Anique Pickard from Jolly Good Farm shares her top tips on how to keep your garden flourishing through every season.
1. Start small
Whenever it comes to starting something new, always start small and expand. Start with just one or two plants and get into a routine of maintaining them, guiding them and taking care of new plants and vegetables. Once you get into it, expand your range of vegetables with the momentum and you will thoroughly enjoy it.
2. Soil health is important
If there is one thing that cannot be stressed enough, soil health is one of the most important factors when it comes to growing a great harvest. Consistently build your soil with organics and use mulch to protect it. If your soil is not healthy, an imbalance will lead to diseases in your plants, and this should be avoided at all costs.
3. Encourage diversity
Variety will always be the spice of life and this goes for your crops and plants as well. Keep a variety of vegetables in your garden because this helps reduce pests and provides food for pollinators. The diversity encourages a balanced eco-system and that is always helpful when creating an expansive garden.
4. Happy seedlings grow into healthy plants
The idea of treating your plants with love and care and watching them flourish is not a myth. Somehow science has also backed the theory of talking to your plants to help them grow. Be sure to care for them daily by watering and nurturing them and you will certainly reap the rewards.
5. Keep the roots in the ground
When you are harvesting or clearing your crops, cut the top of the vegetable plant at soil level and not below. Rather choose to leave the roots in the soil to decompose. This helps build on the richness of the soil especially when the next harvest comes around.
6. Compost your tea
Tea makes for a great addition to the soil. Those little teabags are packed with nutritional goodness that are great for your plants so break them up and include them in your soil. Just be sure to water it often to increase the nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms in the ground.
7. Harvest early
Harvesting is best done in the morning part of the day. By doing it then and getting your produce in the fridge before the day heats up, you prolong the shelf-life of your vegetables which is always a win.
8. Acceptance
Farming with nature means there will be pests from time to time. It’s better to just accept they are a part of life and a part of the natural eco-system. As long as they are not parasites that can be harmful to your crops, do not be alarmed by the little insects and bugs you may come across.
