No-dig, no-work gardening exemplifies 'Do less and accomplish more'
by Global Good News staff writer

Global Good News    Translate This Article
1 September 2012

Though it tackles large-scale agricultural and environmental issues, a popular course on Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture also focuses on home gardening.

Course creator and instructor Peter Swan, himself an expert in sustainable agriculture and gardening, teaches many new techniques for gardening without soil fertility loss, without digging, and without weeding.

Students look at square foot gardening, a sustainable gardening classic book by John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables, and permaculture.

They also learn more about Ruth Stout's no-dig, no-work method, which recommends keeping a thick mulch of vegetable matter on the garden beds at all times. Ms Stout did so and it kept the soil so moist, she didn't have to water it once in 35 years. This method involves no digging, no watering, and no weeding.

Dr Swan explains that the basics of no-dig gardening are similar to those of no-till agriculture. In both cases, there is no digging. Instead, for soil preparation, farmers and gardeners just use compost and mulch on the surface.

With this no-dig method, anyone can have a garden on any soil with very few or no weeds. Gardeners can opt to loosen the soil slightly if necessary, or just build raised beds.

For those with less available land to work with, city and apartment dwellers for example, there are appropriate gardening methods at their disposal. Ladder allotments, in which stacked 'shelves' contain planters for herbs and other small plants, maximize vertical space. In addition, Nano Gardens, which grow organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs without the need for sunlight or rain, can fit in the average kitchen.

These methods illustrate that one can have a garden anywhere and that successful gardens need not require backbreaking, tedious work—exemplifying the natural law principle, 'Do less and accomplish more'.

© Copyright 2012 Global Good News^®



Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish