I am just beginning to wade into my experiment with permaculture, meaning “permanent agriculture,” but my desire and intent has been to create a thriving and sustainable garden that requires less maintenance and benefits the environment in a way that works with nature, rather than against it.
In farming, this practice is referred to as regenerative agriculture (versus industrial agriculture) but with just a few simple practices and principles borrowed from regenerative agricultural farming, I have discovered that it is easy enough to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that supports plant bio-diversity, soil health, and water conservation (all principles of regenerative agriculture). After all, a garden is, essentially, a micro-farm of sorts. Therefore, my current growing experiment could be coined regenerative gardening.
Regenerative gardening is a style of gardening management and a planting method that is designed to nourish the soil naturally rather than depleting it and refilling the ground with chemical fertilizers. Both the soil and the plants that grow in it are healthier when the invertebrates, fungi, and decomposers are preserved and nourished.
The goal of both regenerative farming and regenerative gardening is exactly the same: to create a closed-loop system where waste from one element is used as food for another, and where the soil and its ecosystems are enhanced over time, rather than depleted.
I am incorporating the following four regenerative practices in my garden:
1) Feed the soil with nutrients (compost),
2) Promote helpful wildlife (combine pollinator-friendly flowers with edible plants like tomatoes, cabbage, etc. because many local plants depend on pollinators like bees, flies, and butterflies),
3) Practice intensive planting methods (plant multiple crops that support each other simultaneously and practice succession planting so that the soil is covered at all times), and,
4) Avoid harmful practices (like the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides).
It is a challenge, but it’s a worthy one.