There must be many people who experience a feeling of refreshment and feel healthy and happy when choosing to garden to relieve boredom or stress. I have a small garden on a hillside that is just as small. My daily meals are pretty much supplemented by vegetables that I grow. It's not too diverse with different vegetables but I try to make use of the meager land to maximize as many plants as possible. Exactly wherever there is space I try to add any other plants even though it doesn't bring much benefit like food or landscaping.
Because of the hillside terrain next to the cool pine forest, I made the beds separate and structured like a ladder. It will help me keep the soil and water as good as possible, and the terraced structure also helps the plants get as much sun as possible from early sunrise.
The area I live in has a cool climate because it is located on an area with an average elevation of over 1000 meters above sea level. It is favorable for crops and fruit trees. However, here to maximize production, everyone applies the greenhouse model for effective nursery and care, but I don't want that. I want my garden to be as natural as possible.
If grown in a greenhouse, controlled temperature and humidity will still have pests and diseases and we can still handle them without reducing yield too much. But I was too tired to see a large area of only one or two vegetables, and surrounded by large layers of plastic on top and hot. This garden I intercropped with some basic vegetables, some fruits and some flowers to beautify my eyes and the garden. This garden is located inside nature so of course it still has pests and diseases but I try to take care of it in the most natural way.
In addition to catching pests by hand, I enlist the help of beneficial natural enemies by growing other plants and weeds, creating an ideal environment for living things, a mixed garden. It combines a variety of trees and grasses like a small forest.
A small pond was dug to attract frogs, birds, dragonflies, spiders, etc. They will help me do it while I sleep, in addition it also contributes to making this garden more lively by sound. bars and their colors. Little joy by small and cute creatures. Of course my vegetables are still eaten by worms but not too much and I am completely assured of its cleanliness.
Some plants also provide relief and relief from some harmful egg-laying insects. I plant some rosemary, mint, purple perilla, ... plants with essential oils, they support other animals to do its job.
I also actively improve the soil, spreading white lime to remove soil acidity, and larvae. In addition, I often mix a little mixture of lemongrass, soaked chili for about a month to use water to spray the leaves. The spiciness also helps repel and kill some leaf bugs and brown aphids. And there will be no need to use some pesticides that pollute the soil and crops.
My garden supplies some vegetables and mushrooms for my small restaurant. As for the small fruit trees, I also added some empty areas, it not only created a diverse landscape but also served me every time I went to the garden and looked for ripe fruits to eat in the garden. It's a little fun at my place and more appealing than fussy eating.
The two types of mushrooms that I grow are abalone mushrooms and chicken thighs, which are easy to grow, less diseased and easy to use, and quickly harvested (on average, I will collect a new batch every 3 days).
This mushroom is also used as an ingredient for the restaurant's pizza making process. And a small chicken farm to provide clean eggs, and restaurant leftovers and pest leaves are collected for their use. Almost a closed cycle to optimize efficiency.
Although the weather or heavy rain crushed some of the vegetables that were still small and tender, I still kept this small garden in my direction, because some friends also praised this garden more than others. large in greenhouses and lack of development arrangement towards clean agriculture.
Anyway, my garden always gets me a lot of time for it, I can tend, harvest or relax there every day.
Thanks.