Outside the house
Organic and natural gardening.
Natural and traditional practices are common place on farms and way to grow food. It essentially brings back healthy topsoil without chemical, giving good yield of chemical free food and attact wildlife for the ecology of the farms.
Many of these practices can be done in home gardens or community gardens to grow your own fruit and vegetables.
What you can do
Bring back the wildlife
We can all do small things to boost the local ecology and wildlife in our gardens.
Plant hedges or small shrubs
This is ideal for birds to roost and nest. Plant sections at end of the garden with different small trees and bushes.
Create a wild corner
Use rocks ,dead woods, plant native wildflowers and see what grows.
Grow bee attracting flowers
Search which flowering plants growing in your climate will attract bees and butterflies to the garden. These are essential for early pollination of plants.
Feed the Birds
Bird boxes and bird baths help attract them to the gardens. Leave out different seeds and nuts or have a feed tube hanging.
What others have done
Kitchen or Balcony gardens
Much can be grown without gardens using window boxes on ledges for sunlight or balconies.
Simple salad vegetables and herbs from seeds or cuttings can be placed in window boxes or pots with natural compost. Gently water and wait!
There are many websites to give tips on growing your own depending where you are in the world. Small compost bins are available to make your kitchen waste compost to add to your pots.
Fruits and vegetables may need balcony space and fresh air and need to be grown in some depth of soil but Grow bags are an answer for this. Later the soil can be used for smaller pots.
A checklist
Use less water and better gardening practices
To cut down water waste store rainwater run offs from the guttering and grey water from household cleaning and bathing (chemical free). Use planting techniques to have less thirsty plants along borders of the vegetable growing area.
*Feed the soil and not the plants
Organic composting already has the nutrients for the soil which the plants will absorb.
*Grow resistant and native plant varieties
Practice companion planting.
The idea is to have plant species which would deter each others' pests or attract predators. For instance one bug of plant A will eat the Pest on plant B, a natural way without using pesticides.
*Have crop rotation
Putting different plants in different soil beds each year preserves soil fertility.
*Use physical barriers, traps and netting
These will help to keep out unwanted pests.
Simple preventative steps like removing dead leaves and branches or when parasites first appear will keep vegetation under control.
Composting to feed the soil and grow your food
Most people with gardens practice composting which is the easiest ecological thing to do. Our organic waste goes back into growth again. This is an example of participating in the circular economy ecoysystem in your back yard!