Fruitful, green gardening

The benefits of organic gardening for both the gardener and the planet are innumerable, writes FIONNUALA FALLON

TOMORROW MARKS the last day of Organic Week 2012 and a series of countrywide events that celebrate the pleasures and benefits of organically produced food. But the undoubted joys of tasty, home-grown, chemical-free produce aside, making the attempt to garden organically can bring other innumerable benefits, both for ourselves and for the health of the planet. Weighty words, I know, but true. Here are a few simple ways in which every gardener can make a difference.

Get a compost bin. As the English botanist and organic farming pioneer Sir Albert Howard once pointed out, “fertility of the soil is the future of civilisation”. Look at living soil under the microscope and you’ll see a teeming mass of tiny organisms all of which are vital to soil health, while scientific analysis will reveal an abundance of plant nutrients. The opposite is true of soil that has been abused. Making your own compost is one of the best ways to nurture soil fertility while reducing the amount of organic waste going to landfill (conversely, regular use of herbicides, artificial pesticides and fertilisers will soon destroy soil health).

At its very best, composting is something of an art form. At its simplest, it's a case of ensuring that your compost heap/bin contains a mix of nitrogen-rich green waste (fruit and vegetable peelings, grass clippings, herbaceous plant matter, poultry waste, coffee grinds, tea-leaves/bags) and carbon-rich "brown waste" (old leaves, straw, hay, eggshells, light cardboard, scrunched-up kitchen/newspaper). Try to position the heap/compost bin in a level, free-draining and easily accessible spot (ideally on earth/lawn), in full sun and away from waterways, and kick-start the process by spreading a 5cm (2in) layer of soil on the bottom of your heap. For a more complete list of what can go in your compost heap, check out the excellent website of the Composting Association of Ireland, cre.ie. Compost bins are often available at a reduced price through your local authority.

Reduce your dependence on peat-based compost. Sadly, much as peat-based compost has proven to be a wonderful growing medium, its use is unsustainable in the long term, which means that the time has finally come for us gardeners to wean ourselves off "the black stuff". While there are an awful lot of mediocre and even very poor-quality peat-free alternatives, one particular brand – Klasmann – is excellent. Fruit Hill Farm is the main stockist but it has many agents around the country (see fruithillfarm.ie).

Use organic seed. Irish suppliers include Brown Envelope Seeds ( brownenvelopeseeds.com), Irish Seed Savers ( irishseedsavers.ie) The Organic Centre ( theorganiccentre.ie) and The Herb Garden ( theherbgarden.ie) , while Fruit Hill Farm stocks organic seed potatoes and onion sets. Not only are organic seeds produced in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way but they're also free from chemicals such as neonicotinoids, a class of powerful insecticides sometimes used as a seed coating in non-organic seeds. When the treated seed germinates, the young seedling absorbs this insecticide, which is then transported around the growing plant, including its pollen and nectar. Studies suggest that the navigational skills of foraging honey bees who feed on the contaminated nectar are impaired, while bumblebees exposed to low doses of neonicotinoids also form smaller, weaker colonies.

Try to source organically grown, Irish-grown plants. The Organic Centre's head gardener Julie Lehmann propagates a fantastic variety of organic vegetable "transplants" for sale by mail order, all grown in peat-free Klasmann compost. Her current stock of organic winter vegetable transplants includes purslane, oriental leaves, chervil, beet leaf, spring cabbage and pak choi. Peppermint Farm ( peppermintfarm.com) also stocks a range of organically grown young vegetable plants (summer season only) as well as a wide range of herbs, which are available through their mail-order service. Also check out irishseedsavers.ieand fruitandnut.ie

As much as possible, avoid the use of artificial pesticides, fertilisers and herbicides: Not only are these a byproduct of the petrochemical industry and unsustainable in the long term, but they also do great damage to the natural ecology of a garden. Instead, use green manures, make garden compost (see above), mulch poor soils with manure, and boost plant health with nutrient-rich tonics/liquid feeds such as comfrey tea, nettle tea or liquid seaweed (the latter has a particularly protective effect as regards many fungal diseases). Powdered seaweed is also a wonderful soil conditioner, while one of the few granular fertilisers fully approved for organic use is the excellent Belgian-manufactured Osmo range (they also do a range of organically approved liquid feeds). The main distributor is White's Agri, Lusk, Co Dublin, whose website ( whitesagri.ie) also gives a countrywide list of agents. Pests and disease should be far less of a problem in an organically managed garden but they won't disappear altogether. Organically acceptable controls are available from suppliers such as Fruit Hill Farm and Quickcrop ( quickcrop.ie).

Finally, as the organic gardener and author Bob Flowerdew puts it in the newly revised edition of Bob Flowerdew’s Organic Gardening Bible (Kyle Books, £25), “maximise your natural ecosystem checks and balances by growing a wider variety of plants, especially trees and shrubs”. A range of garden habitats (ponds, shrubberies, hedges, drystone walls) will also help to create a rich diversity of wildlife and encourage natural predators.

Dates for the diary

Edible Mushrooms for Beginners is a one-day foraging and identification course at Gortbrack Organic Farm, Ballyseedy Woods, Tralee, Co Kerry, run by Jonathan Spazzi, Saturday, September 22nd, 10am-4pm, €45 per person. gortbrackorganicfarm.com

Also, the Autumn Fair and Rare Plant and Bulb Sale at Lodge Park Walled Garden and The Steam Museum, in Straffan, Co. Kildare, runs today from 10am-5pm.