifesto called Look to the Land that first coined the term “organic farming”.

The pioneer of organic in the US was Jerome Irving Rodale (1898-1971), the founder of the Rodale Research Institute and Organic Farming and Gardening magazine. Beginning in the 1940s from his farm in Pennsylvania, Rodale developed his publications and institute that continue to inspire “non-chemical” farming methods for US farmers and gardeners.

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FOOD & FARMING

Did you catch that?

Certified organic food doesn’t have to be 100% organic You don’t have to grow all of your food to impact agriculture in positive ways. Remember, eating is an agricultural act

Rodale was originally impacted by the work of Sir Albert Howard (1873-1947), a British scientist who spent many years observing and learning traditional agriculture in India, and developed a method of composting called the Indore Process that is still in use today in tropical regions.

The pioneers of the organic movement provided practical applications and logical, natural reasons to do our farming and gardening differently. The activism around this movement culminated in 1990 when Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act, requiring the USDA to develop national standards for organic products.

Then, in 2001, Congress established the National Organic Program (NOP). The NOP is a federal regulatory program that develops and enforces uniform national standards for organically-produced agricultural products sold in the US. The core mission of the NOP is to protect the integrity of the USDA organic seal, which is allowed for use on products that contain at least 95% organic ingredients.

Did you catch that? Certified organic food doesn’t have to be 100% organic.

One of the more recent controversies regarding organic certification is the debate about hydroponics. Hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic farms can get organic certification for crops in some states and markets. Advocates promote the relative cleanliness and efficiency of these farming methods, and opponents point out that any way of growing that does not utilise soil undermines the spirit of the organic movement.

The USDA currently considers this debate a “settled issue”, and out of these compromises, there are now new platforms for certification being developed that go above and beyond organic certification. The Regenerative Organic Certification officially launched in March of 2018, and not a month later, another certification platform, the Real Organic Project, was introduced.

The purpose of these platforms is to ensure the integrity and transparency in labelling by defining certified food as grown in the soil and to prevent the certification of controversial methods of farming such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and hydroponics.

We are making progress, but when it comes to good food, it is never fast enough. In the food business, we are what we eat, and our buying power drives global markets. You don’t have to grow all of your food to impact agriculture in positive ways. Remember, eating is an agricultural act. 3

Evan Folds is a regenerative agricultural consultant with a background across every facet of the farming and gardening spectrum. He has founded and operated many businesses over the years - including a retail hydroponics store he operated for over 14 years, a wholesale company that formulated beyond organic products and vortex-style compost tea brewers, an organic lawn care company, and a commercial organic wheatgrass growing operation.

Bio

He now works as a consultant in his new project Be Agriculture where he helps new and seasoned growers take their agronomy to the next level.What we think, we grow!

Contact Evan at www.BeAgriculture.com or on Facebook and Instagram @beagriculture

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BY DOUG JACOBS

Uniformity starts with mother stock and propagation. If you can repeatedly grow identical plants, they can be steered from the start of cultivation for maximum production.

36

PLANT STEERING

T

hey say variety is the spice of life. While that is undoubtedly true for many things, when it comes to growing mother plants and cuttings in a greenhouse or elsewhere indoors, uniformity is critical for quality. The farm design and plant care plan should be developed with consistency in mind.

In life, uniformity isn’t always a good thing.

But when it comes to cuttings, nothing beats it Uniformity star ts with mother stock and propagation.

If you can repeatedly grow identical plants, they can be steered from the star t of cultivation for maximum production. All subsequent inputs such as labour, climate, and irrigation can be optimised, delivering the highest quality plants time after time.

Use less growing media with a lot of space for root development. Make sure it has good water holding capacity and EC control. These factors allow irrigation to be used as a tool to steer and manage the growth of the mother plants, making them healthier and improving the quality of the cuttings they produce.

The Mother Load

Vegetative And Generative Growth

Sourcing mother stock is an essential first step in creating a uniform crop. Whether you are getting rooted cuttings, seeds, or tissue culture plants, be sure they don’t carry any pests or disease and that they will deliver the final product you want.

What we are talking about is the balance between vegetative and generative growth. Vegetative is the growth of leaves and stems, while generative is the development of fruits and flowers. Both stages can be used to control how the plant grows throughout its lifecycle.

A test batch of plants can be created. Watch them grow through an entire lifecycle to determine how well they perform in your facility. At every stage, take detailed notes on the speed of root development, plant height, stem diameter, leaf and stem colour, node spacing, and the natural structure of the plant. Also, observe the rootzone WC and EC measurements with climate conditions. These notes will help you determine the optimum spacing, irrigation and climate strategies, and the timing of labour.

If you want your mother plants to grow faster, implement a vegetative irrigation strategy by: • Maintaining a higher overall WC in the root zone.

• Having smaller dry backs between irrigations and overnight.

• Using small shot sizes at a high frequency of watering.

• Lowering EC at the dripper and in the root zone.

Substrate Volume But before growing the mother plants, select a substrate type, determine how much volume is needed for each plant, and the ideal planting density. Once these details are established, consider the irrigation requirements.

Mother plants are typically kept in large amounts of growing media, usually 5 to 25-gallon pots, and are watered infrequently, one to four times per day if they are lucky.

Having large mother plants in larger volumes of the substrate has some benefits and drawbacks. More substrate helps buffer out the irrigation system, so if your system fails or you don’t have time to hand water frequently, a large root zone can protect the plant. On the flip side, having large mother plants increases the risk of one bad mom spoiling several cuttings, therefore, reducing the yield of an entire crop.

To slow growth down, reduce stretching, and be more generative, do the following: • Decrease the overall WC in the root zone.

• Increase the dry back between each irrigation and overnight by delaying the first watering of the day and stopping before nightfall.

• Decrease irrigation frequency while increasing the volume of each shot.

• Increase dripper and rootzone EC with lower substrate temperatures.

It’s essential to test these strategies while taking regular crop registration of plant height, node spacing, overall plant development, and health.

Climate Steering Like irrigation, the climate has a significant impact on how plants grow. Using different types of lights with varying intensities affect how the mother plants perform from propagation through flowering. Climate steering techniques need to be explored and utilised as a tool to manage plant growth.

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PLANT STEERING

Achieve better results by reducing the environmental conditions when taking cuttings

When taking cuttings, take note of the environmental conditions and how they affect the success of the crop.

Having high light intensity, humidity, and temperatures has an impact on the health and success of the cuttings.

Achieve better results by reducing the environmental conditions when taking cuttings.

Propagation: Sea Of Green

Not all cuttings are taken in one day. It can take an entire week to take all of the cuttings during a flush to keep the mother plants in balance.

Smaller mother plants can grow at a very high density with just enough space so they barely touch. This sea of green helps the cuttings grow nice and straight and new ones to be taken without stressing the mother plant.

Mother plants are grown to exact specifications with an equal number of leaves. After the mothers are planted, they need four weeks before they have about five fully expanded leaves. Once they are tall enough, pinch the head with a leaf to create a uniform crop structure across all the mothers. Keeping the number of leaves and branches even across all plants is critical for an even growth rate.

Between each harvest, look over the plants daily to ensure consistent growth. Remove leaves gradually to keep the plants equal and balanced. Mother plants are typically kept for a total of 26 weeks. Given the limitations on what can be used for pest and disease control, it is good practice to change the mother plants every three or four months.

Tools And Tricks

The first cuttings can be taken two weeks after the first pinch. Subsequent flushes of cuttings can be taken weekly.

During this process, you may end up with some taller plants that need to be trimmed back between harvests.

Not all cuttings are taken in one day. It can take an entire week to take all of the cuttings during a flush to keep the mother plants in balance.

To take the most uniform cuttings possible with the least amount of labour, “mum growers” use a special tool to help keep the cuttings the same length. This plastic tool uses a flat surface with a sharp edge that also suppor ts the cutting as it’s being taken. Only new growth head cuttings are taken, and some amount of stem is left above the node to protect it so it can grow another cutting.

As you go through each subsequent flush, maintain an equal number of leaves between each mother plant to keep them growing at a uniform rate. The perfect equation depends on what plants are growing. Some experimentation and crop registration will help determine the ideal number of leaves, the growth speed, and how many cuttings can be produced in a specific time frame.

It is essential to have a precise visual scale for the size of the cuttings you want. Stem diameter groups cuttings as “Thick ”, “Good”, and “Thin”. Cuttings can then be placed in batches together based on their growth rate. In addition to keeping stem length and diameter consistent, each cutting must also have the same number of leaves.

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PLANT STEERING

After the initial saturation, the best way to maintain uniformity is through climate and irrigation

Irrigation

Climate Control

The timing, frequency, and volumes used to irrigate cuttings have a tremendous impact on how the plants develop.

Watering too early is the biggest problem for most growers.

Determine the best time for irrigation by using weights of trays and individual plugs in combination with plant observations.

Watch how much water is being applied after the first dry backs and work to find the optimum amount for developing the young cuttings. Growers who flood high up the side of the plugs and oversaturate the substrate tend to have problems with root development. Experiment with smaller floods or dips to keep the young root zone healthy.

Climate has a significant impact on the development of the cuttings. Low light intensity, for example, slows plant growth and opens the plants up to diseases. High humidity is also another cause of poor growth. To achieve the best cuttings possible, experiment with systems and tools that help maintain humidity between 70-90% while keeping moisture away from the canopy.

High heat and humidity levels lead to mould and mildew.

Wetting lines are popular in commercial agriculture because they reduce the need for expensive labour and various inconsistencies. At home or in smaller farms, manual watering booms and hand watering can be used. Still, the speed and flow of the water need to be adjusted based on the substrate being used. For Rockwool, repeated slow and steady applications should be made to ensure proper saturation. Applying too much water too fast can lead to dry spots in the media that will carry through the lifecycle of the plant. Inconsistent growth will affect the uniformity of growth.

Flooding is also an effective, uniform way to saturate the blocks, but in large and multiple batches, take care to dilute the solution and adjust the EC and pH. Nutrients should always be used at the start with Rockwool. Ideally, saturate new plugs or block with a nutrient solution between 1.5 to 2.0 EC, with a pH of 5.5. I recommend using nutrients from the start for cuttings because Rockwool doesn’t provide any to the plant.

Weights of the plugs, trays, or blocks should be checked at initial saturation to ensure it was done correctly. Weights should be rechecked 24 hours later and at regular intervals to determine the best time to apply the first irrigation. After the initial saturation, the best way to maintain uniformity is through climate and irrigation.

