In the Moreland School District community Gardening Program, there are various activities that the program seeks to achieve. The group mainly comprise of people who love and appreciates gardening. Their main aim is to provide a natural environment for both social and recreational opportunities. In addition, the programme seeks to produce inexpensive foods. The program is open for all people above the age of eighteen within the Moreland district. Outsiders are not allowed. People living in the same address may each have a personal plot that is rented at a fee ($ 125 per annum).
The program adheres to strict organic farming practice. Therefore, the gardening does not use pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizer or any other chemicals in the garden. Organic manure is applied appropriately. Control of weeds and pests is done using traditional methods, such as crop rotation, timing, and symbiotic relation. For example, to prevent rust on garlic, it is planted around November and harvested around May. Such a move prevents rust that develops on the garlic if left on the ground for a long time and spreads to other plots. Therefore, proper timing is necessary. In the event that a plot owner does not plat in winter, cover crops must be planted on the plot.
The gardening can reduce the occurrence of food shortage by increasing supply of inexpensive foods. The foods grown are all organic in that they do not have chemicals that are used in modern farming. Chemical in the foods affects the health of consumers by causing diseases such as cancers. The gardening is related to hunting and gathering in that there is no any chemical used. Proper timing is used just as the ancestors used to do. The gardening can solve food shortage in the family as well as maintain the soil fertile for the next crops. Planting cover crops during winter ensures that the soil is not left bare since such would render the soil vulnerable to erosion. Crop rotation also ensures that the soil nutrients do not get depleted just the way our ancestors did by abandoning plots to regain the nutrients. I learned that it is very important to practice organic farming since it has very many benefits to us humans, and the environment.
Work cited
Community Gardening. Moreland District. Accessed from http://www.moreland.k12.ca.us/d_communitygardens.html on October 15, 2014.
