Organic gardening works in harmony with nature rather than against it. It involves using techniques that give good flowering and cropping results without harming the natural environment or the people who live and work in it.

We don’t use any unnatural chemicals at the Triangle Garden and allotment – no man-made pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. We garden organically because we believe is important to preserve the soil’s natural balance of micro-organisms, nutrients and bacteria which have taken hundreds of years to build up and on which the health of our natural eco-system depends.

Some of the techniques we use are:

• Home-made compost or chicken manure to improve the soil. We also use comfrey leaves, cut and strewn around, or soaked in water to produce a natural fertiliser.

• To avoid pests and diseases we rotate our crops and interplant with pest-deterrents such as garlic, French marigolds and aromatic herbs. Rhubarb leaves heated gently in water produce a good acidic liquid for spraying on aphids. We protect against slug damage using cut-up plastic bottles as sleeves around seedlings.

• To minimise weed competition in growing areas we hand weed regularly. In hand-cleared areas we use mulch matting to stop weeds germinating prior to sowing. In areas we want to keep completely weed-free we use a permanent mulch mat and cover it with bark mulch.

• Around perennials we use bark mulch to keep weeds from coming through and to retain water in the soil. Mulching is very effective for locking moisture into the soil and reducing evaporation.

For more information on organic gardening go to www.gardenorganic.org.uk

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