Growers must be sure that the air and rootzone temperatures are not excessively hot and wet. Once that the cuttings have established a root system, work to get them acclimated to the climate that will be used for growing. In commercial flower farms, use a clear plastic tarp to cover all the cuttings for the first week.

Seedling trays are usually stackable for ease of movement and have built-in structure so the tarp can be placed and removed without disturbing the cuttings. Once the cuttings have started to root into the substrate, the tent is removed, and a misting system helps maintain humidity at the optimum range.

In life, uniformity isn’t always a good thing. But when it comes to cuttings, nothing beats it.

Happy growing! 3

Bio

Doug Jacobs is a Technical Advisor with Grodan.

He provides expert consulting on proven Precision Growing methods to optimise crop production with Grodan Rockwool growing media and proper irrigation, producing the best quality plants using the least amount of inputs. He has experience with indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse hydroponics, vertical farms, aquaculture, and CEA system design, helping to design farms across North America. Doug showcases his passion and expertise as a feature writer in various national industry publications and as a conference speaker at US events.

41

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ALBERT MONDOR, HORTICULTURIST AND BIOLOGIST

Edible Plants On The Beach

42

SEA DELIGHTS

O

cean banks, beaches, and dunes have a rich flora. Surprisingly, many of the plants that grow on seashores are edible!

Some rose bushes spontaneously grow on beaches and dunes. One of the species most commonly found in the northern hemisphere is the Rough Rose. It is indigenous to north China, Korea, Japan, and eastern Russia. Introduced to Europe and North America a long time ago, it has escaped from gardens and now grows just about everywhere. In the wild, it is often found on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, on dunes in Cape Cod, and most of the New England seashore. This shrub is very resistant to winds and salt spray.

M a r sh s a mp hire is a p l a n t t h at grow s in t he w il d on t he b a nks of nor t her n se a s.

I t h a s a del iciou s ta s t e simil a r t o s a lt ed a spa r agu s a nd is u sed t o se a s on s a l a d s or a s a v ege ta bl e t o ac c ompa n y me at s a nd f ish.

Like the flowers, you can eat rosehips. However, it is crucial to remove the seeds, which have prickly hairs that can irritate the skin and digestive tract. Rosehips seeds are used to produce itching powder! Fun fact: rosehips contain more vitamin C than oranges.

Marsh samphire.

Another common plant found along the oceanfront is creeping saltbush, also called spreading orache. This plant has thick and plentiful spear-shaped leaves. Closely related to lamb’s quarters, a weed commonly found in gardens, creeping saltbush has a milder taste than spinach with a hint of salt. It pairs well with salads and is delicious with seafood chowder.

Rose flowers are edible

Marsh samphire is a plant that grows in the wild on the banks of northern seas. It has a delicious taste similar to salted asparagus and is used to season salads or as a vegetable to accompany meats and fish. This plant is occasionally sold in grocery stores or appears on restaurant menus, usually as samphire greens or sea asparagus.

Available in some nurseries, it is relatively easy to grow in a pot at home in full sun, but it requires frequent watering with salt water (1 teaspoon of sea salt per litre of water).

Creeping Saltbush

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SEA DELIGHTS

Rich in v i ta min C, se a p e a s s av ed t he Europ e a n se t t l er s w ho f ir s t a rri v ed in C a n a da f rom s curv y Sea peas look like snow peas tinged with purple. Whether eaten raw or cooked, shelling them isn’t necessary.

Before producing pods, sea peas produce lovely deep pink flowers.

Rich in vitamin C, sea peas saved the European settlers who first arrived in Canada from scurvy. It was a plant that people could eat in abundance and was a large part of the Native American diet.

Sea parsley

Credit: LuontoPortti

Sea parsley looks and tastes like lovage. That’s why this plant native to north-eastern North America and northern European coasts is also called Scots lovage. It has compound foliage with red twigs. In mid-summer, it bears beautiful white umbels of flowers. This plant is sold in some nurseries and can quickly be grown in any garden.

Sea peas

Since sea parsley also has a flavour similar to Italian parsley, it is a good substitute in any tabbouleh, soup, sauce, or stew recipe. Adventurous chefs can even create a pesto by mixing half sea parsley with half creeping saltbush leaves. 3

has practised his craft for over 30 years and created numerous gardens in North America. In addition to teaching courses and lecturing at conferences across Canada, his weekly gardening column has appeared in the Journal de Montréal and the Journal de Québec since 1999.

In April 2018, Albert Mondor published Le nouveau potager, his tenth horticultural book. He is a regular guest and contributor to radio and television programmes and his hosting The Trendy Gardener spots broadcasted on Météo Média and online. You can also read his blog called Extreme Horticulture at albertmondor.com. Follow Albert on Facebook: fb.com/albert.mondor

Credit: Freight Farms

BIO Passionate about environmental horticulture, urban agriculture and extreme landscape design, Albert Mondor

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Guerrilla Gardening

Gardening Without Borders 46

GUERRILLA GARDENING

BY MARTYNA KROL, PHOTOS: MARTYNA KROL

P

attern recognition is one of our most potent superpowers when it comes to sur vival. We know that those dents in the floor are animal tracks because we’ve seen the feet that made them. Millennia of obser vation taught us the patterns of the stars and seasons so we can use them for farming and

navigation. A ball rolling out of a side street tells you to brake because of the child likely to come chasing after it. But this superpower also has a dark side; confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias is an interesting idea and one which can often cast light on a lot of things people do. If you’ve never heard of it (and don’t feel bad if you haven’t), it means how humans tend to see new information as confirmation of our existing beliefs or theories. In simple terms, we’re so great at seeing patterns, that sometimes we imagine one that’s not there.

I might have caught myself using my confirmation bias this week. Walking by a bus stop near my house, I think I spotted evidence of a pattern of behaviour I never used to notice but now see everywhere: guerrilla gardening. Someone had placed a pot with a young sunflower by the bus stop sign. As if to show that it wasn’t an accident, it was tied to the post for support. Perhaps it was part of a movement to add greenery to our increasingly unnatural environment.

Someone had placed a pot with a young sunflower by the bus stop sign. As if to show that it wasn’t an accident, it was tied to the post for suppor t.

Pollination Street My first introduction to the quiet revolution that is guerilla gardening was meeting the originators of the Incredible Edible movement in Todmorden, a few miles from my home in West Yorkshire. Much has already been written about Mary Clear and her campaign, but this was my first taste of the impact associated with reclaiming barren public lawns and single-species verges for growing food.

Like all revolutionaries, Clear and her gang began small.

Knowing that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission, they sneaked food plants onto traffic circles and grassy roadsides. They made little community action signs telling passers-by to help themselves and maintained the plants until harvest.

When local council officials eventually noticed their actions, there was the inevitable power struggle, but they were already too popular to stop. Incredible Edible planting days,

markets, and events have attracted thousands of participants and the attention of royalty! Prince Charles once told Clear that when he becomes king, she can plant wherever she likes.

We’re all still curious to see if he keeps his promise should his head ever hold the crown.

The Incredible Edible movement has since blossomed around the world, with thousands of independent groups copying and expanding upon the initial idea and bringing locally grown produce and awareness of how to grow to millions of people. Todmorden still has its publiclymaintained growing spaces, such as on ‘Pollination Street’ in the centre of town.

And Clear has a good chunk of her garden open to anyone who wants to forage for rhubarb and cauliflower.

Capital Lettuce One of London’s most impressive guerilla gardening projects is the so-called ‘magic roundabout’, which has been transformed from a dull traffic disc to a self-sustaining island of beauty, colour, and joyful buzz of bees. We have Caroline Bousfield Gregory to thank for the makeover. Her pottery studio overlooks the roundabout, and she took it upon herself to improve the view. It’s now 18 years that she’s been chipping away at it, and the result is spectacular.

Bousfield Gregory grows and dries lavender flowers, turns them into scented cushions, and sells them to pay for more plants. She looks after the makeshift garden to this day. The thing that many people comment on when visiting her workshop is the ‘feel-good vibe’ the spot provides to the public. Sometimes, residents help Bousfield Gregory tend the plants, creating a sense of belonging in the community. She says many people work together with the council to plant in tree pits or create small wildflower meadows.

This spreading of ideas and motivation is a theme common to all guerrilla gardening projects, and in my opinion, is the most critical result.

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GUERRILLA GARDENING

Why Break The Rules?

All of this isn’t without its risks, of course. In many places, planting without permission may be unlawful or leave the guerrilla gardener liable to being sued. Besides the legal consequences, there’s the danger of introducing invasive species and doing the ecosystem more harm than good. So why do so many still find themselves venturing out under cover of darkness with their trowels in hand to sneak plants into spaces where they “shouldn’t” be?

There seem to be three primary motivations:

Protest: From anger over the shortage of fresh produce in New York’s poorest neighbourhoods to the daffodils my husband planted as a teenager in the shape of a giant phallus under his headteacher’s office window, there are as many messages as there are people to speak them. For many, the very absence of greenness in their world is worth protesting. Guerrilla gardening can be an effective action against landowners or authorities who allow public areas to decline into decay.

Community: Incredible Edible and many others demonstrate time and again the value of bringing people together to plant and to harvest. A truth as old as time, but it’s easy to lose sight of in the modern world of supermarket produce.

Joy: You’re reading Garden Culture Magazine. The chances are you understand this part better than I can explain it. The simple act of planting flowers can lift someone’s day, raise their self-esteem, and surround them with beauty.

My feeling is that most sneaky planting (including the bus stop sunflower) is motivated by a mixture of all three.

The Incredible Edible movement has since blossomed around the world, with thousands of independent groups copying and expanding upon the initial idea and bringing locally grown produce and awareness of how to grow to millions of people.

A Natural Urge A couple of months ago, my friend, Sarah, put out a Facebook request for spare plants for her son’s planting project. While visiting the spot, I was impressed with what Jude has created.

After just a few weeks of lockdown, he took a bare, forgotten patch by the town car park and introduced a variety of plant and tree species, a log pile, a small pond, and even a bird feeder.

And best of all, this 12-year-old nature hero hadn’t ever heard about guerrilla gardening. Jude told me that he visited his friend’s garden with newts in the pond and an abundance of flowers, and felt he wanted to have a garden of his own creation. Living in a terraced house with no garden was not an obstacle; neither was a lack of resources, as he successfully gathered plants from people in town.

