Introduction to an Organic Permaculture Food Garden

By Carmen Potgieter

“I grew up in the Eastern Cape and was lucky enough to have a grandfather who grew all his own vegetables.
My first “adult” veggie garden was in Oudtshoorn, where, in the extreme heat and cold, I fully understood his commitment to growing most of his family’s food.
Organic and pesticide free food is what we should all strive for and by growing your own, you will escape having to pay the higher price tag at food chains and farmers’ markets, which sadly, has become the norm.
Start with a simple spinach patch, or a planter on your windowsill.
Growing your own food is the ultimate witnessing to the multiplication and abundance nature has to offer.
While completing my Plant Based Nutritional Coaching course with David Wolf, learning about the magic in spring water and home-grown greens, I had an incredible shift, which catapulted me on the home food gardener path.
With this guide, I hope you feel encouraged to pick up that first tray of seedlings, or packet of tomato seeds and change forever the way you look at the food you put into your body.

Beware, once you have bitten into that first warm tomato, harvested straight from your own tomato plant, there is no turning back.
You can find me and an array of invited and uninvited critters in my garden in Malmesbury.”
- Author, Carmen Potgieter

“A very enjoyable and informative read – the author’s passion for the subject (all things fresh, homegrown and organic) shines through in more ways than one! I loved her personal anecdotes the most, all her tried-and-tested bits (and flops) – such raw honesty and love for her subject is most admirable. A must-read that even includes a range of fantastic, wholesome recipes.”
- Editor’s comment

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carmen Potgieter
• Release date: Dec 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005116873

Book preview

Introduction to an Organic Permaculture Food Garden

Introduction to an Organic Permaculture Food Garden

Carmen Potgieter

Copyright © 2021 Carmen Potgieter

Published by Carmen Potgieter Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Carmen Potgieter using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Caroline Webb for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

Carmen Potgieter

[e-mail]

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRONWYN ALLCOCK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1. The Magic is in the Soil

2. Not All Soil is Created Equally

3. Concepts and Gardening Practices for Abundant Food Production

4. Your Garden Apothecary

5. Solving the N:P:K Mystery

6. Companion Planting

7. Fruit Trees

8. Seed Saving

9. Practical Applications: Into the Kitchen

10. Zero Waste Mindset

Sewing and Planting Guides

Resources

Ode to my Garden

"We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot."

Leonardo da Vinci

Introduction

I suppose the best way to explain to someone the joy of growing something from seed would be to compare it to the time you mixed a whole lot of ingredients and poured the sloppy batter into a baking pan, to be rewarded with a glorious spongy taste sensation 45 minutes later.

Or the first time you swung perfectly into a parallel parking spot in three smooth moves in true textbook style.

For me, it would be many years after growing my first tomatoes from a six-tray seedling mix, purchased on a Saturday morning from Stodels Kenilworth, before I would put my first seeds into the ground – and even more years before the penny of nature’s abundance multiplication dropped as far as seed saving is concerned.

The years between the seed planting and seed saving were filled with wonderful discoveries about the benefits of companion planting and the impact on plant health and pest resistance when your soil is of a superior quality.

You will know the compost-making bug has bitten when you walk through a horse paddock or a cow pasture, and all you can think is: Darn, I wish I had a bag to take all this manure home!

The feeling of immense satisfaction when, after sneaky strategic planning you lure your first ladybug to your garden, could not be very different from how Mr. Armstrong must have felt when he took that first step on the moon.

Nothing I am about to share with you has not already been published or shared by a garden expert or green-fingered guru somewhere on a page or over a cup of tea. To my friends who from time to time ask for gardening advice from their food-growing friend, I have always been honest in saying that my gardening technique