Exploring the possibilities of urban organic gardening
EVEN when surrounded by a sea of concrete, a tiny organic garden plot in a city can make such a difference to the environment. Despite the noise, it is not unusual for nature to find a way to thrive when given the chance.
In fact, an organic kitchen garden would be ideal so the vegetables for our daily meals would be chemical free and healthier.
Although you may just have a small plot, keeping plantings in good condition to meet the demands of organic gardening requirements can still be a challenge.
Likely problems Vegetables are among the most labour-intensive crops to cultivate but all that hard work can be very satisfying when you harvest your own home-grown produce.
My greatest problems with vegetable gardening would be the speed at which weeds appear and take hold of the open space among the vegetables such as kangkong or ipomoea potato leaves. Weeds are very troublesome if not addressed regularly.
Recently I left things to nature while I went on holiday, returning only to find the beds of vegetables overgrown with weeds.
The easiest solution would be to get rid of them using a weedicide, but of course this is not an organic gardening option. Hence there is no choice but to do manual weeding by hand. It is time consuming, but it means your vegetables will remain chemical free.
Weather is another issue. Home gardeners need to be careful as too much rain during the current landas season can wipe out the seedlings. Waterlogged conditions due to poor drainage can also be an issue.
You are likely to find some plants, such as papayas and tomatoes, will suffer from being saturated.
To prevent this disastrous situation, it is good to build some shades that will let in light but prevent the plants from getting too wet. You can also use netting or even build a net house to prevent flying insects or pests from wiping out the tender leaves overnight.
Organic growth medium Good soil is essential for organic planting success. Improving sandy soil with organic matter is a top priority.
Unfortunately, a lot of the soil in Sarawak is infertile with high acidity. That makes even phosphorus unavailable to nourish the plants.
Soil texture improvement is also necessary here. It is essential to add compost to improve the planting medium’s drainage and to enable aeration.
It would be even better to have the proper composition of soil with other inputs to get the right potting mix for the particular needs of the respective vegetables or fruits.
Fish meal Fish meal was once very much used for farming, particularly during post-war days, when inorganic chemical fertiliser had yet to be invented for farming and gardening. Fish meal includes prawn dust and rejected raw fish parts.
One of my friends has an interest in trying to make his own liquid feeds for the garden. He has access to discarded fish and other seafood products directly from fishermen.
He packs the discarded seafood into sacks and then immerses the sacks into a plastic tank with water. This will result in a nutrient-rich liquor, which hungry plants such as tomatoes will thrive on.
The only set back is the process is rather smelly. However, the positive impact on the plants more than makes up for the stink.
Manure In the past it was also common to get buffalo, cattle or even goat droppings for the garden. However, these are increasingly rare.
Another old practice was to suspend gunnysacks of chicken dung in a barrel of water for two weeks to generate a rich liquid feed for most garden vegetables or flowering shrubs. Again this was a smelly but effective method.
Today, pelleted chicken dung manure is the largest single organic input used for vegetable gardening in Sarawak. This is a product that many gardeners have embraced as it is easy to use and more hygienic. The pellets can be sprinkled over the planting bed or turned into a liquid feed for potted plants.
Green manure Another way of improving the soil’s fertility and structure is to use a technique known as green manuring. This system makes use of a selection of appropriate vegetative remains to be applied according to the soil type.
It is good for improving sandy soil as it will keep the nutrients locked in the ground and even prevent them from leaching off after the rain.
Mowed grass can serve as green manure to improve the soil structure. However, weed seeds might give an even bigger headache. Hence good research is required to find the right materials.
Hopefully this has sparked your interest in the idea of organic gardening. Send me an email if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Happy gardening.