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Find a space that is run down, in need of beaut y, in need of regeneration, in need of regreening, and plant something

As we chatted about the species planted When the concrete jungle seems to be In many places, (foxgloves, violets, poached eggplants, and taking over, there is some part of us that planting without various other wildflowers), a blackbird won’t let it eat up every corner. That gives permission may was hopping in the car park looking a little me hope for the future of our world. be unlawful or irritated that we were so close to his new food and drink source. In the words of Ron leave the guerrilla Or, maybe that’s my own confirmation Finley, whose guerrilla gardening TED talk gardener liable to bias. Maybe someone tied the sunflower went viral, “You’re changing the ecosystem to the bus stop to come back for it later. being sued when you’re putting in a garden”. The halfThere’s only one way to overcome this empty peanut tube in the bird feeder tells me that many uncertainty: we have to keep making the pattern we want visitors appreciate the space. Jude said that many people, to see. mostly neighbours living across the patch, commented on the brilliant job he’s doing.

I urge you to go out and plant something. Find a space that is run down, in need of beauty, in need of regeneration, in need of regreening, and plant something. Do it safely, Primal Patterns quietly, without fanfare. Do it as much as you can in as For me, Jude’s independent desire to make a green space many places as possible. Change the pattern. 3 of his own seems to point to a central truth about guerrilla gardening and about growing in general. We plant things because we want to be surrounded by the primordial Martyna Krol is a vegetable grower, natural beekeeppattern of the forests where our primate ancestors lived er, and edible spaces designer. She is a lover of all soil and urfor millions of years. There’s an eternal tension between ban farming techniques and is the former head of growing at the built environment that we make for our comfort and Incredible Aquagarden. the instinctive response we have to the beauty of nature.

BIO

GA R D EN CU LT U R E M AGA Z I N E.CO M

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DIY

Organic Pest And Disease Control Remedies

54

DISEASE CONTROL REMEDIES

H

ungr y pests, diseases, and deficiencies are, unfor tunately, inevitable in the garden. There are many ways to help control them, but most are far from natural. What options are there for growers wanting to maintain a purely organic environment? Here’s a look at the best do-it-yourself methods

available, all of which are inventive, easy on the wallet, and environmentally-friendly!

Capsaicin

Cinnamon is also a useful tool for bat tling ants, aphids, fungus gnats, spider mites thrips, and whiteflies

Capsaicin is what gives hot peppers their heat. Produced by pepper plants to repel insects and animal predators, this is an ideal all-natural pest control weapon for other plants.

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin and can repel ants when sprinkled as a powder. You can also make an insecticidal pepper spray using dried fresh hot peppers, vegetable oil, lecithin, and water.

• •

•

Mix 1/2 tablespoon of the spray concentrate with one pint of water and test spray onto a few leaves.

Wait 24 hours to be sure the potent spray doesn’t cause any damage before applying to the rest of the plant.

PRO TIP: When growing indoors, it is best to use foliar sprays when the lights are off.

Castor Oil Moles and gophers despise the smell and taste of castor oil.

Smear the oil onto some paper and drop into their tunnels or burrows. Alternatively, you can place the oil strategically at the borders of the garden.

Applying castor oil directly to the soil will work for a week or so, even in the rainy season.

•

Use a hose-end attachment and spray a mixture of two tablespoons per gallon of water evenly to the affected areas. Treating with castor oil weekly will result in fewer molehills and dug up garden beds without any danger to pets, children, or the environment.

Cinnamon Oil With an effectiveness rate of 50-70%, cinnamon is excellent for reducing and controlling powdery mildew. Cinnamon is also a useful tool for battling ants, aphids, fungus gnats, spider mites thrips, and whiteflies.

•

• •

Add 5ml of oil to 950ml of water, or make a tea by adding an ounce of cinnamon to 1.5 pints of boiling water.

Let the tea cool then add half a pint of rubbing alcohol.

Strain the mixture and spray directly on to the leaves.

PRO TIP: For a quick fix against ants, sprinkle the cinnamon powder onto any area of the garden you see them crawling.

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D-limonene (the main constituent of orange oil) is harmless to humans but deadly to most insects

Limonene Limonene is the refined oils from the rinds of citrus fruit.

D-limonene (the main constituent of orange oil) is harmless to humans but deadly to most insects. It dissolves the waxy coating on the exoskeleton, causing dehydration and asphyxiation. Limonene can wipe out or repel entire colonies and prevents future infestations in one application.

It is most effective against ants, aphids, fungus gnats, mealybugs, scales, spider mites, and whiteflies.

•

•

•

To make limonene spray, remove the white, inner portion of the orange or lemon rinds and cut into small pieces. Bring the rind pieces to a boil in a pan of water, then turn down the heat and simmer for five minutes.

Remove from the stove, cover with a lid, and allow to soak for 24 hours. Then, strain and pour into a spray bottle. The solution can be applied directly onto softbodied insects, such as aphids and fungus gnats.

PRO TIP: Limonene oil is so effective at killing bugs that it can also kill beneficial bugs and pollinators, so apply minimally and only where necessary. If growing indoors, this must be sprayed at lights off.

Milk The properties that make milk good for humans, such as calcium and B vitamins, also benefit plants. Calcium helps plants grow and prevents deficiencies such as blossom end rot, a condition common in tomato, peppers, and squash plants.

Milk can also be used as a pesticide against aphids and as an anti-fungal agent to prevent powdery mildew and mosaic leaf viruses. Milk is so efficient at killing powdery mildew that rose growers all over the world use it as a fungicidal spray.

Using too much milk, however, can damage your plants.

The natural bacteria present in the dairy product can stunt growth and cause wilt. The fat in whole milk can cause a foul odour, while skimmed milk could lead to black rot, soft rot, and Alternaria leaf spot on certain crops. If growing indoors, make sure the ventilation system is fully operational, as the above issues can escalate very quickly.

•

56

Make a milk spray by using one part milk to nine parts water. Avoid possible issues by using 1% fat milk. Use at the first sign of infection and then once a week to protect new growth.

DISEASE CONTROL REMEDIES

When dried cloves or clove oil is ingested, it numbs the mouth, keeping rodents away without killing them

Vinegar An old housewive’s favourite with many uses in and around the home, vinegar kills powdery mildew and can also help deter ants.

•

Use as a spray and dilute it at a rate of 15ml vinegar per litre of water.

With a 5% acetic acid level, household white vinegar also works as a natural herbicide against weeds. However, while it does burn the tops of the weed and temporarily destroys them, it does not have any effect on the root system and will not eradicate the problem permanently. Vinegar will also kill the foliage of any other plants it comes into contact with, so use carefully!

Coriander Oil Coriander oil acts as a fungicide and insecticide and can control Pythium, grey mould, Fusarium, powdery mildew, Septoria, aphids, thrips, spider mites, and whiteflies. The coriander plant is also an excellent pest deterrent plant for indoor growers.

• •

•

Make an oil spray by mixing one teaspoon of oil per pint of water with some lecithin and a wetting agent.

Alternatively, make a simple spray with fresh coriander.

Use one part coriander plant with equal parts of water. Boil the coriander for ten minutes, cool, strain and spray.

PRO TIP: Increase the effectiveness of your spray by adding ingredients to make it stick better to its target.

Coconut oil, used at 5ml per litre of spray, is an active spreading agent.

Coriander oil

Clove tree Clove Oil Eugenol, a component of clove oil, works as a fungicide and a contact insecticide with a lingering smell. Clove Oil is effective against Pythium, grey mould, Fusarium, ants, caterpillars, thrips, aphids, and spider mites.

Clove oil can also keep some healthy species away, so spray only in the areas where you are experiencing problems.

To keep moles and other rodents at bay, place a few drops of clove oil in the holes or runs they’ve made for themselves.

If oil alone doesn’t work, try crushed, dried clove leaves.

When dried cloves or clove oil is ingested, it numbs the mouth, keeping rodents away without killing them.

•

•

To make clove oil spray, pour ten drops of clove essential oil into a spray bottle. Fill up with water and shake well. Exposure to light may decrease the efficacy of clove oil, so it is best sprayed when the garden is not in direct sunlight, or when the lights are off if growing indoors.

PRO TIP: Rub clove oil around the rim of your plant pots to deter thrip in an indoor growing environment.

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DISEASE CONTROL REMEDIES

Garlic

Tomato plants are part of the nightshade family, and as such, contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves such as the aptly named “tomatine”

Anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, garlic works on ants, aphids, caterpillars, spider mites, thrips, and whiteflies. Garlic is also effective at destroying fungi and powdery mildew thanks to its high sulfur content. Great as a preventative spray, it can be used on new growth to keep problems from arising.

•

•

Make a garlic spray by using a teaspoon of garlic oil in one pint of water. Mix with two ounces of high percentage alcohol spirit like Vodka.

PRO TIP: Use garlic as a companion plant in your garden. The strong odour is repulsive to many pests, and so inter-planting garlic with carrots, brassicas, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant can help deter many insects and rodents.

Tomato leaf Tomato plants are part of the nightshade family, and as such, contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves such as the aptly named “tomatine.” Alkaloids make a very effective repellent that is toxic to aphids and other leaf-eating insects, but completely safe for humans and beneficial bugs like bees and ladybirds.

•

To make a tomato leaf spray, chop 500g of fresh tomato leaves taken from the bottom part of the plant and add to 250ml of water. Let it steep overnight.

Strain the plant material and spray onto plant foliage.

Many effective treatments can be made cheaply using everyday items. It’s safe and easier than you think! 3

Garlic companion plants

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BY EVEREST FERNANDEZ, JUST4GROWERS

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ORGANICS

Novice growers typically overestimate the complexity of hydroponics.

They also invariably underestimate the complexity of organics.

N

ovice growers typically overestimate the complexity of hydroponics. They also invariably underestimate the complexity of organics.They misconstrue hydroponics as being for geeks in lab coats and organic gardening as the easy way to grow; just plant in some soil and let Mother Nature do the rest.Yeah, good luck with that.

I cringe a little when someone relatively new to indoor gardening insists from the outset that everything they do must be 100% organic. It’s a noble goal, for sure, especially if the aspiring organic gardener is informed. More often than not, however, the word organic represents little more than a vague notion of ‘all-natural’.

I’m not trying to diminish the magic of microbes, but by the same token, please

Buy a TDS/conductivity metre (and ideally a pH metre too), take your time in propagation, and always make sure you achieve 15-30% run-off during irrigation. Don’t let the plants sit in any moisture.

Take it easy with nutrient strength (star t at 200-300 PPM / 0.4-0.6 mS, and never go above 1000-1100 PPM/2.0/2.2 mS, unless it’s a super heavy feeder like an eggplant/ aubergine).

