Love Life!
Cart 0
Cart 0

Perma Culture

When you look after your soil, it will reward you generously.

Permaculture is a holistic approach in gardening and agriculture incorporating principles, features and patterns observed in natural ecosystems. Permaculture by definition includes organic growing but it is much more than that. The aim of Permaculture is to ensure cost effective and sustainable solutions to cultivating food.

At Glen Seeds we incorporated Permaculture as part of a way of life and the results has not only been stunning, it has been liberating. In a remarkable short space of time we achieved:

  • Stunning yields on soil where previously only weeds would grow.
  • Reduction in water usage of more than 50%
  • Elimination of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides
  • Vegetables that taste amazing.
  • All round reduced effort in vegetable growing with a resultant cost reduction

                                                                             

There are a number of aspects to Permaculture and we advise every gardener to do some research on Permaculture principles. From the many options you have see what will work best in your South African Garden. In this section we are going to briefly state the basics, when you incorporate the basics as a ‘way of life’ you will transform your garden seeing positive results right from the start.

 

  1. Move away from tilling your soil: When soil is exposed it kills off microbial life in no time which hardens soil, which leads to more requirements for tilling. Mulch soil, and plant direct into the soil layer just beneath the mulch.
  2. Use readily available materials that is in close proximity. As an example, if you need to make a trellis chances are all you need is available in your garden of in a neighbours garden, who is about to get rid of it. Bamboo is great for making a trellis but if it is not available in your environment, sticks from a tree that is about to be felled or reeds does the trick just as well.
  3. Conserve water: Harvest rain water, work organic matter into your soil such as compost and did we mention mulch?
  4. Eliminate the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. When your environment is natural and healthy, enough good goggas will be attracted to keep the baddies under control. Even if this mean you have to share a bit of your crop, you are still better off not using unhealthy chemicals.
  5. Don’t throw away anything organic that can be turned into compost and mulch, not ever!