The article will not exactly correspond to the title, you cannot do without the hassle in the garden. But there are several effective ways to significantly reduce the amount of physical labor. For those who want to have vegetables and fruits without any hassle, one piece of advice can be given: call the supermarket and order groceries delivered to your home. Everyone else will have to work a little, which is very useful for the elderly (and not only for them).
Most of the work is spent on digging, watering and fertilizing the land, we will tell you how you can do without these operations and at the same time get a good and environmentally friendly harvest. Additionally, soil fertility will not decrease, but increase. How can you significantly facilitate the cultivation of the garden and increase the productivity of agricultural crops?
For many summer residents, this call will seem at least strange, but in vain. Even in the distant times of the development of virgin lands, a method of non-moldboard cultivation was proposed, the soil layer was not turned over with a plow, but was cut with a flat cutter. Unfortunately, in our country, the method was not widely used, although it was immediately introduced abroad. Why this happened is a separate topic, but the fact remains. What is the basis for the assertion that digging up the land is not only vain physical labor, but also a rather significant blow to the fertility of the land?
Soil is a complex biological system with numerous living organisms located in their spatial niches. When the soil layer is turned over, the places of residence of microorganisms change, those that live in the upper layers turn out to be deep underground and vice versa. At the same time, most of them die, the land becomes less fertile. After all, it is these microorganisms that process nutrients into assimilable for plants. This means that the efficiency of all applied fertilizers drops sharply. Another harm of digging is a violation of the existing capillaries, through which moisture and air enter the fertile layer.
Most summer residents consider digging to be the only method of weed control, and this is far from the case. During digging, weed seeds are transferred to the lower layer of the earth and winter there successfully. Even theoretically, they cannot lose germination in such conditions, in the spring there are friendly shoots. What to do?
In extreme cases, to control weeds, you can do with surface loosening or shedding to a depth of 2-3 centimeters. Today, there are quite convenient and productive manual or mechanical flat cutters in the implementation, use them. It is advisable to cultivate the land in two passes, first along and then across. This method of cultivating the land not only significantly reduces physical efforts, but also significantly increases the natural fertility of the soil.
Don't weed the weeds
In terms of labor intensity, weeding ranks second among all works in the garden. Is it possible to grow a good crop of cultivated plants if you do not fight the weeds? You can, you need to fight weeds, just not with heavy weeding, but with light, timely shedding. Systematic cutting of weeds under the root not only inhibits their growth, but also fluffs up the topsoil, which reduces the amount of evaporated moisture.
By the way, never remove cut weeds, let them remain in the beds. After a year, they will turn into humus, and until that time, the cut stems serve as mulch. And, of course, there is no need to do unnecessary work on taking the weeded plants out of the garden, arranging special places for making humus. As practice shows, only two or three passes with a hoe during the growing season will make the garden clean and the land more fertile.
Another way to effectively control weeds without much effort is to provoke them to grow prematurely. In early spring, ash or peat should be scattered over the snow and covered with transparent film. After such events, the snow will melt quickly, the earth will warm up to sufficient temperatures for the growth of weeds. After 10–12 days, the film is removed, the weeds are trimmed with simultaneous loosening of the soil, and cultivated plants can be sown. If it is planned to sow late crops on this site, then the stimulation of the growth of weeds can be repeated again, only ash or peat is no longer used.
What if you sow crops that sprout for a very long time (parsley, carrots, etc.), and while they appear above the ground, weeds can occupy the entire area? They cannot be loosened, there is a high probability of damaging cultivated plants. And there is a way out. To indicate the location, sow with them crops that give the first shoots after a few days (spinach, lettuce), they will be beacons, weeds can be cut without fear of damaging cultivated plants.
Water wisely
Automatic watering can be done, but it is quite expensive and requires certain skills in performing assembly and commissioning work. Not all elderly people (especially women) will be able to learn the rules of handling automatic irrigation systems. What advice can you give in such cases?
Think about why the earth is watered. That's right, in order to be wet. Why is it drying out? Due to evaporation by plants and capillaries in the soil. If nothing can be done about the evaporation of plants, then the drying out of the soil due to the capillaries can be significantly reduced. This means that you will have to water the garden much less often.