Many organic growers often shun mineral-based fertilisers.

But don’t demonise the climax of all the interactive I am confident that these tidbits minerals either! microbiological activity in healthy of advice mixed with some organic soil mineralises things. common sense and rudimentary Organic, carbon-based inputs like environmental control will help feather meal, alfalfa meal, blood meal, any grower achieve decent results. Sure, bone meal, and chicken manure are collectively broken growing in coco coir with mineral-based nutrients is down into their ionic mineral forms by the likes of worms, unlikely to win the crop an official organic cer tification, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, and bacteria in the soil. Only but at least you will succeed. then is all the organic goodness in the earth water-soluble and available to plants. I’m not trying to diminish the magic Growers who begin with potting soil can end up of microbes, but by the same token, please don’t demonise facing many complications. If planning on adding water minerals either! throughout the plant lifecycle, then an upgrade in pot size is essential. Select a much bigger pot, around 40L or 10 When planning to cultivate fast-growing, heavy-fruiting gallons, to act as a sufficiently large reservoir of organic annuals in containers indoors, then my recommendation is nutrition for the plant’s entire lifecycle. A rich potting mix to not grow in soil. Nursery pots, intermediate pots (1L-2L is also required. Ultra-premium potting mixes work well, or half-gallon), and some final stage fabric pots (5L-10L or but they don’t come cheap. Also, they’re invariably far too 3-5 gallon) are suitable, but fill them with a good quality nutrient-rich for seedlings and cuttings, so a lighter seed 70/30 coco/perlite soilless potting mix. Choose a liquid feed star ting mix is needed when the plants are just star ting. explicitly designed for the full plant lifecycle in coco coir. If in doubt, ask your local indoor gardening store.

My advice is to focus first on growing something full lifecycle.

Get to the finish line whatever way you can

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ORGANICS

An alternative approach is to use a soil-based potting mix that is lighter in organic nutrition and add extra food periodically using organic liquid feeds and top dressings. These dressings are usually powdered organic inputs mixed with compost and applied around the base of the plant.

When pl anning to cultivate fas t- growing, heav y-fruiting annual s in cont ainers indoors, then my re commendation is to not grow in soil

The positive effects of adding nutrition take a while to reveal themselves in plants. It takes experience to gauge how much to add and how often to get the desired result.

Soil-based potting mixes are also easy to overwater. They are not nearly as forgiving as a 70/30 coco/perlite mix.

Furthermore, in contrast to working with coco coir, soil growers typically don’t aim for run-off each time they water, as this washes the nutrition out of the soil. So getting the irrigation right, especially given that it’s a moving target, can be a lot trickier.

What if the humidifier quits in the third week of veg and the grow shop is closed? If you’re growing in a coco/perlite mix, you can react by dropping the nutrient strength by 25-30% and increasing irrigation frequency slightly to counter the increased transpiration levels and calcium uptake. If you’re growing in a soil mix, then your options for damage control are limited.

To be clear, I’m not anti-organics. My outdoor soil beds are a testament to this fact. But they are also the result of thousands of dollars worth of premium organic inputs.

Large, outdoor soil beds are one thing; trying to regulate and control adequate natural nutrition in containers indoors is another.

Soil vs Soilless Potting Mixes

Both types of potting mix are often based on the same fibrous materials such as coco pith/fibre and peat moss.

Soilless potting mixes are not always inert/nutrientfree, and can sometimes contain organic inputs such as bat guano.

The critical difference between the mixes is the presence or absence of compost. Soil-based potting mixes invariably contain some compost (around 15% of total volume). They will always include some organic, powdered nutrition such as bat guano, seabird guano, bone meal and rock phosphate.

My advice is to focus first on growing something full lifecycle.

Get to the finish line whatever way you can. I promise you will be glad that you chose not to limit and constrain your options before you were even out of the gate.

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ORGANICS

DIY SOIL RECIPE After following this recipe, wet the mix with water and allow to compost and pH stabilise for a month before use.

BASE POTTING MIX • 30% sphagnum peat moss • 10% redwood bark • 10% coco coir • 20% perlite • 5% lava rock • 15% compost • 5% worm castings • 5% Alaskan humus Add nutrients relative to the amount of base potting mix.

BAT GUANO • 4lbs per cubic yard of base potting mix • 67g per cubic foot • 2.37g per litre

The positive effects of adding nutrition take a while to reveal themselves in plants. It takes experience to gauge how much to add and how often to get the desired result

ALFALFA MEAL

BAT GUANO

DOLOMITE LIME

FEATHER MEAL

SEABIRD GUANO • 4lbs per cubic yard of base potting mix • 67g per cubic foot • 2.37g per litre BONE MEAL • 4lbs per cubic yard of base potting mix • 67g per cubic foot • 2.37g per litre POTASSIUM SULFATE • 2lbs per cubic yard of base potting mix • 33.5g per cubic foot • 1.185g per litre

Watch Everest make this soil mix here: bit.ly/38D0PYx

FINE DOLOMITE LIME • 2 lbs per cubic yard of base potting mix • 33.5g per cubic foot • 1.185g per litre FEATHER MEAL • 1lb per cubic yard of base potting mix • 16.25g per cubic foot • 0.59g per litre AZOMITE ® • 1lb per cubic yard of base potting mix • 16.25g per cubic foot • 0.59g per litre DRY POWDERED SEA KELP • 1lb per cubic yard of base potting mix • 16.25g per cubic foot • 0.59 g per litre ALFALFA MEAL • 1lb per cubic yard of base mix • 16.25g per cubic foot • 0.59g per litre

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®

®

ORGANICS

BLOOD MEAL

CRUSTACEAN MEAL

CALCIUM PHOSPHATE

FISHBONE MEAL

GLACIAL ROCK DUST

GREEN SAND

INSECT FRASS

MYCORRHIZAE

The following are alternatives to organic inputs in soil mixes and top dressings. Additives such as blood, bone, and crustacean meal and bat guano are considered natural, but many growers don’t use them because they come from animals.

Blood Meal: Dried blood, not for the squeamish. Same NPK as feather 12-0-0. Very expensive. Contains iron. Very high protein content. Fine, water-soluble.

Calcium Phosphate: Cheap and delivers phosphorus and calcium. Popular with organic growers. Issues with contaminants (Uranium, Plutonium, cadmium, arsenic). Not recommended for growing medicinal plants.

Crustacean Meal: Combination bi-product of groundup lobster, crab, and shrimp shells. High nitrogen content, along with potassium and calcium. Chitin in the crustacean meal provides a defensive response in plants against insect predation so that it can act as a beneficial pest preventative.

Fishbone Meal: Store in dry conditions. Susceptible to mould. High nitrogen and phosphorus content.

Glacial Rock Dust: Trace elements, soft rock phosphate.

High phosphorus mined rock with a 0-3-0 ultra slow release.

Not recommended for short cycle plants.

Green Sand: Sand or sandstone with a green colour. High silica levels. Another mined product. Similar to glacial rock dust.

Insect Frass: Broad-spectrum fertility and a hit of beneficials. Also contains chitin.

Mycorrhizae: Cheaper to use in transplant (direct contact with roots) rather than blending with potting mix.

Relationships tend to be long-term, so there’s an argument that this is better suited for cultivating larger, older plants. 3

Bio

Everest Fernandez is a well-respected industry educator, veteran hydroponic grower, and grow light enthusiast based in France.

He works primarily as a marketing and cultivation consultant and was the founding editor of Urban Garden Magazine in the UK, US, and Canada. He also writes and researches for the popular hobby horticulturist YouTube channel, Just4Growers.

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BY RICH HAMILTON

Using Nature To Protect Your Garden 68

SACRIFICIAL PLANTS

I

n the world of gardening, there is a simple way to protect crops from pests and diseases while also helping with pollination. Sacrificial plants use nature to enhance the productivity of the garden. Much more

humane than using toxic chemicals or killing a critter, this all-natural pest control method is an excellent solution for any organic gardener.

Sacrificial plants drive harmful pests away by distracting natural predators. Most sacrificial plants are strongly scented and confuse pests looking for a host plant. Others attract beneficial insects, such as ladybirds and lacewings, which prey on destructive aphids.

Mos t s acrif icial pl ant s are s tr ongly sc ente d and c onf use pes t s looking for a hos t pl ant .

Planting a border of lettuce behind herbaceous plants, for example, will entice slugs away from ornamentals and toward tastier salad leaves. If, however, you are trying to grow salad crops, keep the lettuce safe by planting a thick border of marigolds close by, which slugs also find very tasty.

Nastur tiums are an excellent choice when it comes to deterring aphids. This flower also works well as a trap crop for slugs and snails. As the nastur tiums become infested, it is essential to remove the leaves and stems.

Sunflowers also attract aphids and, unlike nastur tiums, they don’t need to be pruned as the pests move in. They are robust and, as a result, the aphids cause little damage to the plant. When left to grow, sunflowers produce bountiful seed heads for birds to enjoy.

Nas tur tiums are an exc ellent choic e when it c omes to de terring aphids. T his f lower al so works well as a tr ap cr op f or slugs and snail s.

Sacrificial borders work just as well for keeping larger animal pests out of the garden.

Sacrificial borders work just as well for keeping larger animal pests out of the garden. For example, planting dill will protect crops from rabbits, as they will be drawn to the tasty herb before anything else. Dill also attracts hover-flies and predatory wasps, both of which eat aphids.

Infamous for destroying the roots of grapevines, the destructive ‘vine weevil’ attacks a wide range of host plants, in par ticular laurels and viburnums. Protect these crops by planting polyanthus and cyclamen close by.

Vine weevils love to lay their eggs beside these two species, making them easier to find should they decide to take up residence in your garden.

Naturally removing vine weevils is essential to the health of beneficial insects. The only product currently on the market for controlling them contains the active ingredient Imidacloprid, a lethal chemical and contributor to colony collapse disorder, a problem that is killing the bee population. Imidacloprid absorbs into nectar and pollen, affecting the bee’s nervous system. The toxin is eventually passed on in the hives, causing the bees to die in large numbers.

Nastur tiums

GA R D EN CU LT U R E M AGA Z I N E.CO M

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SACRIFICIAL PLANTS

B efor e r eaching for any pes ticide, think about what natur al alternatives ar e avail able f ir s t.

Wormwood

Mint

attracts pests away from carrots, tomatoes, alliums, and brassicas, and deters flea beetles.

Garlic’s

strong scent confuses and deters the carrot root fly, which can smell the root vegetable from up to a mile away.

