Guide To Veganic Gardening

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In veganic gardening, manures and animal products are avoided, along with chemicals and toxic sprays. It is the same as avoiding consuming animal products in the vegan lifestyle; fertilizers such as bone and blood meal, fish emulsion, sludge from slaughterhouses, and manures are obtained from companies that enslave and exploit sentient creatures. Moreover, veganic gardening is a healthier and safer way of growing food, because it completely avoids spreading dangerous diseases that are endemic in intensive animal production facilities.   

During veganic gardening, the soil is kept fertile through green manures, vegetable composts, mulching, crop rotation, and other eco-friendly and sustainable strategies. From time to time, gypsum, lime, dolomite, rock phosphorus, rock potash and rock dusts are also used, but every effort is made against relying on these materials.  

Soil fertilizers and conditioners that are ecologically sustainable and veganic include wood ash, hay mulch, composted organic material (vegetable/fruit peels, leaves, and grass), green manures/nitrogen-fixing cover crops (clover, fava, beans, lupines and alfalfa), seaweed (liquid, meal or fresh) for trace elements, and liquid feeds (such as nettles or comfrey or nettles). Marigold borders help to avert certain insects and also improves the soil via its root system.

Green manures are plants used as cover, specifically grown in order to be mixed into the soil. Plants that can be grown between seasons as cover crops are fast-growing ones such as oats, wheat, vetch, or clover. Then, they are mixed into the garden soil as it is being readied for the next crop. Green manure crops bind and use soil nutrients that might have otherwise leached out, then return them to the soil when they are mixed with it. Moreover, they improve the soil and avert erosion through their root systems. Nitrogen-fixing crops such as peas, vetch, crimson clover and fava beans enrich the soil with nitrogen as they are mixed with it and decompose. Cover crops also keep weeds from growing during fall and winter.

A compost pile comprises food waste like vegetable and fruit rinds, covered by grass clippings, leaves or other similar course material. The purpose is to form alternating layers of food and covering material, to allow oxygenation. After the bin is filled, the pile is flipped and covered with a weed mat or a black plastic sheet to create heat and protect it from rain. After some time it is flipped again, to bring the bottom to the top, and covered again. After 2-3 months, as the local climate permits it, the natural recycling process will have completed and created soil rich in vitamins.

A container with nettles, grass cuttings, comfrey leaves or weed is covered with water, at a 1 to 3 rate, for 2 to 4 weeks. The plant material and weed seeds are then strained out. Comfrey provides a potash-rich feed, while feed from nettles is considered the best multi-purpose feed.

By covering the ground with a think hay layer, the soil is fed with organic matter as the material decomposes. Moreover, it keeps weeds from growing and promotes worm growth in the soil. A very thick hay mulch layer is used to cover gardens during winter time. 

Natural populations of composting worms love damp, cool, and dark environments (like under a thick layer of hay mulch or a black weed mat) and will breed optimally under these conditions. Worm castings are a potent, completely natural source of organic matter, rich in nutrients and capable of holding lots of moisture. Plant life is known to benefit immensely from earthworm castings. They increase fertility and improve the soil.

Seaweed provides trace elements. It is preferred to use freshly harvested seaweed from the sea, instead of material sitting on beaches after being washed up. Some vegan-organic gardeners use kelp meal or bulk spirulina, which provide trace minerals and potash.

Lime’s primary mission in gardening is to make the soil less acidic, also known as increasing the pH level or ‘making the soil sweeter.' For most plants, optimal growth is achieved at neutral pH. You can test your soil and see if it is alkaline or acidic. Lime also provides magnesium and calcium to the soil. Calcium promotes plant growth and also helps other nutrients to be properly absorbed. In addition, lime can be used to break up heavy clay soil. 

Bokashi is Japanese for ‘fermented organic matter’. EM stands for Effective Microorganisms and comprises mixed cultures of beneficial micro-organisms that occur naturally, such as yeast, lactic acid bacteria, actinomycetes and photosynthetic bacteria. It is a material that is based on bran, which has been through EM liquid concentrate fermentation, and dried for storage. When added to compost, it helps with organic matter fermentation. Store EM Bokashi in a warm, dry and dark place.

Neem has a long history in Indian agriculture, where it is known as the wonder tree. It has served as a great repellent of pests, and an organic fertilizer which also sterilizes against insects.  

Used to amend and fertilize the soil, green sand is derived from mineral deposits that come from the ocean floor. It is naturally rich in potash, as well as magnesium, iron, silica and up to thirty other trace minerals. It may also be used for heavy clay soil loosening. Although it is as consistent as normal sand, it can absorb ten times more moisture.

Rock Dusts (stonemeal) is primary used is to re-mineralize depleted soil (from agricultural and industrial practices). It slowly deposits minerals in the soil and can be applied either directly, combined with other fertilizers, or as a part of the compost. It stimulates microbial activity to a significant degree.