Under natural conditions, the earth is protected from drying out in a simple and very effective way - a plant carpet. The shade from the plants themselves and from their remains prevents the sun's rays from reaching the ground, which reduces the amount of evaporated moisture by several orders of magnitude.
To facilitate work in the city, you do not need to reinvent the wheel, you should only adopt the experience of nature. It is not necessary to make the spacing very large, this will allow the tops or green stems to completely shade the ground. For example, a 4 × 4 cm area is enough for radishes, 5 × 5 cm for carrots, 20 × 20 cm for cucumbers, 35 × 35 cm for tomatoes. times less moisture than from the soil surface. And for the normal development of the root system, free areas of small size are quite enough. For plants that require more nutrients, additional feed can be used. It is much easier than weed control and watering.
The second way is mulching. You can use plastic films (the worst option), non-woven fabrics that let rainwater (the average option in terms of efficiency) or natural mulch made from woodworking industry waste. The last option is the most acceptable, we recommend using only it. If there is a desire to use modern non-woven materials and completely cover the soil together with cultivated plants, then it must be borne in mind that the temperature under such materials is 6–10 ° C lower than that of open ground. This difference can adversely affect the growing season of thermophilic plants.
Examples of the correct organization of work
For clarity, consider one of the best options for maintaining a home garden with minimal physical effort. We will use all three of the above options to facilitate manual labor.
Before planting, potato tubers must be treated for diseases with a solution of potassium permanganate or any modern preparation, exposed to sunlight for greening (vegetable poison forms under the peel) and germinate. This will take three to four weeks, depending on the weather and temperature. Tubers should be chosen completely healthy, the larger in diameter, the better. The fact is that in the initial period of development, the sprouts use the nutrients of the tubers, the more there are, the faster the root system develops.
Planting potatoes should be done right on the virgin soil without prior digging. Place them at a distance of about 25 cm, make the beds narrow so that you can easily handle the potatoes on both sides.
Practical advice. Many summer residents do the wrong thing with small tubers, put them in several pieces and think that one powerful plant will grow out of them. This is not so, several weak plants will grow from several small tubers, they cannot "grow together" and strengthen, but will only additionally oppress each other. We have already said above that large tubers should be taken for planting. If a new variety is grown for seeds, then large tubers can be cut; in all other cases, this is strongly discouraged.
When all the potatoes are laid on the ground, they must be protected from frost and drying out. For such purposes, it is better to use straw or old hay. Hay should be handled with care as it can contain a large number of viable weed seeds. It is better to take wheat straw, it does not attract rodents. There is neither the first nor the second - collect the fallen leaves and use them for cover. To protect the straw from the wind, you need to cover it with old bags, foil and other materials.
Let the potatoes grow like this for a while. As the foliage grows, you need to add fresh cut grass, extra straw, etc. to the beds. Don't worry if the heap is too high. First, after the first rain, it will decrease significantly. Secondly, the tops grow up very quickly.
The potato has an interesting feature: the more the stem is closed, the more it takes root in these places, the higher the yield of tubers. During the traditional cultivation technology for these purposes, make two or three hilling soil. Everything is much simpler and easier with us. In addition, all the covering material for the next year will turn into organic fertilizers, the soil will not lose fertility.
Another plus of this technology is that the number of weeds is significantly reduced, and moisture evaporation is minimized. This means that you need to water much less often, and weeding generally disappears as an agricultural technique. And the last thing. Already after the beginning of flowering tops, it is possible to harvest the first crop of young potatoes. It is necessary to slightly open the covering layer, select the most developed tubers and return everything to its original place. The bush itself is not damaged at all and continues to develop normally further. The field of autumn harvesting does not need to be removed anywhere, leave it on the same bed, it will be fertilizer for the following plants.
Harvest of potatoes grown under straw
Second season in the garden
For potatoes, you need to choose a new virgin land and grow it by the already known method with minimal labor costs. And in the old place, you can start planting new crops: zucchini, pumpkin, squash, etc.