Lavender

attracts bees, butterflies, and hover-flies while de-

terring aphids.

Wormwood deters aphids and flea beetles. Its yellow flowers attract hover-flies, lacewings, and ladybirds, which prey on aphids.

Calendula repels whitefly from tomatoes and can lure aphids away from beans. It attracts beneficial insects, including ladybirds, lacewings, and hover-flies.

Sage’s scent confuses pests that like to munch on brassicas, and its blue flowers attract bees and hover-flies.

Borage’s

Calendula

delicate blue flowers attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hover-flies. The sacrificial plant also prevents attacks by the tomato hornworm and can even improve the flavour of strawberries! Borage flowers refill with nectar every two minutes, making it the perfect addition to wildlife-friendly gardens.

Thyme

BIO An industry veteran with over 20 years of

experience in a variety of roles, Rich is currently a business development manager for a large UK hydroponics distributor.The author of the Growers Guide book series, Rich also writes on all aspects of indoor gardening.

He is also an independent industry consultant, working closely with hydroponic businesses worldwide.

is a great companion for roses. Its strong scent deters blackfly. Soak thyme leaves and spray on cabbages to prevent whitefly.

Before reaching for any pesticide, think about what natural alternatives are available first. There are so many excellent options out there that can keep the crops, pollinators, and the environment safe while beautifying the garden at the same time! 3

GA R D EN CU LT U R E M AGA Z I N E.CO M

71

BY RICH GELLERT

Water Conservation for Sealed Hydroponic Environments The explosive growth of hydroponics can be traced to improvements in technology and efficiencies, as well as ample, decentralised indoor space for year-round harvesting.

72

CONDENSATE RECLAMATION

I

ndoor hydroponic farming is quickly becoming the business model of choice, with US revenues projected to reach $3 billion by 2025. The explosive growth of hydroponics can be traced to improvements in technology and efficiencies, as well as ample, decentralised indoor space for year-round harvesting.

With this new momentum comes essential questions as to how to reimagine farming from what is currently understood as a resource-heavy, wasteful process, to modern, sustainable, and environmentallyfriendly production practices that will last humanity on into the future.

However, in a sealed hydroponic In recent years, water conservation With climate change, environment, condensate must strategies in hydroponic farming drought, and water travel through HVAC equipment, have become as impor tant, if not air handlers, dehumidifiers, ducting, even more impor tant, than any pollution all becoming or other surfaces that may contain other energy and resource-saving increasingly urgent to different types of contamination. methods taken into consideration address, minimising water Surface exposure to rust, oils, when building a new operation. metals, biologicals and other types With climate change, drought, waste and maximising of industrial contaminants can and water pollution all becoming irrigation efficiency is ruin otherwise pure condensate increasingly urgent to address, a top facility-planning water. Condensate is also naturally minimising water waste and acidic and can act as a corrosive maximising irrigation efficiency priority on untreated metal, picking up is a top facility-planning priority. pollutants and destroying the goal Regulatory compliance has also of a purified irrigation source. Without proper postchanged the way hydroponic farming approaches water filtration, exposed condensate loses its potential of being use. In some areas, conservation technologies must be a reliably pure source of water ready for nutrient formula permitted in place and pass inspection before operations mixing, water that would typically be the product of a can begin. reverse osmosis filter. 3 There are several ways to reduce hydroponic farm water use; the most cost-effective methods involve high-efficiency reverse osmosis systems, as well as nutrient and condensate reclamation filters. Condensate, water vapour accumulated from indoor climate control equipment, is one of the easiest wastewater sources to recycle and reuse in a sealed hydroponic environment.

Condensate reclamation technology can be implemented in small farms needing only a couple of hundred gallons a day, to industrial-scale operations requiring massive amounts of high quality, purified water. When properly installed and maintained, condensate can fulfil up to 80% daily water demand, at any scale‌water that would typically go down the drain!

Because condensate is the accumulated evaporation of water, it is considered to be pure. Contaminates in the source water are denser than water vapour, so they are separated and left behind. This purified water is a perfect base formula for adding nutrient solutions, which are designed using reverse osmosis water for calibration.

This allows the grower to be precise with measurements and control, which can ultimately translate into healthier plants and higher quality, larger yields.

Bio

Richard Gellert is an adventure-seeker; he loves wilderness, biking, and hitting the slopes - the steeper, the better. Also an avid gardener, Rich has created extensive gardens to grow fruits and vegetables for his family year-round. He is the president of Hydrologic Purification Systems, a company delivering top-shelf hydroponic water filtration systems to consumers. Speaking five languages, and with as many advanced degrees, Rich has become the industry’s leading expert in water quality, facility discharge, reclamation systems, and regulation compliance. His articles have appeared in Max Yield, HydroLife, Garden Culture, and Urban Garden.

73

BY JESSE SINGER

Trending now Some plants just can’t help but make us feel good. If you’re looking for a mood booster, try growing these cheerful plants at home. Check out this joyful post and more happy gardening articles at GCMag.co.

Grow These

Mood-Boosting Plants

Lily of the Valley 74

MOOD-BOOSTING PLANTS

I

n a recent study, researchers determined that the gift of flowers made women happier than

Those who practice Feng Shui will also tell you that Orchids are good for increasing the positive energy in a room

other gifts of equal cost. And while this is a study

that all men should take note of, I wanted to get more specific with this post (and gender-neutral). So, here are a few plants and flowers to have around the house that will help boost the mood of both the men and the women living there.

Basil A basil plant is an excellent thing to have around regardless of its mood-boosting abilities. Sauces, sandwiches, pizza; so many things are made better with a little fresh basil. But besides that, basil also contains a compound called linalool - which is a mood-enhancer.

Basil

Boston Fern & English Ivy Both the Boston Fern and English Ivy are great natural air purifying plants. And having fewer toxins in the air you breathe can only help improve your health and your mood. Both plants, especially English Ivy, are easy to take care of, which is always a good thing.

Lily of the Valley, Sweet Pea, and Jasmine Garden exper t David Domoney created a fantastic exhibit at the 2015 Chelsea Flower Show. Using facial recognition software, he set out to determine the flowers that make people the happiest. And in order, the top three were: Lily of the Valley, Sweet Pea, and Jasmine.

Lily of the Valley

The reasons were pretty much the same all around and had to do with the strong scents and the happy memories that they evoked from people’s lives and childhoods. Although, if you plan on growing Lily of the Valley - please know that they are very poisonous plants - so it’s probably best not to do so if you have small children!

Jasmine Boston Fern

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LIGHTS ON! NO DAMAGE!!

W O R G R E OV

SAFE ON FLOWERS

DO IT WITH THE LIGHTS ON

WWW.OPTICFOLIAR.CA | SALES@OPTICFOLIAR.COM

MOOD-BOOSTING PLANTS

Using facial recognition software, he set out to determine the flowers that make people the happiest. And in order, the top three were: Lily of the Valley, Sweet Pea, and Jasmine.

Lavender

GardenCultureMagazine.com

Trending now

Basil

Lavender

Anyone who has a significant other who uses lavender shampoo already knows how pleasant the smell is and how one whiff of their freshly washed hair can cheer you right up. And while naturally lavender scented candles and oils can do the trick - nothing beats the real thing if you can get your hands on a lavender plant.

Orchids

The beautiful colours and year-round blooming make orchids great to have around. Those who practise Feng Shui will also tell you that Orchids are good for increasing the positive energy in a room.

Orchids

Roses

Whoever said we should “stop and smell the roses� was asking us to do too much. Allow me to quote another research study; this one was published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, which found that people who looked at roses (yup, just looked at them!) felt happier in their lives compared with other folks. 3

Roses

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BY CATHERINE SHERRIFFS

n w o r w you

Gro

Drink Up:

Making Nutrient-Rich

Compost Tea For The Garden Steeping some tea for yourself is easy, and it’s just as simple to do for your plants! Compost tea offers many perks in the garden.

Find this easy DIY recipe and many others for thriving plants at GCMag.co.

E

njoying some tea in the garden sounds like a zen way to spend a morning or afternoon; why

not offer your plants the same treat?

Making compost tea for your plants is an excellent way to boost the growing season!

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COMPOST TEA GardenCultureMagazine.com

Vermicompost packed it into a coffee filter Compost tea is what it sounds like: compost in liquid form. Make this plant feed by “steeping” specific quantities of black gold in water.

best of

the blog

The Perks Using compost tea in the garden offers many advantages to plants. Because it’s a liquid, the perks are almost instant too!

According to Clare Foster’s book, “Compost: How To Make And Use Organic Compost To Transform Your Garden,” compost tea helps control pathogens that cause plant diseases such as potato blight and mildew.

How To Use It Use as a foliar spray on the leaves so beneficial organisms fight off the bad guys. Or, drench the soil in your garden with it to help protect the roots from diseases.

There are many different ways to make compost tea. Use whatever high-quality compost you have at your disposal. I used a bunch of worm castings from my vermicompost bin.

Brewing the tea is easy as pie. There are several recipes available online. I followed a variation in Stephanie Rose’s book, “Garden Alchemy: 80 Recipes And Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, And More.”

How To Make It Rose recommends diluting one part vermicompost with ten parts of water. Let it sit for anywhere between one and 12 hours before using.

I took my vermicompost and packed it into a coffee filter. I tied it closed with a piece of twine to make this cute little teabag.

Pop the sachet into a bucket or watering can and let it sit. I used water from my rain barrel for an added boost of nitrogen!

Much like a real cup of tea, the colour of the liquid will depend on how long you let the compost steep.

Water your plants with it or put it into a spray bottle for the leaves. Spread the leftover organic matter in the teabag throughout the garden!

Finally, go and make a cup of tea for yourself (preferably, not vermicompost), sit back, and watch your garden grow! 3

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BY JESSE SINGER

IT’S SO MUCH MORE

THAN YOU THINK

80 80

HEMP

Hemp rope has also been discovered in Russia, Britain, and

IT WON’T GET YOU HIGH I figure we should get this part out of the way right off the bat. Because not only is it a fact many people don’t understand, but it will also help make you that much more frustrated with all the strict laws and lack of hemp usage we discuss later on.

Greece from hundreds

Yes, hemp is derived from the Cannabis sativa species. Yes, it contains the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, the hemp strain contains much lower levels of THC and higher levels of cannabidiol (CBD) - which all but eliminates any psychoactive effects.

In 1998, industrial hemp was legalised in Canada, and that same year, the United States began importing hemp seed and hemp oil.

