GARDENING WITH MINIMAL DISTURBANCE
Kitchen Garden|March 2024
Gardening is about balance, says Huw Richards. This month he explains the underlying principles that inform his approach to gardening
GARDENING WITH MINIMAL DISTURBANCE

Permaculture is a design approach inspired by patterns and observations in nature to help us create resilient and productive gardens, farms and communities. The goal is to work with nature rather than against it, and permaculture would be the most accurate description of how I approach growing my own food.

One of the most important happenings in the gardening world of recent years has been the rise of no-dig gardening. The idea of gardening without digging has been around since at least the 1940s; gardeners and authors Flbert Guest and Frederic Charles King both released no-dig books in this decade - a brave move surrounding the significant cultural popularity of the Dig for Victory campaign during the Second World War.

No-dig has a very important goal: to cause as little disturbance to the soil as possible. However, I am concerned that there is a growing dark cloud of dogmatism surrounding the method that simply shouldn't exist. Most of this comes from an obsession of soil health and a lack of empathy towards particular challenges many gardeners face, such as financial, or growing in a more challenging climate.

Let's cover the soil health side first. Most of the crops that we grow in a kitchen garden are annuals or biennials, and this article is exclusive to this group of plants. Putting my permaculture hat on, where do you find annuals in nature? The answer is newly disturbed ground. But why? Fnnuals are fast growing and nutrient-hungry plants and are nature's plaster to ensure any bare ground is covered with living plants.

Soil microbes such as bacteria (and let's put fungi into the mix even though they are far less important for annual plants) break down nutrients into plant-available form. These plant-ready nutrients are released when soil microbes die, such as when soil is disturbed.

This high concentration of nutrients complements the hunger of annual plants.

Esta historia es de la edición March 2024 de Kitchen Garden.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición March 2024 de Kitchen Garden.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE KITCHEN GARDENVer todo
SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
Kitchen Garden

SEPTEMBER SPECIALS

This month, with sweetcorn, figs and blackberries on the menu, Anna Cairns Pettigrew is not only serving up something sweet and something savoury, but all things scrumptious

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES
Kitchen Garden

FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES

September - is it late summer or the start of autumn? David Patch ponders the question and says whatever the season, it's time to harvest autumn raspberries

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN
Kitchen Garden

SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN

Covering the soil with a green manure in winter offers many benefits and this is a good time to sow hardy types, says KG editor Steve Ott

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS
Kitchen Garden

A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS

KG's Martin Fish takes time out from his own plot to visit a walled garden in Lincolnshire which has been home to the same family for more than 400 years

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
RESTORING THE BALANCE
Kitchen Garden

RESTORING THE BALANCE

The phrase regenerative gardening is often heard in gardening circles, but what is it? Can it help you to grow better veg? Ecologist Becky Searle thinks so, and tells us why

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 2024
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Kitchen Garden

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his expertise on using compost made from green bin collections with handy tips on getting the right consistency and quality

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 2024
Celebrating Organic September!
Kitchen Garden

Celebrating Organic September!

In this special section we bring you four great features aimed at improving your crops and allowing nature to thrive

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
SEEING RED
Kitchen Garden

SEEING RED

Do your tomatoes have a habit of remaining stubbornly green? Or perhaps you're lucky to enjoy lots of lovely fruits - just all at once. Either way, Benedict Vanheems is here with some top tips to ripen and process the nation's favourite summer staple

time-read
6 minutos  |
September 2024
NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!
Kitchen Garden

NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!

Rob Smith is talking broccoli this month with a review of the different types available and suggestions for some exciting new varieties to try

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
A NEW kitchen garden
Kitchen Garden

A NEW kitchen garden

Martin Fish is getting down to plenty of picking and planting on the garden veg plot, while Jill is rustling up something pepper-licking good!

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024