There is no need to prepare the soil, it is moist, soft and almost free of weeds under the compost. Those who manage to grow up will die under the large leaves of new plants. Plant 2-3 seeds each. in one hole, depressions can be made with an ordinary stick.
Important. Notice how the seeds are sown in nature - they lie on the surface of the earth. And in our case, they do not need to be closed, only with last year's humus.
If there is a possibility of night frost or the ground has not warmed up enough, then after sowing the soil can be covered with a film. It will not only raise the temperature and keep unripe compost, but also significantly reduce moisture evaporation. By the way, the compost contains enough moisture from the plants; additional watering is not required.
For your information. If evaporation occurs very quickly on a hot day, then the plants defend themselves: the leaves close the stomata (wither a little), due to this, the loss of moisture decreases. Summer residents think that the plants are dying and begin to look for additional work for themselves - extraordinary watering. You should not do this, overnight the plants will recover on their own, in the morning the leaves will be elastic again.
In the third year, virgin soil is again selected for potatoes, and for vegetables there are already two fertile and well-prepared beds. You can expand the list of plants grown using the same technology. Of course, you should follow the basic rules of compatibility. The number of beds is brought to the desired one, and then the movement of crop rotation is carried out in a circle. That's it, with minimal effort you will have a high yield of organic products.
Large potatoes are the result of adhering to the rules of planting and caring for the plant
Video - Garden without hassle
Video - Garden without hassle - work in the garden
A dacha and a vegetable garden, instead of a resting place, often become a place of exhausting work. Water, weed, loosen, water again, weed, loosen, and so on in a circle. Moreover, the harvest is not always happy. The situation can be changed. There is a special technology - a smart vegetable garden. The cultivated area decreases significantly, the amount of water required for irrigation decreases, and the yield increases. This is not a fairy tale. Many have already switched to smart beds and they are all happy with the result.
What is a smart vegetable garden or smart beds
A smart vegetable garden allows you to get maximum yields with minimal labor costs. How? There are several basic rules and techniques: correct planting planning, turnover of planted plants, special growing technologies (in high beds, trenches), drip irrigation, mulching or the use of covering material. All this has been known for a long time and, for sure, is already used by many. But it is precisely in the complex that all these measures give what is called a "smart vegetable garden." Because on the site everything is done according to the mind.
A smart vegetable garden is formed, often raised or high beds, in which the necessary conditions for plant growth are created
The main task of this technology is to do everything so that working in the country is not a heavy duty. This is possible if you approach the organization of the process wisely. And it’s for nothing that this technology is called “a vegetable garden for the lazy”. At the stage of arrangement, you will have to work hard, but then everything will grow almost by itself, but the first stage requires shock efforts.
It's worth starting with site planning. It is necessary to choose the location of the beds, taking into account the illumination. Then develop a scheme for laying along the section of water pipes and lay them. At the same time, you can deal with the device of the beds. In approximately this order. All this takes time, considerable effort and money. Material costs may not be too high.
We plan a vegetable garden
If you already have a summer cottage or a piece of land near your house, you have probably already faced a situation of an overabundance of fruits, vegetables and berries. When the harvest has to be distributed to relatives, neighbors, colleagues. But in order to grow it, it took a lot of effort. To avoid this situation, you need to plan your harvest. It is clear that you will not get great accuracy, but results close to the planned ones are possible.
A smart vegetable garden is also a decoration of the site.
We consider the area of the beds
The first thing to do is sit down and think about what and how much you want to grow. The specific amount is in kilograms. How much do you need to "eat" and "close". Write down the list of plants (in a column) and the desired yield.
Having decided on the list of plants that you want to grow on your own, we sit down and look at the average yield that can be achieved when growing on smart beds. It is given in the table. Since you are still an inexperienced "lazy gardener", reduce it by half. We put numbers in front of each of the plants. It should be recorded in kilograms per square meter of area.