Then in 2004, a court decision in the U.S. protected the sale of hemp foods and body care products. In 2007, two farmers in North Dakota were issued the first hemp licenses in over 50 years.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HEMP

In 2018, President Trump signed into law an amendment to the “Farm Bill” that finally removed the hemp plant from the Controlled Substances Act!

If I told you the history of hemp dates back 100 years, would you be surprised? What about 1000 years? If I told you 2000 years would you give me a disbelieving look and ask me what I was smoking? Well, hold on to your hats (hemp, or otherwise) because the truth is that the history of hemp dates back about 10,000 years to around 8000 BCE when people in - what today is Taiwan and China - used it for pottery, food, and even natural hemp-based medicines.

Hemp rope has also been discovered in Russia, Britain, and Greece from hundreds of years BCE, and archaeologists found a jar of hemp seeds and leaves in Berlin, Germany from around 500 BCE. It was also around that time - 700 BCE to 900 - that the Chinese and the Arabs built mills and started making hemp paper.

As an interesting twist on all the legal hurdles set up to make growing hemp difficult, in 1533, King Henry VIII of England fined farmers if they didn’t grow it! In the 1700s, there were also laws enacted in some American colonies requiring their farmers to produce the plant.

of years BCE, and archaeologists found a jar of hemp seeds and leaves in Berlin, Germany from around 500 BCE

HEMP! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? Unlike “war,” hemp is good for absolutely everything. Say it again! It’s no wonder it was such an essential crop before it got caught up in all the hard-handed anti-drug legislation of the last eight decades.

First off, there’s paper. For the younger generation, paper is a physical representation of the note app on your phone and the blank document on your laptop. While most paper is made from trees, hemp paper actually lasts hundreds of years without degrading. It can be recycled more times than tree-paper can, and the manufacturing process requires less toxic chemicals. Also, it only takes about 120 days for hemp to be ready for harvesting - as opposed to the years it takes for trees to reach that point. Add to that the fact that it takes 2-4 acres of trees to produce what you can get from just one acre of hemp. And I’m talking about all paper products: cardboard, tissues, etc.

Things began turning against hemp in 1937, with the introduction of The Marijuana Tax Act, which placed a tax on all cannabis sales. Hemp, of course, got lumped in with it.

While WWII brought a surge in hemp farming and production as the United States Army pushed the “Hemp For Victory” campaign, by the end of the 1950s, the last hemp fields had been planted.

You don’t have to be Woody Harrelson to know that hemp is also better than cotton. Not only is it stronger and softer, but it lasts longer than cotton and is resistant to mildew.

Hemp production requires no pesticides or herbicides and can tolerate frost - two things that can’t be said about cotton. Almost half of all the pesticides/herbicides used worldwide are in cotton production. Hemp also requires less water than its white, fluffy counterpart.

Jump to 1970 and the initiation of The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act and the classification of hemp as an illegal Schedule 1 drug. Its inclusion in this law is both ridiculous and uber-frustrating. As the 20 th Century comes to an end, and we begin the 21st , people in power are finally coming to their senses.

As far as food goes, it’s common knowledge that hemp seeds are good for you. But did you also know that hemp seed protein can be used to produce anything currently made with soybean protein? Tofu, cheese, veggie burgers, milk, ice cream; many people are trying to avoid soy these days for various reasons, so this would be another great alternative.

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WE CHOOSE NATURE

We Choose Nature is an online platform to create awareness for a more sustainable way of life. By giving global and local initiatives the opportunity to present themselves to the world and share news, information and tips we inspire everyone with respect for nature to start to take action. We are proud to say the first initiative we are supporting is Justdiggit. We Choose Nature – A BIOCANNA initiative

www.wechoosenature.org

HEMP

You don’t have to be Woody Harrelson to know that hemp is also bet ter than cot ton

Hemp can also be converted into ethanol fuel - just like corn can. But hemp has an advantage over corn in that it produces more biomass and can be grown in a variety of locations and climates. Not only can it be used to one day fuel our cars, but it might also even be used to build our vehicles as well (or at least parts of them). In 1942, Henry Ford used hemp fibres to construct an experimental car body. Supposedly, the fibres are ten times stronger than steel.

A s an inte res t in g t wis t o n al l t h e le gal hurdles s et up to make growin g h e mp dif f i cult, in 1 5 33 , K in g H e nr y VIII of En gl an d f in e d f arm e rs if t h ey d i d n’ t grow it!

And we haven’t even really talked about CBD yet…

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CBD While CBD doesn’t date back 10,000 years like hemp, it does go back farther than many might expect. In 1940, chemist Roger Adams became the first person to extract CBD from the Cannabis sativa plant successfully. At the time, he didn’t know what he had done. But years later, when he, and others, realised what it meant, the research into the potential benefits of CBD really got started.

Six years later, tests on animals proved that CBD doesn’t cause an altered mental state. Also, in 1946, Dr Raphael Mechoulam identified the three-dimensional structure of CBD - which is why you might have heard his name credited with the discovery of CBD. Research continued over the next decades, and in the 1960s, some British pharmacologists released the first CBD oil for therapeutic use. Then in 1980, Dr Mechoulam discovered that CBD could help treat epilepsy.

CBD USE TODAY A Gallup poll conducted last year in the United States found that 14% of Americans said they used some CBD products. When asked if they use CBD products, the rest of the population broke down as such: 50% said no, 35% weren’t at all familiar with CBD products and the remaining 1% or so had no opinion.

As one might expect, CBD use is higher with the younger folks: 20% in the 18-29 age range and only 8% with the over 65 crowd.

Also, by far the highest percentage of use was for pain relief (40%). The next highest use-cases were: anxiety (20%), sleep/insomnia (11%), arthritis (8%) and migraines/ headaches and stress (both at 5%).

HEMP vs CBD It seems like everyone and their mother is making predictions on the market value of hemp and CBD, so the numbers vary depending on who you ask. However, some of the numbers I researched predict the industrial hemp market will reach around $15 billion by 2027, and the CBD market will smash the $20 billion mark by 2024.

I don’t think it will surprise anyone to read that the CBD market is bigger than the market for industrial hemp. I mean, it’s purely anecdotal, but I see and hear about CBD products quite a bit. However, I’m not filling up my car with hemp fuel, and it feels like hemp apparel is still a pretty niche market at this point.

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HEMP

some of the numbers I researched predict the industrial hemp market will reach around $15 billion by 2027, and the CBD market will smash the $20 billion mark by 2024

Although it was a major industry crop all those years ago, the new laws allowing for its current resurrection still mean that it is a relatively new industry.

And while it is finally legal, the stigma hasn’t completely gone away. Hemp clothing isn’t just for hippies anymore.

Still, it will take some time before the idea of hemp clothes and other products have mainstream recognition, understanding, and appreciation to make the plant a ubiquitous part of our lives.

BIO

As for CBD, the value is much more apparent and recognisable and comes with legit health benefits that can’t be denied. The celebrity endorsements of cannabidiol are impressive as well. From Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Anniston, and Tom Hanks to big-time athletes like U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapino and former New England Patriot tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The stigma hasn’t wholly left CBD either, and for some, it will always be viewed negatively as an illegal drug. However, the numbers don’t lie, and all signs point to continued growth for both industrial hemp and CBD, which is good for the planet and the people living on it. 3

Jesse grew up obsessed with movies and so it only makes sense that he graduated from McGill University with a degree in Political Science. He then put that degree to good use with a job at a video store. After that, he spent months backpacking around Europe - a continent that he has been back to visit many times since. Jesse is super curious and loves to learn and explore new subjects. For the last 15+ years, he has been writing online for a number of different sites and publications covering everything from film and television to website reviews, dating and culture, history, news, and sports. He’s worn many hats - which is ironic because he actually loves wearing hats and he has many different ones.

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MICROBIAL PRODUCTS

Grow like a pro: Protect your plants from deficiencies without altering your feeding plan.

BY CATHERINE SHERRIFFS

Cover Crops

Ry e

r ed clov e r

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COVER CROPS

M

astering the art of organic gardening involves more than merely growing without chemicals. To boost yields, provide plant nutrients, and control weeds, diseases and pests naturally, one

must add various techniques to their growing regimes. Think compost, companion planting, crop rotation, and cover crops.

Aptly named, cover crops are sown to cover the soil with plant growth, typically after primary food crops have been harvested and over the winter. Sow the seeds one month before the first frost for best results, and while the plants are still alive, cut them down and mix them into the soil as green manure.

Cover crops include legumes, such as pea and hairy vetch, which fix nitrogen as they grow. Grassy plants can also be used, like oats and barley. Other examples of cover crops include: • • • • • • • • •

Sow the seeds one month before the first frost for best results, and while the plants are still alive, cut them down and mix them into the soil as green manure

Annual rye Arugula Buckwheat Fava beans Forage radish Red clover Mustard Winter rye Wheat

The study was carried out over two growing seasons in Clovis, New Mexico, 200 miles east of Albuquerque.

The area doesn’t get a lot of rain, but when it comes, the storms are intense. Coupled with strong winds, severe soil erosion and topsoil depletion are common.

Researchers identified healthy soils by measuring their carbon dioxide emissions. They found the emissions were higher in test plots with cover crops than those without, a good indication that soil microbes were thriving down below.

“The higher the biological activity is in soils, the greater the carbon dioxide emissions,” explains Ghimire.

It’s impor tant to note that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and if left unchecked, the soil’s emissions can be problematic. But Mother Nature works in mysterious ways. Cover crops work over time by absorbing the CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil.

Planting cover crops is one of the cornerstones of organic gardening for many reasons. Beyond deterring erosion and weeds, cover crops help protect soil structure by building nitrogen and organic matter levels. They also significantly improve the ground’s water retention capabilities, and have even been found to sequester carbon and reduce global warming!

A recent study finds cover crops are especially helpful in semi-arid climates. Researchers from New Mexico State University and the United States Depar tment of Agriculture say the plants led to better soil health in the Southern High Plains.

“There was a lot of scepticism on the effectiveness of cover cropping in the hot, dry environment of the southern High Plains,” says Rajan Ghimire, a researcher at New Mexico State University. “Our research shows that cover crops increased the biological health of soils in the study area within two years.”

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Creating healthy plants with excellent tasting crops!

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COVER CROPS

arugula

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Beyond deterring erosion and weeds, cover crops help protect soil structure by building nitrogen and organic matter levels. They also significantly improve the ground’s water retention capabilities, and have even been found to sequester carbon and reduce global warming

Cover crops help with soil carbon storage because they are largely made of carbon, which decomposes into organic matter. They are also a source of food for soil microbes such as fungi, which are linked to even more carbon storage.

