1.Get out there and engage with the land. Gardening can be a spiritual practice that allows you to move with nature’s cycles and the rhythm of the seasons. Plants provide positivity and realness and can nurture the seed of your soul.
2. Don’t be afraid; most plant varieties are not difficult to grow. Grow what you like to eat and eat what you grow. If you put some thought into it, you can replace your grocery shopping altogether!
3. Reclaim the Seed! Saving seeds is the best way to protect endangered varieties and heritage plants, safeguard food security, increase biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Use seeds that will self-seed or provide seeds for sowing new plants next season. You can save seed from open-pollinated varieties, meaning pollination occurs naturally through insects, birds or wind.
4. Say NO to GMO. Source seed from diverse small-scale farmers that use regenerative and agro-ecological practices, helping promote seed sovereignty to support a biodiverse and resilient seed system, where seeds can be saved and not patented or genetically modified.
5. Feed the Soil. Have a dedicated compost heap or kitchen composter where you can continuously pile food and garden waste, allowing dead plants to become home-grown mulch. Compost is an excellent soil improver that helps the soil retain moisture, meaning less watering, improving your soil’s structure and nutrient content as it breaks down.
6. For Peat’s Sake. Peatlands are vital in the fight against both the causes and effects of climate change; they hold twice as much carbon as the world’s forests and are precious habitats for vital wildlife and plant species. Mining peat for agriculture or gardening compost unlocks stored carbon into the atmosphere. You can help by buying peat-free compost and encouraging retailers and the Government in their efforts to phase out the use of peat in gardening products.
"Plants provide positivity and realness and can nurture the seed of your soul."
7. Choose your soil wisely. Some kinds of soil hold water better than others, and you’ll find mixes specially made for seed starting. Coir readily absorbs and retains water yet doesn’t become supersaturated and soggy, and material remains loose for improved root formation.
8. Monitor your watering techniques. Seedlings that wilt and die are usually affected by damping-off fungus, a disease caused by overwatering seedlings. It’s a good idea to water seedlings from below so that the surface of the potting medium doesn’t become soggy. Most seed starting trays have drainage holes to allow your plants to soak up water from below and only drink what they need.
9. Don’t get leggy. Because the days are still short, seedlings can still get drawn and leggy if they don’t have enough light. You can force seedlings to grow thicker by brushing your hands over them a few times a day to strengthen the stems. It tricks the plant into thinking that it is growing in a windy environment and releases chemicals in the plant to grow thicker stems.
10. Companion planting lets the plants, insects, animals and birds do what comes naturally; it is a practice that acts as a natural pest repellant by attracting beneficial insects who feed on common garden pests, like aphids and caterpillars. Try creating a ladybird paradise – their voracious appetites will see them devour up to 50 aphids a day, or 5,000 during their lifetime. Flat-topped flowers such as yarrow, angelica, fennel and dill are great, along with common companion plants like calendula, sweet alyssum and marigold.
11. Preserve your water. Water used to boil or steam your vegetables is one of the most incredible uses for watering plants. Leave to cool, and all its good nutrients will give your plants an extra power boost.
12. No dig. Our soil is a living organism, a universe of nutrients and creatures, all parts of our ecosystem depend on it – it is vital to our survival, the growth of our food and maintenance of our ecology. Just one teaspoon of healthy soil can contain more micro-organisms than the total number of people on Earth. By avoiding digging and turning over your soil, you will not be disrupting the soil life and the micro-organisms, fungi and worms that help feed plant roots.
13. Get weird and dance with your plants. Listen to Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Mort Garson; the album was recorded especially for plants. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it is full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes—mellow vibrations for green leaves, green thumbs and green ears.