Switching to a diet primarily focused on fresh ingredients and homemade recipes will benefit your life in many ways. However, if supporting the planet as well as your health is high on your agenda, your efforts mustn’t start and end in the kitchen. The garden is equally important for ongoing success.
Growing your own veg will naturally have a positive impact. Nevertheless, the benefits are greatly restricted if you do not implement the right strategies. Focus on the following tips to provide the strongest platform for building a sustainable lifestyle.
#1. Kill Weeds With A Physical Tool
Removing weeds from the veg garden is an essential step that every gardener must complete. However, the benefits of growing fruit and veg are significantly reduced if you throw chemical weed killers over the plot. Instead, then, you should use a physical weed wacker to remove weeds. While it might take a little more effort it’s greater news for the environment as well as your plants.
A quality tool will make light work of the weed removal process. Moreover, you can complete the procedure in one session rather than having to wait for chemicals to do their thing. Likewise, a weed wacker will encourage you to remove weeds as soon as they appear. With chemicals, you’ll be more likely to wait until the situation worsens.
#2. Choose Organic Fertilizers For Plants
Weed killers aren’t the only chemicals you should avoid. After all, the whole point of growing foods organically is lost if you spray them with chemical fertilizers. The harsh reality is that many commercial farmers resort to this approach. It brings convenience and cost-efficiency to large-scale operations. When working on your home veg garden, though, it makes sense to use organic fertilizers.
The list of organic fertilizers you could use includes nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and more. The best choice will depend on the type of soil you have and its natural chemical makeup. Similarly, the type of vegetables that you wish to grow will have a significant influence. If you are unsure, you can conduct a soil test and then speak to an expert.
#3. Reduce Your Plastics Use
By now, you already appreciate the benefits of reducing single-use plastic usage in the kitchen. In truth, though, it’s equally vital to reduce the use of plastics in the garden. Opting for glass or metal containers can be a far smarter move, although parents with young children will need to take safety into account. Meanwhile, tools featuring wood and other naturally durable materials can last longer. It results in fewer plastics going to landfill.
In truth, though, plastics aren’t a massive problem if the product is to be used for the long haul. As with the kitchen, your focus should be on single-use plastics. Using stakes, seedling protectors, and labels made from biodegradable materials is advised. Not least because it prevents BPA soil contamination.
#4. Be Creative With Recycling And Repurposing
Creating an eco-friendly vegetable garden isn’t solely about the growing processes. Everything from planters and storage to surrounding features that aid the aesthetic plays a key role. Thankfully, this is an area where you can reduce your use of resources by recycling and repurposing items more effectively. Aside from the direct benefits, it will put you in a far stronger mindset for future improvements.
Empty compost bags can be used as liners for your planters, thus preventing wood rot. Creates can be used as containers or planters. And broken items may be used as bird baths. When combined with simple ideas like giving extra seedlings or soil to a neighbor, the vegetable garden’s positive influence will soar.
#5. Be Strategic With What You Plant
Growing any fruit or veg is a step up from your current situation. However, making calculated choices about what, when, and where to plant certain produce can have a huge impact on the situation. In other words, you need to respect your climate and the surroundings of your garden to ensure that you work with nature rather than against it. Of course, you also need to focus on the produce that you will actively use in the kitchen too.
Opting for vegetables that resist droughts can be particularly useful in the summer as it makes maintenance far easier. It is also important to understand which parts of the garden get shade throughout the day. As well as guiding your decisions on what to plant, it may help you decide where to put the veg garden. Greater efficiency will boost eco-friendliness.
#6. Manage Your Watering Duties More Efficiently
Energy consumption is a focal point for anyone wanting to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. You may have already implemented ideas to save electricity, such as using solar powered garden lights. However, fruits and vegetables need regular watering too. So, learning to harness the true power of rainwater rather than relying on tap water is ideal. It’ll save money, reduce water usage, and save your plants from any impurities.
Learning how to make a DIY garden irrigation system will transform your outside spaces. You can also learn to collect rainwater for future usage. While it’s important to not overwater your fruits and veg, giving them enough to grow is pivotal. If you can do this without ever having to rely on the water hose, greatness is assured.
#7. Choose Electric Over Gas-Powered Tools
When thinking about ways to improve your vegetable garden, you have to consider the entire yard. As far as sustainability is concerned, you don’t have to stop using energy. You just have to be more mindful. So, choosing electricity-powered tools over gas-powered is a move in the right direction. Weed wackers, mowers, and other tools for ongoing maintenance should cause the least damage to your environment.
Of course, it pays to choose reliable brands as the goods will last longer. If they do ever show faults, repairs should be prioritized over replacements. It saves items from going to landfills prematurely. It also indirectly reduces emissions due to not having new items delivered. Sustainability never looked better.