No matter what kind of climate you’re growing in, it’s essential to find the right balance when planting cover crops. It is recommended to mix legumes with grasses to increase both soil carbon and nitrogen while minimising the release of carbon dioxide.

The researchers in this study say there is still so much to learn about cover crops and hope to continue this experiment long-term. However, for now, planting cover crops remain a crucial element in every organic garden, no matter where you live in the world. 3

Cover crops help with soil carbon storage because they are largely made of carbon, which decomposes into organic matter.

m u sta r d

Sources: •

• •

Cover crop effects on soil carbon dioxide emissions in a semi-arid cropping system (Nilahylane, Ghimire, Thapa, Sainju) Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment.

Practical Organic Gardening: The No-Nonsense Guide To Growing Naturally (Mark Highland) Cool Springs Press.

Gardening Complete: How To Best Grow Vegetables, Flowers, And Other Outdoor Plants (The authors of Cool Spring Press) Cool Springs Press.

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BY CAROLINE RIVARD

Tasty Medicinal Gems 90

GARDEN WEEDS

W

ild violets are some of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, covering lawns with tiny lilac and white flowers. Those

who strive for golfing green lawns consider them weeds, but wild violets are incredibly useful and delicious to boot!

There are more than 500 species in the viola family, and most of them have exciting medicinal benefits and culinary uses.

When looking for wild violets, you will frequently find Viola sororia, known as the common blue violet, the sweet violet, Viola odorata, and the Labrador violet, Viola labradorica. Viola tricolor or Johnny jump up, which are also in the viola family, make excellent food and medicine.

Those who strive for golfing green lawns consider them weeds, but wild violets are incredibly useful and delicious to boot!

Wild Violet

Colourful and Nutritious

Wild violets are an excellent place to start if you want to forage food for the first time. Easily recognisable and mild in flavour, the violet blooms will help you begin your journey as a wild plant forager.

The flowers are lettuce-like and have a subtle peppery flavour.

Some species taste like wintergreens. The vibrancy of the fresh herbs add some visual interest to a green salad and make great cake toppers. You can even freeze the flowers in ice cubes for drinks and cocktails. Wild violets are a gentle herb, so it can be eaten in large quantities and is safe for people taking medicines.

People also candy the flowers or transform the petals into a vivid lavender-blue syrup. In Europe, high-end gourmet food stores sell pricey raspberry sweet violet jam that is heavenly.

Common violets are also very nutritious. Rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium, this plant nourishes the body with quality nutrients. The lower leaves, harvested in early spring, contain an impressive amount of vitamin A and C. A single gram of wild violet leaves packs double the amount of vitamin C a gram of orange fruit provides!

Wild violets also contain a phytochemical called rutin, an antiinflammatory and antioxidant that helps neutralise damaging free radicals and prevent chronic diseases like cancer.

Medicinal Benefits

Wild violets have helped treat many conditions over several centuries. The upper parts of the plant can be used as an infusion to promote sleep. Taken in a strong tea, they help with lung health by working as an expectorant. Wild violets help treat infections in the upper respiratory tract, as well as colds, congestion, flu viruses and bronchitis. Overall, they are a gentle immune system stimulant.

The wintergreen taste in some wild violets is due to the salicylic acid content, which helps clear skin abrasions with its disinfecting and active fungicidal properties. Salicylic acid also reduces pain and swelling, and therefore, violet leaves and flowers used in the form of a poultice will soothe inflamed skin, sores, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, and skin infections.

The leaves of the wild violets contain a high level of mucilage, which helps soothe irritated tissues. Fresh or dry, the leaves and the flowers can be used to make a strong infusion to reduce puffiness of the eyes.

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Making Violet Vinegar Infusing wild violets in vinegar is the best way to extract the medicinal properties. Using white vinegar will give the extraction a lovely purple colour. For an added boost, use apple cider vinegar.

• • •

•

Pinch off the violet stems and clean the leaves and flowers thoroughly.

Place them in a jar and cover with vinegar. Seal the jar with a non-metal lid.

Store in a dark, cool place for a week while the violets and vinegar infuse. The longer you let it soak, the darker it will be.

Strain out the blossoms, discard, and store your vinegar in a glass bottle.

Wild violet vinegar can be used in vinaigrettes or marinades.

You can also add it to a tonic, diluting one teaspoon a day in some water. If you have a decent quantity, add half a cup of the violet vinegar to your bath and soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

Your skin will thank you!

Violet vinegar is good for wasp stings, sunburns, and even as a hair rinse! If using on your scalp, dilute it with equal parts of water. 3

Disclaimer: As with any wild plant, be 100% sure of what you are foraging before consuming. Even though violets are very gentle herbs, eating reasonable amounts to see how your body reacts is recommended.

Wild violets help treat infections in the upper respirator y tract, as well as colds, congestion, flu viruses and bronchitis

A therapist and healer for over 15 years, Caroline’s passion for medicinal plants only began after leaving the city for the quiet country life in Quebec, Canada. Eager to learn, she’s never looked back, using forests and wildflower fields as her classroom ever since. In a time where reconnecting with plants and nature is badly needed, she spreads her love for herbalism by holding teaching workshops about the powers of medicinal herbs and natural remedies.

Bio

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@greatwhitemyco

WHAT’S GROWING ON

Who’s Growing

WhWahte

re

1.

in the U Kreland & I

Cornhill on Tweed, Northumberland

A Taste Of History

Credit: Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes / Facebook

Anthony and Lucy Carroll used to grow potatoes for volume and shiny skins. But not anymore.

They moved away from conventional varieties of potatoes in the 1990s, focusing instead on Heritage varieties rooted deep in history. Today, Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes grows 14 unique types at Tiptoe Farm, experimenting with different textures, colours, shapes, and above all else, flavours. Examples include the variety Shetland Black 1923, registered with the Slow Food UK as a Forgotten food; Mayan Gold, which is a specialist indigenous Phureja variety from Peru; and, Yukon Gold 1980 and more.

The small, family-run business works hard to grow, harvest, and distribute their heritage potatoes across Britain, helping fellow citizens create mouthwatering side dishes. The farm has received several environmental awards and accreditations for its policy of working alongside nature rather than against it. One initiative the Carroll’s have taken is leaving 6-metre grass strips in the fields with herbs and flower mixtures to attract birds and bees.

Sometimes, old is better than new. Learn more: heritage-potatoes.co.uk

2.

Dublin, Ireland

facebook.com/heritagepotatoes @heritagepotato carrollsheritagepotatoes

If you’re looking for total peace in Dublin, consider a stroll through The Roof Garden of the Chester Beatty. The name leaves little to the imagination; the garden is, of course, on the roof of the Irish museum.

But expect to be amazed once you walk out onto the patio. Stone, hardwood, gravel, and ornamental grasses lead you from the door to the garden. A large silver birch serves as the focal point, and timber trellises around the roof top’s perimeter help you feel cocooned from the outside world. Climbing plants love them and form a lush green wall.

Visitors can enjoy the many scented herbs, trees, and shrubs planted on-site, including clematis, box, bamboo, wisteria, and honeysuckle.

Beyond an escape for the senses, the garden also offers spectacular views of the Dublin Castle and city skyline.

Credit: Chester Beatty / Facebook

A Serene Rooftop

Rooftops have serious potential. Learn more: chesterbeatty.ie/about/the-roof-garden F

facebook.com/ChesterBeattyDublin @CBL_Dublin chester_beatty_dublin

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ALL PHASE Craft Powder Base Nutrient & Additives VEG+BLOOM features 3 revolutionary one-part base powder nutrients and 2 additives in the UK. Catering to soft or hard water EC’s. We’ve also extensively researched in-house which mediums work best with our formulas. Our ingredients are locally sourced, refined and always batch tested for quality assurance to ensure consistency.

Our all-phase one-part base powder formula was fabricated so that you could simply use your local water source as long as it fell between 0.0-0.7 EC. No other company offers this as they always recommend using RO water, which can be costly.

Base Nutrients: RO/SOFT is our most universal and popular one-part base nutrient. A hybrid of synthetics and organics; a pH stable formula for those who have small or large containers and a start water of 0.0-0.3 EC. It is completely soluble in RO water and built for coco, rockwool, or soil.

TAP/HARD is a revolutionary pH stable formula for farms that have hard water 0.3-0.7 EC. No other company offers this as “water chemistry” is difficult to educate. With TAP/HARD you can potentially skip the costly RO water filter system and also save on the cost of water. Due to a higher pH in hard tap water, this formula is buffered appropriately so the use of large amounts of pH down can be avoided. Best used in coco and rockwool.

DIRTY is a comprehensive formula for those who have a start water of 0.0-0.7 EC and are growing in soil or peat based mediums indoor or outdoor. Enhanced with humics, fulvics, crab meal extract and compost tea powder, this base was intended to provide the benefits of both synethetic and organic additives giving you extra bag appeal.

Craft Powder Base Nutrient & Additives

VEG+BLOOM encourages growers to spend less on extra additives and less time on the mixing and measuring (less human error) and more time on the plants, resulting in exceptional and consistent harvests. Save water, shipping costs, shelf space and minimize human error. Are you ready to reduce your variables?

Additives: PUSH is our foliar spray additive used during vegetative growth that includes bio available calcium, silica, plant stimulants and kelp. The plant hormones allow for cells to divide faster, reducing your overall veg cycle, while increasing cell wall strength and vigor.

SHINE is our best product, a flowering bloom additive formulated with phosphites and organics such as compost tea powder for enhanced terpene and resin production. SHINE can be used not only in conjunction with our full nutrient line but can also be used with other base nutrient lines.

Distributed in the UK by:

hydroponic-research.com

WHAT’S GROWING ON

s ’ o h W Growing

t a h W Wh

3.

ere

Halvasso, Penryn

a nd rel I &

Nobody said it would be easy! In 2002, Chyan Community Field was an overgrown plot of just over two acres. Over the years, it has been given new life by local volunteers, and now includes veggie patches, a pond, a strawbale tea shed, and a sensory garden. The property also boasts a composting display area with several heaps, a covered cob seat, and a community orchard. A nearby spring supplies all of the water, and two wind turbines power the site. All are welcome at Chyan; the goal is to encourage people to cherish the land while producing local, organic food and teaching and learning about sustainable living. Everything on the property is grown following veganic principles, meaning no animal by-products are used whatsoever.

Members also follow permaculture and forest gardening techniques.

Connecting with the community and nature.

