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Writer's pictureNature IS Health

Spring/Summer 2021 NIH Garden Photos + techniques I have been working on

Updated: Sep 7


A little morph of the garden so far this year. The 2 bottom are the most recent.




3 versions of a "Last Year" VERSUS "This Year" (last years on top & this year on bottom)

This year I have really been focusing on a "wild garden", as I am referring to it. This is hopefully a technique I can master and then eventually write about. The premise of wild gardening is: low maintenance, high yield, ample assortment and lush-to-the-max.


Perhaps it may be too overwhelming or 'disorganized', as Brian initially referred to it :0. However, I think with practice, the right knowledge of plant identification and overall understanding of plant cycles, this can be a very attainable organic gardening style for an everyday urban garden enthusiast.



Squash ~ Chamomile ~ Sunflower



Cabbage ~ Yarrow ~ Marigold




Some of the tactics I have been focusing on compared to last, a.k.a working on my "wild gardening":

  • Allowing natural native weed species to grow, amongst my veggies and herbs. I keep the plants in charge that I want to grow the biggest. This is mutually beneficial for the plants and keeps all the soil alive. It provides shade and support for smaller plants to seed and then grow babies, eventually yielding a natural second harvest cycle for certain plants under the right conditions. Some of the weed species I have been watching are plants like clover, amaranth, dandelion, wild pansies, wild poppies, thistle, plantain, common mallow, wild violet, mullein, long grasses, goldenrod, chicory, etc.

  • I mixed our compost with part soil and amendments of blood meal before adding it to the garden to ensure the balance was right. In our compost we also added leaves, wood chips, ash and scraps from our kitchen all season long/all year long with frequent stirs and flips to aerate it. I am totally going to write a whole blog post on this at some point!

  • Trying my hardest not to water the garden with chlorinated hose water, and instead encouraging the garden to grow deeper roots and rely on rain water and morning dew. This year we have been getting consistent rain so it has been a success. Plus the cover crops are working well to prevent the soil from drying out.

  • Using a spray bottle with grapefruit seed essential oil and a natural dish soap dilution on any plant leaves that get bug holes / an infestation that needs to get under control- this is very effective! I wish I discovered the right mix of this before I had casualties.


Ways I have been attempting to save seeds and new plants:

  • Letting plants do their full cycle, so go into seed and then trim them down and smush the seed into the ground for new babies.

  • I smothered/smushed fruit last year during the final harvest right into the ground (like at the end of the season during clean up) in various places all over the garden. All the fruit contains seed and now there are plants growing without the need for me to purchase and transplant. (except for trying new varieties, etc.) Obviously this was a little risky, since I can't 100% count on things or predict where they are going to be, but so far we have ample natural growth. The only plant this hasn't worked with so far is peppers, must be something about our type of climate and them being a hot, dry type of plant.

  • I have been transplanting babies from one place to another and splitting older plants, I think this keeps plants with genetics for my environment thriving all around my property.

  • Keeping veggie scraps from the kitchen for certain foods that can continue to grow- onions, garlic, potato.. most root veggies- if you buy organic/ they haven't been sprayed, pop the scraps into a paper bag and once they have sprouted you can plant them in the ground.

  • I gathered seed from plants that had ample seed, dried them and stored them to plant in different areas of the garden.



Lilly ~ Potato flowers ~ Evening Primrose & Arugula



Raspberries ~ Me amongst the mayhem, sunflower & goldenrod at the back, potatoes, tomatoes and squashes at the front, behind is a field of mint and onions, leeks and cat nip + various herbs



The sunflower is almost as tall as our arbor! & those onion balls are cute, each ball is filled with seeds ~ chamomile, those little white flowers, are seeding all over the garden ~ bergamot, that purple flower by my foot is starting to bloom, I am very excited for some homegrown earl grey tea :P



From this angle you can see the stakes holding up our peas & beans and the giant array of mints growing in the garden L ~ The far right photo is of a lettuce plant blooming, each of the flowers turn into fluffy seeds



This is the last photos of our 3 year old kale plant. It was magnificent and then it caught a case of the brassica scaly bugs and we had to chop it down. It was spreading too fast and it was before I discovered how effective the dish soap spray dilution is if you are really consistent. R.I.P I actually cried chopping it down and have vowed to take much better care of my winterized plants next year. SCALY BUGS ARE VERY PERSISTENT!

I believe a grapefruit seed oil dish soap solution could of been very efficient here if I had discovered it in time.



Poops in the garden ~ chives ~ bleeding heart



A flower Brian gave me on one of our first dates 2 years ago ~ dandelions ~ the first garden photo I took this year when the weather was warming up- what a difference a few months makes !!! :D


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Thanks for taking a virtual walk through the Nature IS Health garden,

check out our Instagram for videos, tutorials and more. @natureishealth


- Samantha & Brian

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