Work smarter, not harder. This TikTok gardener has found a way to create a totally circular garden system for zero money and very little effort.
The scoop
This system has been called the most sustainable way that humans have ever farmed. TikToker Mike (@transformativeadventures) shares the benefits of the "slash mulch" method.
@transformativeadventures #greenscreen #permaculture #gardening #biodiversity #vegetablegardening #offgrid #homesteading #selfsufficiency #regenerativeagriculture ♬ original sound - Mike Hoag
"Did you know that you can convert your lawn into a high-productivity garden?" Mike says.
He continues to explain how to use clippings and weeds to create new vegetable and flower gardens with massive yields. It's by using a "technique called 'slash mulching' that people have used for millennia to start new gardens," says Mike.
The technique involves growing out whatever is currently growing on your lawn or garden area, then "slashing" it by cutting and raking it up.
By leaving the debris in a thick layer over the garden (about four inches), it suffocates any invasive or unwanted plants underneath. The seeds can then be planted directly into the new, nutritious mulch created by the refuse.
Mike explains how "slash mulching" can come just from mowing the lawn. By just mowing a few times a year, the lawn has time to grow into a native lawn that is full of healthy, indigenous plants. Mike then cuts those plants, piles them up, and germinates seeds directly into the new mulch.
His squash, bean, and corn garden, called The Three Sisters, produced more than conventional farmers in his region when he used this method, with no tilling, no fertilizing or compost added, and zero irrigation.
Best of all, you can avoid worrying about which pesticides, fertilizers, and treatments might actually be toxic to your health. "Set it and forget it," Mike says.
How it's helping
This method of gardening is free. You are only using organic materials that already exist on your property.
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Every day 🥗 For this reason, slash mulching increases soil fertility and biodiversity, which attracts pollinators and birds to your lawn. All of these contribute to healthier, better-tasting vegetables, not to mention the mental and physical health benefits of a few hours spent outside every week.
It also saves you time. As Mike mentions, "You don't have any weeding to do, because you're actually using your weeds to grow your garden."
And it saves money, since you don't have to buy fertilizers, toxic pesticides, or run up a water bill.
For all these reasons, slash mulching has been called "humanity's most sustainable form of agriculture," reports Mike.
What everyone's saying
"Scientifically speaking that's the smartest and most obvious way to utilize your available nutrients," said one TikToker.
"Sustainable, time efficient, productive. This is a nature hack," said another commenter.
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