Natural gardening taken to the next level, for a truly ecological and planet-friendly garden that is full of bountiful life.
"By harnessing the power of plants to grow more plants, my garden - which at the outset was always intended to be organic - quietly became vegan by stealth. Realising I had crafted a vibrant, nature-filled and no-dig garden from scratch, and was able to sustain it without lifting a forkful of manure, or any of the other by-products of the animal-exploiting meat, dairy, poultry and fishery industries, filled me with an unexpected buzz. That same buzz has taken my growing, as well as my thinking about how what I do in my garden affects our natural world, way beyond just organic gardening. My vegan-organic gardening journey delights and surprises and teaches me something new each day, and I know of no better way to bring beauty and abundance into our beleaguered, changing world."
Our natural living world is undergoing profound change, with implications for every living thing on earth. To meet this challenge we must rethink many aspects of our everyday lives, including the way in which we cultivate our gardens. This book explains a mindful, gentle, yet powerful way of gardening that is in harmony with nature. Vegan gardening builds on the spirit and philosophy of organic gardening - but goes way beyond it. We discover how our garden or backyard is actually a living, dynamic ecosystem in its own right, and how wildlife, in all its guises, is crucial to creating a healthy ecological balance. Climate-friendly gardening is explored with examples of how to take practical steps to reduce our 'gardening footprint'. Peat composts deplete the world of non-renewable resources, but there are effective (and easy) alternatives and solutions for flourishing plants. Pests only need to be contained, not killed - and beneficial wildlife can be encouraged. The no-dig approach is better for the soil and the plants - as well as your back! The concept of a vegan-organic, closed-loop garden, self-sufficient in everything it needs - from soil-building compost to plant supports - is shown in action.
John Walker is an award-winning gardening and environmental writer with over 40 years' experience in horticulture, teaching and garden media. He trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he was awarded the Kew Diploma in Horticulture. He was features/deputy editor of Garden Answers magazine, and contributing editor of Kitchen Garden magazine. His long-running `Digging Deeper' column, exploring the connections between gardening and our environment, first appeared in Organic Gardening magazine in 2006. John also writes about greener gardening for national newspapers and magazines in the UK including The Telegraph and the Royal Horticultural Society's journal The Garden. He wrote Weeds: An Earth-Friendly Guide to their Identification, Use and Control, and The Bed & Border Planner, and contributed to the Garden Organic Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. John has made an earth-friendly eco garden in his home in north Wales. He has won the British Garden Media Guild Environmental Award three times. He can be found at www.earthfriendlygardener.net.