Learn more: chyan.org/chyan-community-field Chyan Community Field

Credit: Mill Pond Flower Farm

Berwickshire, Scotland

Credit: Chyan Community Field / Facebook

Community Matters

4.

in the UK

A Passion For Flowers

When the Baxters moved to Berwickshire in 2010, they explored a few different business ventures on their 4-acre property. From camping and sheep breeding to vegetable growing, beekeeping, natural dyeing, and even ribbon making!

Flower farming is Paula’s true passion; you can find her outside in the fields no matter what the weather. She and Ray started Mill Pond Flower Farm in 2012 as part-time work and sold some flowers in a farm stand outside the house. Today, it’s their primary business, but they’re far from traditional florists. The entire process takes place on their property, from growing and harvesting to the actual selling of the flowers. The blooms are chosen for their ability to adapt to local conditions and are grown without pesticides and herbicides. Furthermore, the farm also allows people to come onto the property and pick their own flowers! What customers seem to appreciate is the personalised attention they receive from Ray and Paula. The couple plans their fields up to a year in advance; once they’ve reached their limit of orders for the week, they close their books. 3 Small-scale farming with an impact. Learn more: millpondflowerfarm.co.uk millpondflowerfarm @flowerpotpolly

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BY CATHERINE SHERRIFFS

COW FARTS

ARE NO JOKE

“If my cow ain’t far ting...must be me!”

I

t’s a line with the potential to go down as one of the classics in the world of adver tising. In a hilarious video created by the fast-food chain Burger King, an adorable young cowboy belts out a tune about how cow far ts and burps aren’t as funny as they seem.

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), livestock creates 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Beef production is a primary culprit, accounting for about 41% of those emissions.

One of the reasons cattle create so many greenhouse gasses is because they have a complex digestive system that includes four stomachs! As the cows digest the foods they eat, like grass, they produce methane, which is released when they burp and fart. Methane is the most potent gas contributing to global warming.

Admitting that it’s a big part of the problem, the burger joint has been looking for ways to be a part of the solution.

It has teamed up with researchers from the US and Mexico, and what they found might end up being a real differencemaker in the world of beef production.

Adding 100 grams of dried lemongrass leaves to a cow’s daily feed reduces methane emissions by an average of 33% over three or four months!

The study, commissioned by Restaurant Brands International, finds that just like humans use natural remedies to help with digestive issues, certain foods can help cows feel a little less gassy.

Adding 100 grams of dried lemongrass leaves to a cow’s daily feed reduces methane emissions by an average of 33% over three or four months!

Who knew a less gassy rear could lead to a healthier atmosphere?

To be clear, in no way does Garden Culture Magazine support a fast-food diet, but we do love initiatives taken to reduce negative impacts on the planet! 3

“When cows burp and far t and splat ter, well, it ain’t no laughing mat ter.

They’re releasing methane ever y time they do.

And the methane from their rear goes up into the atmosphere, and pollutes our planet warming me and you.”

Lemongrass can help reduce methane emissions

98

-lyric from Burger King ad

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZbXCr0HqVs

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A recent study has shown that hungr y bumblebees nibble holes in leaves, which can force plants to flower weeks earlier than expected!

HUNGRY BUMBLEBEES Can Lead To Earlier Flowering

N

ature never fails to impress! We already know that bumblebees gather pollen and nectar for the sur vival of their colonies, which in turn, keeps our plants alive. But what happens when there are few blooms for the bees to take from, typically early in the growing season?

If there’s a will, there’s a way. A recent study has shown that hungry bumblebees nibble holes in leaves, which can force plants to flower weeks earlier than expected!

Researchers at ETH Zürich discovered the bees actively damaging some plants in a greenhouse that had not yet blossomed. They were cutting holes in the leaves in the shape of a half-moon.

Published in the journal Science, the study proceeded with a greenhouse experiment using a crop of black mustard and bumblebees that hadn’t collected pollen

for three days. Once the bees cut holes in the leaves, the plants flowered after an average of 17 days! The crop that had not been nibbled on by the bees took 33 days to bloom. Another experiment saw tomato plants flower 30 days sooner than usual!

Wondering if you can go ahead and cut half-moons in your leaves to speed up the process? Researchers tried and weren’t able to achieve the same results, proving that bumblebees seem to have a special magic touch.

Just another reason to help keep our bee populations alive! 3

Sources: •

Science 22 May 2020: Vol. 368, Issue 6493, pp. 881-884 bit.ly/2YlHk1T 101

Sky High Marketing

Sky high marketing There’s high, and there’s high, and to get really high - I mean so high that you can walk on the water, that high-that’s where I’m going.

- George Harrison NPK MEDIA | Changing The View

HELLO,

HOUSEPLANTS!

T

he outdoor growing season may be in full swing, but that doesn’t mean we should neglect our indoor plant buddies! Beyond

adding to the interior decor, houseplants are serious mood boosters, with sales skyrocketing in many par ts of the globe during the coronavirus lockdown.

This issue’s featured houseplant isn’t only beautiful; it’s edible too! Talk about pleasing the senses.

This issue’s featured houseplant isn’t only beautiful; it’s edible too!

Name: Orange Hat Micro Tomato What You’ll See: When starting from seed, you’ll think there’s no way this tiny plant will produce anything worth eating. But as it develops dark green foliage, clusters of gorgeous baby cherry tomatoes will begin forming, eventually turning a vibrant orange colour.

Why We Love It: Because it’s small, prolific, and delicious. These tomatoes might be tiny, but they pack a whole lot of flavour. Super sweet and perfect for snacking, salads, or making jam. The more you pick, the more tomatoes you grow. Need we say more?

Growing Habits: Nice and compact, this baby grows to about 6-8” tall depending on the lighting conditions and lives comfortably in a 6” pot or one-gallon container.

How To Care For It: Got a sunny windowsill? Orange Hat’s thrive in them! As long as there’s some sun and the house is warm, expect to be picking fruit. This plant also does well on a patio or balcony. Water consistently and watch it grow.

Happy snacking! 3

103

GREEN ADVICE

BY CATHERINE SHERRIFFS

ALL-NATURAL TRICKS FOR A THRIVING GARDEN Organic gardening doesn’t have to mean fewer results and smaller yields! There are plenty of all-natural ways to score big during the growing season. Here’s our list of 5 cool ways you can help an organic garden thrive.

1

Compost, Compost, Compost!

It’s no secret that the success of our outdoor gardens begins with the soil, so taking care of it is paramount.

A great way to do that is by adding compost to the earth. Apply once in the spring and then again in the fall. Compost improves soil structure by keeping it wellaerated and enhancing its water retention capabilities.

It reduces the need for natural resources like peat and makes more nutrients available to your plants. If you’re looking for ‘black gold’ that will make the most significant impact, look no further than vermicompost. Worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus, and 11 times more potassium than other kinds (1). Your veggie patch will thank you for the delicious snack with higher yields.

2

Find Some Companions

Interplanting, or companion planting, is common in organic vegetable gardens.

That’s because finding suitable ‘friends’ for your precious plants can help them ward off various pests, improve flavour, and produce better yields. For example, tomatoes, basil, and marigolds work well together because the latter two help repel aphids and tomato hornworms. Basil is also said to improve a tomato’s taste. Carrots and lettuce also grow well alongside tomatoes because they act as a groundcover. The taller plants will shade the low-growing veggies from the harsh sun. And when you harvest the carrots and lettuce, you’ll help aerate the soil and create passageways for water and nutrients down to the tomato roots. The same idea applies to the three sisters strategy (2), in which corn, beans, and squash grow together. The corn supports the beans, and the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, boosting fertility. The squash is a groundcover and helps retain moisture and protect from hungry herbivores.

104 104

Pioneering References

m a m a p u b li s h i n g. co m

GREEN ADVICE

ALL-NATURAL TRICKS FOR A THRIVING GARDEN

3

Speaking Of Hungry Animals...

Let’s face it; at some point, we’ve all pulled a Mr McGregor and gone crazy on Peter Rabbit. If bunnies aren’t your problem, perhaps you struggle to keep groundhogs, raccoons, or deer out of the garden. Larger critters can make or break the growing season, but toxins and other inhumane control methods are not always the answer. Organic gardening employs the use of a gentler hand to protect the yard and garden from animals (3).

For example, an 8-foot tall fence around the veggie plot and permaculture principles will help keep the deer and other critters out. Hanging fabric softener sheets from nearby trees may also help, as will applying blood meal to the surrounding area. Floating row covers can protect newly planted seeds from birds and young seedlings from other pests. And as for Peter? Distract rascally rabbits by planting clover on your lawn, or deter them entirely with animal urine (like from a fox), or homemade concoctions using eggs and garlic.

4

Spot Of Tea

Just like you might enjoy a cup of tea, your gardens do too! Garden teas are home-brewed liquid fertilisers that contain a lot of nitrogen, and they’re super easy to make with materials you already have in the yard.They can be applied directly to the soil or as a foliar spray, just dilute them to avoid burning plants. An excellent recipe for Green Garden Tea (4) involves filling a 5-gallon bucket two-thirds of the way full with chemical-free lawn and garden clippings. Be sure the bucket has holes drilled in the bottom; sit it on top of a second bucket. Submerge the green material in rainwater and stir. Cover the container and let it sit for three days, stirring in the mornings and again in the afternoons. Strain the tea into the lower bucket. Dilute one part garden tea with ten parts rainwater when feeding.

5

Mulch

Never underestimate the importance of mulch in the organic garden. Adding a layer around the base of your plants helps retain moisture during dry spells, keep weeds at bay, and protect against pathogens (2). When water hits the ground, soil splashes onto the leaves of the plant, which can cause various bacterial and fungal diseases.The mulch helps prevent splashing! Shredded bark, compost, wood chips, and straw are all excellent options. For the organic garden, avoid dyed mulch, and when you’re applying it, leave a small circle around the plant stem to prevent rotting.

Happy organic gardening! 3

106 106

1. Foster, Clare. Compost: How To Make And Use Organic Compost To Transform Your Garden. Octopus Publishing Group, 2014.

2. Highland, Mark. Practical Organic Gardening:The No-Nonsense Guide To Growing Naturally. Cool Springs Press, 2017.

3. Rooney,Theresa.The Guide To Humane Critter Control: Natural, Nontoxic Pest Solutions To Protect Your Yard And Garden. Cool Springs Press, 2017.

4. Rose, Stephanie. Garden Alchemy: 80 Recipes And Concoctions For Organic Fertilisers, Plant Elixers, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, And More. Cool Springs Press, 2020.

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