Feed
body, mind and soul
In in her column, 'Soil for Life', PAT FEATHERSTONE writes
about how to create a landscape to feed body, mind and soul.
Step
one: make up your mind at the outset that this exercise is
going to be fun and don't get despondent when you realise it will
take time and effort to create an edible masterpiece.
Step two:
• Get to know your space. An edible landscape is an investment
in your future good health and well-being, so sit down with a
pencil and paper. Here are some guidelines for a thoughtful planning
process before the garden layout is designed:
• Vegetables and fruit trees need at least six hours of full
sun every day, preferably in the early morning. Where does the
sun rise and set? How much sun does each part of your garden get
during the day? Remember that buildings, trees and hedges cast
shadows and that shadows are longer in winter.
• What type of soil do you have? Will drainage be a problem
in the rainy season?
• Where do you live? What type of climate do you have - winter
rain, summer drought, or the other way around? Do you have frost
in winter? Are you near the coast where humidity is high? What
plants have you seen in your neighbourhood that are doing well?
Talk to your friends and neighbours about their food-growing successes
and failures. They will fill you in on local challenges and give
you ideas on what plants will thrive. • Identify the prevailing
winds for your area. For example, in the Cape, summer brings the
howling south-easter and winter is characterised by a north-westerly
wind, often hot and drying. Both are damaging to plants. Using
a one-metre length of toilet paper, walk around your garden when
the wind is blowing to find out which direction it is coming from
and which areas of your garden experience the greatest turbulence
and, therefore, potential plant damage. This exercise will enable
you determine where to place or plant wind breaks.
• If
your garden is on a slope, you will have to either terrace it
or build swales to slow down the run-off of water and sink it
into the ground without losing your precious topsoil.
• How
much space do you have? Is your garden large enough to accommodate
fruit trees, climbing vines and vegetables?
• Is your garden walled, fenced or neither? Are dogs, cats,
porcupines, baboons, chickens, geese and guinea fowl going to
damage your plants or share your crop? What about other lurking
intruders?
• Where are your water points?
Step
three:
• Decide on what special features you are going to incorporate
in your garden. Compost heaps or bins, earthworm farms, a chicken
coop, a pond, bird bath, herb garden, an orchard, a nursery in
which you can raise your own seedlings and plants, a bench on
which you can rest and contemplate your creation in partnership
with nature and where you can listen to the birds and the bees,
and the frogs and the trees. You may need to build, or plant,
windbreaks and create trellised walkways for vines.
Once you have deliberated on all these points, draw up a list
of all the features you need to include in your garden. Then draw
up a plan on a piece of graph paper and work out where you want
to place things in relation to each other. Imagine yourself to
be a bird flying overhead and looking down on what you have in
mind. It doesn't matter whether you are starting a new garden,
revamping an existing garden or changing your gardening habits
and going the organic route, this is an extremely valuable exercise
and will probably take a fair amount of time. Draw things to scale
so your plan is realistic.
•
Don't be afraid to exercise your creative skills and never doubt
your innate ability to turn a bare piece of land into a beautiful,
bountiful place to feed body, mind and soul.
• And while you have your thinking and planning caps on,
set up a hanging garden near your kitchen door and get your food-growing
endeavours going quickly. It's always a good thing to start small,
enjoy the successes and gradually expand your activities a patch
at a time.
Use wall space to create a vertical garden: A simple construction
of wooden planks and rope hung up on a north-facing wall provides
vertical space for growing a variety of plants which will add
essential nutrients to your diet.
Here are some examples of what you can grow:
• some carrots in an old milk box or bag;
• a parsley plant in an old chamber pot;
• chives and spring onions in a plant pot; and
• dhanya (coriander) seeds germinated in a variety of shallow
plastic trays will give loads of seedlings which can be snipped
off when you need them.
Dhanya has a very high Vitamin A content and makes an interesting
addition to meals. It is also an excellent way of ridding your
body of heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium.
Growing your own food is the simplest way to good health.
Pat Featherstone runs Soil for Life, a Cape Town-based NGO that
teaches people how to grow their own good, safe food. For more
information about Soil for Life membership, and organic methods
for growing vegetables, herbs and fruit,
phone Pat on (021) 794 4982 or take a look at www.soilforlife.co.za
