Vegan Organic Gardening

We all know why organic gardening is great – eliminating synthetic chemicals and growing naturally is that the clear choice for gardeners who want to be good to Mother Earth. But if you would like to require your earth-friendly gardening to the subsequent level, you’ll want to think about going vegan. Sometimes called veganic, plant-based, or stock-free gardening, this approach is gaining popularity around the world. Many of the fertilizers and a few of the opposite products we typically use in organic gardening are derived from animals, like feed, feather meal, and bone meal. Though these are good for the garden, they’re never good for the animals that were killed so as to form the products. altogether decisions on what gardening products to use, the guideline is to try to no harm to any living creature. Vegan products are people who aren’t made up of any animal products or by-products. This includes not just products made by killing an animal, like organic, but also any product that was made by exploiting an animal’s life for our own purposes like with manure production. albeit “manure happens” and collecting it doesn’t cause those animals any suffering, by not buying manure products vegan gardeners don’t support the first industry those animals are getting used for, like being slaughtered for meat. Some vegan gardeners will, however, use manure if they will make sure that the source may be a well-treated, happy critter like a backyard pet horse. a couple of other garden products are similarly debated, like buying worm castings or beneficial insects, because the bugs in question may are raised (or at very least shipped) in ways in which are stressful to those creatures. Better instead to encourage native beneficial insects and earthworms to maneuver into your garden, where they’re going to provide even as much help. There are no single thanks to garden organically. Whether you wish container gardening, raised beds, bio-intensive, permaculture, or simply a “good quaint backyard garden,” you’ll turn your garden veganic by choosing vegan inputs, encouraging biodiversity, aiming for sustainability, and making decisions that are earth- and animal- friendly. the subsequent may be a list of vegan alternatives for your garden. When purchasing products for your veganic garden, confirm to read the label as some may contain unexpected animal-derived ingredients:

Vegan-friendly products and methods

Down To Earth Vegan Mix fertilizer

Alfalfa meal

Cottonseed meal

Neem seed meal

Soybean meal

Corn gluten meal

Kelp meal

Arctic humus

Soil inoculants and mycorrhizae – read the label first, as some products contain animal-derived fertilizers too. Chappy’s and MycoMinerals are both vegan-friendly choices.

Mulches–like Mega Mulch

Cover crops, and canopy crop inoculants

Biochar

Compost made up of green waste (not manure)

Composting reception 

Liquid kelp

Calphos, gypsum, greensand and other mineral fertilizers. Many vegans avoid mined minerals though due to the consequences mining has on local animal life and therefore the earth as an entire.

Humic Acids, like Humax (also a mined product)

Peat moss (vegan, but controversial thanks to the consequences of harvesting it on the environment)

Coco coir or coco peat

Homemade potting mix: combine PVFS compost, perlite (or substitute vermiculite), coco peat (coco coir), and your choice of nutrient-rich ingredients like limestone.

Any pesticides that are barriers or deterrents (gopher wire, for example).

Pest prevention techniques like companion planting, removing fallen leaves and other pest hiding places, crop rotation, etc

Biological controls (introducing new beneficial insects or pest-specific diseases) is debatably veganic. it’s preferred to encourage native species and only introduce new ones as a final resort.

Mushroom kits (except for the white buttons and portabella kits)

Products That aren’t Vegan

Bone meal

Blood meal

Shrimp and Crab meals

Fish meal, liquid fish, and other fish products

Oystershell

Vermiculture/Worm composting

Worm castings (instead of creating a garden that encourages earthworm populations)

Manures including guano

Potting mixes and soil conditioners (PVFS Soil Conditioner, VermiBlend, and FoxFarm Strawberry Fields might be called “vegetarian” – no animals were killed to form it, but they are doing contain earthworm castings and/or bat guano).

Any pesticides that kill the pests, like traps, sticky tape, and insecticidal sprays

Leather gloves (instead try bamboo)

Leather holster (instead try Zenport nylon holster