The members of the Hive Mendocino Cooperative practice sustainable cultivation when growing our cannabis, but we let those methods trickle down into our personal gardening, too! We know you probably understand the basics of sustainable gardening, but there’s always room for us to improve. Therefore, we hope the following five tips add value to your home garden. If you have additional tips you’d like to share, send us a message and let us know!
1. Garden Design:
Regardless of the crops you decide to grow, sustainable and efficient cultivation begins with the design of your garden area. We want to consider every resource-conserving option possible. For starters, identify the amount of sun each of your plants’ desires, group them that way, then identify where those spaces in your lawn are located. Furthermore, identify the natural rain channels in your yard and where they travel, then plan to plant the water-loving varietals there. After this, you can properly layout the best design to encompass what each plant craves. When building the walls of your beds, walkways, and more, source recycled building supplies or environmentally-friendly materials. If you can, find these items locally; your carbon footprint will be much smaller for locally-sourced items. Lastly, when picking filler plants to color the space, choose natives to attract your pollinators.
2. Companion Planting:
Space can be utilized more efficiently through companion planting. You can use less space/resources for the same amount of production! It’s important to note the harvest dates and growth traits when selecting plants for the same container/bed. Some plants simply don’t do well together, so it’s essential to research each variety you will have in your garden. Planting green beans in the back with a trellis it can climb up would go well with cucumbers (which harvest quickly) and broccoli. Throw some radishes in where there’s space, as they are quick harvesters, too.
3. Get Creative With Your Seed-Raisers:
It’s common to want to start your seeds in a smaller container before transplanting them to their forever home. It doesn’t overwhelm the new root system and can even decrease the amount of time it takes for them to get started on their above-ground growth. Toilet paper rolls, newspaper pots, and egg cartons are great sustainable options.
4. Minimize the use of Powered Tools for Maintenance:
Power tools use fossil fuels or electricity for energy, but we understand, you can’t clip the whole yard with scissors. However, one way to counteract the use of these tools is to replace the grassy areas you mow regularly with easy-care perennial ornamental grasses, low-growing shrubs, or groundcovers.
5. Worms, Chickens, and Beneficial Insects:
For pest management and fertilizer help, bring chickens into the mix. They will walk around your garden and eat little bugs, and their poop is great for the soil. Worms are a great addition to the soil as well, leaving behind worm castings that are useful for attracting helpful microorganisms. Beneficial bugs can be invited to your garden by planting specific plants, like coriander, dill, lemon balm, and parsley. (All are yummy to eat, too!)
Are you a cannabis buyer who’s just as passionate about sustainable cultivation? If yes, then reach out to us so we can pass along our extensive menu of in-demand strains all grown responsibly and sustainably. We are certified Simply Clean by The Cannabis Conservancy as well, highlighting our responsible cultivation efforts. When your consumers consume Hive Mendocino products, they can feel confident about what’s going into their bodies.
Photo by: Markus Spiske on Unsplash