Now it is easy to calculate how much area you need to allocate for each type of plant: we divide the desired yield in kilograms by the average yield for each type of plant. We get the footage of the area for vegetables, berries, herbs, etc. If we add up all these areas, we find out how many beds you need in total. These are the beds that need to be placed on your site.
Chances are you are surprised at how little space you need for your beds. And the truth is not enough. At times less than what we are used to! In processing, you will have very little land. The vacated space can be taken under, rockeries, and other decorations.
Where to locate
When planning smart beds, you need to take into account the degree of illumination. Almost all plants you need prefer sunny locations. In partial shade, you can grow rhubarb, sorrel, onions (including feathers). Perhaps that's all. There are no garden plants that grow well in shaded areas. Rather, they will grow, but the yield will decrease by 3-4 times. Shady areas should be set aside for a recreation area or a flowerbed with shade-loving plants should be placed there.
Another principle of placing the beds: the more care (read watering) the culture requires, the closer to the entrance to the house it must be located:
Why should the plants be arranged this way? Because at the beginning of the watering / weeding work, the gardeners are full of enthusiasm and the plants receive more water, the weeds are removed more thoroughly. Gradually, the ardor subsides, water per square of area gets less and less, the processing becomes less thorough. And with the approach suggested above, the amount of water will be “just right” and with soil cultivation everything will be in order.
Orientation to the cardinal points and precise location
If you want to harvest from the entire area of a lazy garden, the location is north-south. Strictly. Only in this way the whole area will bear fruit. Place the trellis for curly vegetables in the same way. Although, they can be planted along the southern and eastern walls of buildings.
In order for a smart garden to be also beautiful, you need to think about where to put the beds. To do this, we take a plan of the site on a scale indicating the direction to the north / south. On it we draw all the buildings and capital paths, the water supply (we pay special attention to the position of the taps), trees and shrubs. We immediately outline shadow zones on the plan - we will not place vegetables here, this is a place for flowers, fountains.
Cut out the beds from paper (on the same scale as the site plan). And we make them in the shape that we plan: rectangle, square, circle, triangle, etc. The form is chosen based on the area planned for the culture. And it doesn't have to be a boring rectangle. Since there will be enough free space (you remember that much less beds are needed), then rationalism also fades into the background, and we put the main emphasis on aesthetics. After all, few people work in the country "so that there is something to eat", mostly it is also a pleasure. And what could be more pleasant than the beauty of the cultivated area?
So, we sign each piece of paper denoting a smart bed - we put the name of the culture or crops (you can grow two or three or more on one bed). Now we are looking for a place for each, taking into account the rules described above. Along the way, you can change the shape of smart beds: for the sake of beauty or convenience. When you have found the places, trace the contours, transfer the inscriptions. It remains only to realize the plan.
Irrigation system
A significant part of the work in the garden is watering the plants. If you use lazy beds, you will need to water much less frequently. But even in this case, it is better to do the piping around the site correctly. You already have a plan for the location of the beds in your garden. Now add flower beds, bushes and trees there. Get a layout plan for the plants to be watered. Now you should think about how to get no more than 2-3 meters to any "object of irrigation". If you do this, then you will have to pull a small hose to each bed, which is much easier.
Homemade drip irrigation system made of polymer pipes, water source - barrel
It is even better if a drip hose is laid in the smart garden. This will reduce water consumption and increase yields. Yes, at the same time. The drip hose is a polyethylene tube with small holes through which water drips out. When planting, the plants are planted next to the holes. As a result, water is supplied under the root, the plant receives a sufficient amount of moisture, and the gaps between the plants remain only slightly moist (due to the redistribution of moisture in the soil).
When using drip irrigation, you will have very little work. You open the tap, wait for a certain period of time, turn off the tap. Everything. Drip irrigation hoses are available for connection to the water supply (sold per meter), available in sets with a small pump that will pump water from the tank. The run-up in prices for hoses for drip irrigation is solid - prices differ significantly. As limited as your finances are, don't go for the cheapest hoses - they won't last more than one season. It is better to overpay a little for a quality product and use it for several years. When choosing kits for drip irrigation, you should also look at the irrigated area. But, most likely, it will suit you, since lazy beds are rarely large. Read more about drip kits and manufacturers.
