Vegan organic gardening
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2008-06-10T01:02:50Z
Pinus jeffreyi
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/* Vegan Gardening */
'''Vegan organic gardening''' and [[farming]] is the [[Organic production|organic cultivation and production]] of [[organic food|food crops]] and other crops with a minimal amount of exploitation or harm to any animal. [[Vegan]] and vegan-organic farmers use no [[animal product]]s or by-products, such as [[blood]]meal, [[fish]] products, [[bone meal]], [[feces]], or other animal-origin matter, because they view the production of these materials as either harming animals directly, or as being associated with the exploitation and consequent suffering of animals. Some of these materials are [[by-product]]s of [[animal husbandry]], created during the process of cultivating animals for the production of [[meat]], [[milk]], skins, [[fur]]s, entertainment, labor, or companionship; the sale of by-products decreases expenses and increases profit for those engaged in animal husbandry, and therefore helps support the animal husbandry industry, an outcome most vegans find unacceptable.
[[fertility (soil)|Soil fertility]] is maintained by the use of [[green manure]]s and [[compost]]ed vegetable matter and [[mineral]]s. Some vegan gardeners supplement this with human [[urine]] (which provides [[nitrogen]]) and '[[humanure]]' produced from [[compost toilet]]s; others avoid the potential health risks of using human waste. Such wastes may technically be considered 'animal products', however many vegan organic growers (including the [[Vegan Organic Network]]) do not consider their usage unacceptable as there is unlikely to have been exploitation associated with their production.
==Benefits of Vegan Organic Gardening and Agriculture==
* It reduces food safety risks such as [[E. coli]] and the human form of [[Mad Cow Disease]] ([[Creutzfeldt-Jakob]] disease), which can be spread through bone and blood meal.
* It decreases reliance upon slaughterhouse and fisheries by-products by eliminating the use of bone, blood, feather, and fish meals and manure.
* It is a more efficient form of monoculture, because in this type of system, it uses 100 times less energy to produce 1 kg of vegan human food than to produce of 1 kg of meat or dairy products. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
==Vegan Gardening==
Vegan gardening in general (in contrast to vegan organic or "veganic" gardening), minimises the exploitation of animals, however vegan gardeners who are not strictly organic may utilize pesticides and industrially-produced plant nutrients, in addition to using organic techniques such as compost, green manures, and cover crops. This can result in higher yields if using modern genetic resources (such as hybrids or GMOs) much more easily than if depending only on compost and green manures.
Many vegan and veganic gardeners prepare soil for cultivation using the same time-honored method used by conventional and organic gardeners of breaking up the soil with hand tools and power tools and allowing the weeds to decompose. Shallow cultivation is also becoming popular among such gardeners: shallowly turning the soil's surface using one of numerous surface cultivating tools that are now available in the market place, including the popular Coleman surface-hoes developed by [[Eliot Coleman]]. Shallow [[tilling]] disturbs the soil less than deep turning and, combined with avoidance of soil compaction as described by O'Brien (see below), helps the soil maintain ecological balance. This minimizes the opportunities for soil diseases, plant diseases, and insect pests to become abundant.
==O'Brien Veganic Gardening Method==
The Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien Veganic Gardening Method is a distinct system that was developed by [[Rosa Dalziell O'Brien]], Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien, and [[May E Bruce]], although the term was originally coined by [[Geoffrey Rudd]] as a contraction of 'vegetable organic'<ref>Dalziel O'Brien, Kenneth, ''Veganic Gardening'', 1986, page 9</ref> in order to "denote a clear distinction between conventional chemical based systems and organic ones based on animal manures".<ref>Dalziel O'Brien, Kenneth, ''Veganic Gardening'', 1986, page 9</ref> The O'Brien system's principal argument is that animal manures are harmful to soil health rather than that their use involves exploitation of and cruelty to animals.
The Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien system employs very specific techniques including the addition of straw and other vegetable wastes to the soil in order to maintain [[fertility (soil)|soil fertility]]. Gardeners following the Dalziel O'Brien system use soil-covering [[mulch]]es, and employ non-[[soil compaction|compacting]] surface cultivation techniques using any short-handled, wide-bladed, hand [[Hoe (tool)|hoe]]. They kneel when surface cultivating, placing a board under their knees to spread out the pressure, and prevent soil compaction. Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien published a description of his system in ''Veganic Gardening, the Alternative System for Healthier Crops''.
From ''Veganic Gardening'' by Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien, page 16: "the veganic method of clearing heavily infested land is to take advantage of a plant's tendencies to move its roots nearer to the soil's surface when it is deprived of light. To make use of this principle, aided by a decaying process of the top growth of weeds, etc., it is necessary to subject such growth to heat and mositure in order to speed up the decay, and this is done by applying lime, then a heavy straw cover, and then the herbal compost activator.... The following are required: Sufficient new straw to cover an area to be leared to a depth of 3 to 4 inches..."
Also part of the O'Brien method is minimal disturbance of the soil by tilling, use of compost, mulch, cover crops, and green manures, use of permanent raised beds and permanent hard-packed paths between them, laying out beds from north to south, putting plants in double rows or more so that not every row has a path on both sides.
==Further reading/references==
* ''Growing Green - Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future'' - Jenny Hall and Iain Tolhurst ([http://www.veganorganic.net/index.htm Vegan Organic Network] publishing, 2006, ISBN 0-9552225-0-8) - a handbook for stockfree growers, researchers and students. (Available in the US from Chelsea Green Publishing, ISBN 978-1-933392-49-3.)
* ''Growing Our Own'' - [[Kathleen Jannaway]] ([[Movement for Compassionate Living]] publishing) - a practical guide to vegan organic gardening
* ''Veganic Gardening- The Alternative System for Healthier Crops''- Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien ([[Thorsons Publishing]], 1986, ISBN 0-7225-1208-2) - a full exposition of the O'Brien veganic gardening system.
==References==
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==See also==
* [[Permaculture]]
==External links==
*[http://www.veganorganic.net/index.htm Vegan Organic Network]
*[http://www.veganorganic.net/info4.html Vegan Organic gardening- the basics]
*[http://www.goveganic.net Veganic Agriculture Network (North America)]
*[http://www.veganorganiced.org Centre for Vegan Organic Education (US-based)]
*[http://shakahara.com/food3.html#excrement advantages of using plant-based compost as a manure, over animal excrement based manures]
*[http://www.shakahara.com/garden6.html Earthly Origin of Commercial Materials Educational Org photos]
[[Category:Organic gardening]]
[[Category:Permaculture]]
[[Category:Movements]]
[[Category:Veganism|Gardening,Veganic]]
[[Category:Sustainable agriculture]]
{{Vegetarianism}}