Organic gardener’s year

Press, 9 December 1989, Page 27

Organic gardener’s year

The New Zealand Organic Gardening Year. By Jonathan Spade. Collins 1989. 160 pp. Illustrations. $32.95. (Reviewed by Thelma Strongman) Jonathan Spade is perhaps New Zealand’s best garden writer. His warm personality beams through the haze of the printed word, offering sound advice without dogma and dispensing garden hints without largesse. Each gardening topic appears as a separate short piece of writing which can be picked up and read easily by itself, and his odd snippets of information printed as "asides” in the margins are full of interest. i Topics which Spade explores in the margins includes the origins of modem organic gardening, which he considers should be credited to Sir Albert Howard, an English agronomist working in India some 60 years ago. He noticed that plant and animal disease were more prevalent in government farming areas which received chemical fertilisers than in areas of Indian native farming receiving natural fertiliszers only. Howard also believed that they could further improve their crop yields by a new method of composting which he developed and named after the region of India where he was working. It became known as the Indore system of composting, which

somehow seems a contradiction in terms. Jonathan Spade also explores such topics such as the word “cabbage” as a term of endearment, growing watercress in tubs and the use of common salt as a weedkiller and pesticide. In the main text the topics are presented as a month-by-month guide of jobs to be done in the organic garden. Although both vegetables and flowering plants are dealt with, the emphasis is on food plants, particularly in exploring the great variety which can be grown organically within New Zealand. In this Jonathan Spade outlines the importance of preserving ancestral plant species. He links organic gardening with increasing public apprehension that through our unreasoning demand for constant “progress” we have already placed all future life-in jeopardy. To help remedy this, the book contains information on looking after the soil in addition to advice on how to grow a wide variety of vegetables and flowering plants. Pest control through natural means is also highlighted. This is a thoughtful and entertaining book. The line drawings by Ulco Glimmerveen are more attractive and informative than the colour plates. If you are interested in organic gardening, it is good value.