| Organic Gardening and the Humble Weeds |
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| Brett Muller, Earthmother Organic | |||
| Wednesday, 15 August 2007 | |||
  I have been growing organic fruit and vegetables around my house for five years now, and the most interesting things have become apparent. As the soil is getting richer, due to the natural farming, more and more indigenous flora is emerging. The interesting thing is that a vegetable polyculture is a forest pioneer culture as the conditions in which most food crops thrive are very similar to the forest floor. The soil already contains a seed bank from the vegetation which has grown previously and it is the soil conditions which determine which seeds will germinate. A problem is sometimes in the eye of the observer, take weeds for example: in a naturally-balanced ecosystem you will not find bare soil very often because direct sunlight destroys microbial activity and makes living conditions very harsh for most soil improvers (such as earthworms). The sun also causes the drying out of the soil often causing compaction that could lead to poor absorption and faster moving water on slopes which can lead to loss of top-soil via erosion. Is it not a wonder of nature that if the soil is laid bare, as in the case of building earthworks, the poor nutrient deficient subsoil leads to massive weed growth. The best example of these willing plants is the humble Blackjack. He loves poor soil and will germinate best in these conditions. At this point we the "landscapers" usually move in and sort out the problem, or do we? The natural process of the weed is to grow as vigorously as possible to cover the soil from the sun so some sort of microbial activity can begin to re-establish. The roots of a lot of weeds go deep into the subsoil and bring up valuable elements from the parent rock below, the leaves transform sunlight into nitrogen and other vital building blocks and the poorer the soil the more vigorous the growth. The weeds if left to there own devices will grow so fast that they will outgrow themselves and as they fall they mulch the earth and enrich the soil. This enrichment leads to the next step of seed germination which will lead over time to further enrichment and eventually the area will reach a state of balance without our involvement. One can determine the state of the soil by observing the plant life contained therein. Weeds are poor soil indicators so before you pull them out, be prepared to do the work that they had already undertaken, or else those unsatisfied niches will be filled at the first opportunity by the same weed or something similar (or worse!) Have mulch handy - I use veld hay but any dried organic matter works - look around in your garden for sustainable resources as a first option. The mulch will perform the task of sun protection, water conservation and nutrient accumulation. Plant beneficial soil improvers like lettuce, spinach and beans and throw a few marigolds in too. A little Lucerne will bring up those valuable bedrock minerals and as well as flowering beautifully, it can be used as power mulch later on. If the soil is hard plant some sweet potatoes or beetroot whose powerful roots will do the job much more effectively and with less effort than a fork. Don't pull all the weeds, a lot of them are beneficial; educate yourself as they are eager helpers. After a few months you will have performed the task the weeds set out to do and as a bonus to your newly enriched, weed managed soil you will have a few things to harvest for the table. We have a wonderful small grove of trees where our sweet potato patch was and numerous other trees around the garden. Not to mention plenty of other plants of interest which have become part of the landscaping. What gifts nature provides when you take steps towards her. Be patient with plants you don't recognize that come up on their own, it may be a flower just desperate to open for you.
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