Gardening, To be or not to be... Green?

It's truly a personal choice. I'm not 'super granola' and I'm not one of those people that force my perspective down your throat. I feel as though everyone can choose to make changes in their activities that result in changes in the environment. One thing that I have started doing in the past few years is gardening.


What does gardening do to help the environment?

First of all gardening can be detrimental to the environment. Soil releases CO2 and when homeowners till soil it causes more CO2 to be released, thereby increasing our carbon footprint. The increase of CO2 leads to an increase of global temperatures (that is if you believe that and that's a topic for a different day). A second potentially harmful effect of tilling is the breakup of VAM (vesicular-arbuscular-mycorrhizae). VAM is the good bacteria of fungi that form symbiotic relationships with plants and provide them with nutrients and electrolytes. Both of these potentially harmful effects can be neutralized by mulching. A third harm to your soil is the depletion of nitrogen from the soil. I must admit I am a tiller, but make sure to rectify the potential harm.

Composting

This year my wife and a I started a compost pile (more about this in a future post). Composting can consist of organic matter, manure or homemade compost. As with everything in life it must be done moderation and a little compost goes a long way. Compost will add nitrogen back in the soil.

Mulching

Although mulching your flower beds makes everything look good it serves a purpose. As it breaks down mulch adds compost and nutrients back to the soil. Secondly, mulch aids in trapping water that later supplies hydration to the garden and requires less use of drinking water. Another environmentally friendly way to water your garden is rain catches or rain barrels.

Organic

The great thing about homegrown fruits and vegetables is you control what goes into them. Pesticide help to control pest and insects, but at what risk to consumer. Some bugs like lady bugs and parasitic wasps are beneficial bugs and eat harmful insects. If insects become a problem organic pesticides maybe the answer or you can accept that some of your crop will be lost. Lost crop is not necessarily a bad thing. The lost veggies can be composted and just reintroduced into the soil. Crop rotation is another important factor in organic gardening.

Plant Growth

The introduction of new plants into the environment assist in the photosynthesis and plant respiration. Plants take in CO2, H2O and sunlight and give off glucose which the plant uses as food and the byproduct.... Oxygen.