How to make smart / lazy garden beds
The principle of building smart / lazy beds is that you need to create ideal conditions for the development of plants and the convenience of processing for yourself. What do plants need? Nutrients, sufficient light, air, moisture and no weeds.
Oxygen and nutrients
We provided enough sun for them by arranging the beds from north to south. The next task is nutrients and air to the roots. We lay all this when forming the beds. Depending on the type of soil, we select the components that are lacking in the "source material". In Central Russia, the main soils are clay and loam, so humus of varying degrees of "maturity" (a year, two and three) is usually added. This is both for fertilization and for lightening the soil - for better oxygen access to the roots. Together with humus, bacteria and worms enter, which continue to process, enriching the soil and loosening it for you.
The yield per square meter will be oh-so ...
If necessary, you can apply other fertilizers - in the holes when planting or when watering. Depends on crops or wealth / poverty of source soils. The most common natural fertilizers are chicken manure and cow dung, and ash. If you apply only cow dung, you will be annoyed by bears. If you add a little chicken droppings, there will be no bear, and the composition of the soil will become richer.
Moisture retention and weed control
Moisture will be partly delivered by rain and dew, and partly will have to be added by watering. And so that less water is required, the entire space of the garden is not filled with plants, we fill it with mulch. Mulch, by the way, also reduces the number of weeds - there is not enough light for them under it.
As mulch, straw, grass cuttings, sawdust, bark needles, special mulch made from wood chips can be used. All this can be used to mulch lazy beds. But all materials are imperfect. Here are their advantages and disadvantages:
There is another good way out: cover smart / lazy beds with a special covering material in black. They completely cover the surface of the beds, sometimes in two layers. Small holes are made under the plants. Watering is carried out directly on the material - it does not retain water and air, does not allow weeds to grow, and protects the soil from overheating. In general, everyone is good, except that you have to buy it.
How to make them
We figured out the general principles of creating a smart garden, now we will specifically figure out how to make the beds. You cannot walk on them, so they must be fenced off - with stones, slate, iron, logs sawn in half, boards ... It doesn't matter what, but the beds must be separated from the paths. And since you cannot step on the beds, their width should be such that you can freely cultivate the soil.
Now about the width of smart beds. It depends on the type: they will be of regular height or raised. If the beds are made at ground level, their width is 80-100 cm. Squatting or bending over, you can process such a width. If the beds are raised even half a meter, it will be even more convenient to work. They make not only high beds. All possible growing technologies can be used:
Now about whether the usual height of the beds is better or raised. For a really lazy garden, raised ones are better: when working the soil, you will have to strain less. But - it is troublesome and not quick. So for a start, you can get high beds only for the most difficult crops to care for. And you can also use various containers / containers - for herbs, salads, spicy plants. Large barrels and boxes cut along the length will do. There are plastic containers on sale that are made specifically for the smart garden. They can generally be placed on the paths near the entrance to the house.
The only crop for which you should not make raised beds is potatoes. It grows well in trenches, and it is much easier and faster to make them.
Between the beds
The beds in the smart garden are separated, the distance between them is at least 60 cm (preferably 90-100 cm or more). A solid distance that needs to be filled with something. Weeding between the beds is not a good idea. Why then bother with individual beds to fight the weeds between them ... Therefore, you can either lay out / pave or sow lawn grass. The best grass for our lawn is bluegrass and red grass. They grow quickly, form dense greenery that does not trample and even tolerates work with a trolley.
The grass will need to be cut, so you will need a lawn mower or trimmer. And the cut grass can be used for mulch. Then, by the way, weeds will emerge - they cannot withstand frequent haircuts.
Some tricks
The technology is called smart vegetable garden for good reason. You can test different approaches, novelties, experience of “colleagues”. There are a few tricks that come with use. We have already talked about one - about the covering material. It really makes maintenance a lot easier and you don't need mulch. There are more interesting ideas:
Surely there are more tricks in the processing of a smart vegetable garden. If we find out about them, then we will definitely supplement the article.
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