Easy ways to grow organically on the veg patch

Homemade compost

Ordering compost to spread over all my beds would be both unsustainable and expensive, so instead, I make my own. When I started, I had just one cone-shaped bin. In went most of the annual weeds I cleared, although not the perennials; those, like invasive bindweed (Convolvulus), I disposed of at my council’s green waste site. Now I have four bays, which produce enough compost for a quarter of the plot, while the rest of my allotment is enriched with green manure.

• How to build a compost bin
• How to make compost

Rainwater

Plants love water, particularly pure, untreated rainwater. Water butts are the best way to catch and store this precious, free resource, and mine collect rainwater via downpipes from both the shed and greenhouse roofs. Like most gardeners, I just wish I could store much more of it.

Organic feeds

While homemade compost improves the soil, organic feeds nourish the plants. Two of my go-to feeds are fish, blood, and bone (FBB) and organic liquid seaweed, which are sold by most garden centres.

I also make my own feed, or 'tea', which I give to my flowering and fruiting plants. It’s so simple to make. Add enough nutrient-rich nettle tops or comfrey leaves to almost fill a bucket, weight them down with a brick, then top up with rainwater (not tap water). Cover with a lid, leave for six weeks, strain, and it’s ready to use: just combine one-part feed to 10-parts rainwater in a watering can and apply once a week once flowers start to form.

Green manure

Crops deplete the soil of nutrients, but green manure plants put the goodness back. In winter, I sow a green manure crop – field beans with deep roots, Italian rye grass, or phacelia – over any bare ground. The plants protect the soil, while their roots draw nutrients up into the leaves. Then, in spring, I dig over the top growth back into the soil, where the plants rot down, ready to feed my vegetable crops. I sow more green manure in summer: at this time, buckwheat is ideal for covering bare ground and suppressing weeds. No farm manure for me – just green manure.

Pest control

Even after pests destroyed some of my first crops, I’ve never used off-the-shelf pesticides, which contain chemicals that can harm beneficial insects. Instead, I encourage diversity by growing different flowers amongst the vegetables, which help attract predators for any would-be pests.

For slugs and snails, I sink a container into the soil, fill it with the cheapest beer in town – then cheer when I find molluscs floating on the surface.

To prevent cabbage white butterfly from laying eggs on my brassicas, I drape soft netting over canes topped with bottles, and secure it with tent pegs. Henry, my trusty hawk kite, takes care of the bigger flying pests – especially pigeons.

In summer, I water the greenhouse floor and leave out a bucket of water. This discourages spider mites, which love dry heat and hate humidity.

Preventing disease

Years of experience have taught me that good ventilation, whether outside or indoors, is the key to disease prevention. Dampness that persists on leaves and stems can encourage the spread of fungal spores, but leaving space between plants encourages good air circulation, movement, and water evaporation. When I water, I also aim the flow at the base of the plant, where it is needed, and avoid splashing the leaves.

Companion planting

Growing beneficial plants next to crops is a chemical-free method of attracting natural predators and controlling pests. Calendula flowers and foliage repels aphids, borage is a bee magnet, while herbs such as mint and chives not only add flavour to dishes but keep pests from attacking brassicas and carrots.

Read more

Extract taken from Rekha's Kitchen Garden, published by DK, £18.99 Hardback. All images Dorling Kindersley: Rachel Warne