Moonshadows Organic Garden Witchery
How did I become an organic gardener? Long before I became a witch I had a passion for flowers and things that grew, when I hit my teens I became more environmentally aware and became involved with Friends Of The Earth and Greenpeace, in the late 70's and the early 80's saving the planet and being green was the 'feng shui' of it's day.
Those in the know were talking about recycling and organic gardening and swapping tips, making compost from kitchen waste, putting tea leaves on roses, waste not want not, it all made perfect sense. At that time I lived in a flat and my kitchen window sill faced away from the sun so I had no chance, instead I read every gardening magazine and book I could, expanding my knowledge ready for the day I'd have my own garden.
In the late 80's I moved into a house with a much prized garden and I began to develop serious green fingers, fellow witches please note this is the only time I don't mind being a witch and associated with having green skin lol! Said green digits were nurtured by a wonderful BBC Gardeners World gardener called Geoff Hamilton, every week I would tune in and his enthusiam became my enthusiam. From him I learnt that gardening didn't have to cost the earth, nor did it have to harm animals or the planet! I learned to love pelleted chicken manure and was taught the value of coir fibre as a peat substitute. Geoff also got me interested in growing my own herbs, the Radio Times did an offer for 4 free herb plants, I sent away for them and nurtured them and I hungered for more.
You couldn't help but admire the man, every week he taught me something new, I made a cardboard light box and painted it with cheap white gloss to reflect the light onto my seedlings and I made lacewing hotels. He preferred gardening organically and as the seasons progressed and organic gardening became more acceptable Geoff gave more and more organic tips. Sadly my mentor died in 1996 whilst taking part in a charity bike ride, his garden legacy at his Barnsdale Gardens continues, I urge you to go along and visit if you ever get chance his organic kitchen garden and his herb garden are superb to see and take away ideas for your own garden.
I'd been planning an organic section to the Witch Garden for a while, so I decided to start it off with some basic information and some tips, like my garden it will grow and we'll hopefully have contributions from others. So here it begins.....
Witches have a code, an it harm none...., I extend this to my garden as well, as do many other witches, growing organically is really good old fashioned gardening, as practised by our ancestors long before synthetic chemicals were invented, today though organic gardening has the addition of modern scientific research, such as, the introduction of beneficial insects.
So that's what it is, now to get down to the "Nitty Gritty" of how to go about it! Firstly, before you rush out, rip up your lawn and go crazy with the rotovator take a little time to ponder on the following, and be realistic!
1. How much time do you really want to spend on your garden?
2. What do you want to grow? For instance, do you really want to be totally self sufficient and, never cross the threshold of your supermarket ever again? This is a big commitment and takes a lot of time! Or do you want to grow a few rare herbs and flowers and maybe a pumpkin for Samhain?
3. What kind of garden do you want, a huge vegetable plot, a scented meditating garden, a garden to grow the herbs you'll use in spells and teas?
Or do you just want to make a little wildlife garden or create a scared space outdoors that you can work your magic in?
Once you've decided what you want to achieve, you can then plan it out on paper to give yourself an idea of what you'll be creating and what's involved and get started. |
