Zhang Zhaohong: The environmentally friendly vegetable garden is full of creativity (pictures)

Zhang Zhaohong: The environmentally friendly vegetable garden is full of creativity (pictures) Phoenix City Zhang Zhaohong Many Chinese families have vegetable gardens in their backyards, and we also have one, and it is an environmentally friendly and creative one...

Phoenix City Zhang Zhaohong

Many Chinese families have a vegetable garden in their backyards, and we also have one, and it is an environmentally friendly and creative vegetable garden. We only use the water resources that are originally wasted at home to grow natural and tender vegetables!

My vegetable garden used to be a grassland, which required watering, fertilizing, and weeding, over and over again. Until last year, we changed the grassland into a vegetable plot. During the design, we laid a circle of square bricks around it for morning exercise, and left a rectangular area in the middle, with a hollow "中" character placed in the bricks to facilitate loosening, watering and picking of vegetable seedlings.

People say that October is the harvest season and the weather is getting cooler. We chose to plant vegetables at this time because the summers in Arizona are too hot but the winters are very mild, which is suitable for the growth of many vegetables. We divided the vegetable plot into five small plots and planted one plot every other week so that the vegetable seedlings could be unearthed one after another. This way we staggered the harvest period and maintained a long-term harvest of fresh and tender vegetables.

Before planting vegetables, we mixed various seeds, including cabbage, rape, mustard, spinach, chrysanthemum, cabbage heart and other vegetable seeds, and put them into a plate little by little. At the same time, we also put organic fertilizer (Steer Manure, commonly known as cow dung ash) in handfuls and stirred evenly, and finally synthesized a large plate of mixed vegetable seeds and fertilizer.

Hoe and rake the vegetable field, add organic fertilizer and mix it, then pour water on it, and you can plant vegetables overnight. Because the color of mixed fertilizer for vegetable seeds is darker than that of soil, you can see whether the fertilizer is evenly distributed when sowing. After sowing the seeds, carefully water them with a shower head. In addition, in order to prevent birds from eating the fertilizer, hang a few CDs swaying in the wind to scare away the birds. From now on, you only need to water it every day and apply some cow dung ash or a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer for garden use (diluted with water) every week. After two months, you will have your first gratifying harvest.

As the vegetable seedlings grow older, the amount of water they need also increases. Since water resources are precious, we use environmentally friendly water methods. One is to use water sequentially: every home kitchen has two sinks (Sink), and the used water flows away from the sewer. We use one of them to wash the sink containing detergent ingredients, and this part of the water flows into the sewer; the other sink is used to hold cleaner water, such as washing rice, washing vegetables and fruits, and washing dishes, bowls and tea sets. The water can be recycled. Modify the water pipe under the sink, connect a bend to make a "water seal", and use a pipe to lead out to the backyard (our kitchen and the backyard are separated by a wall). In this way, there are twenty to thirty gallons of water available every day.

Secondly, we have a water filter in our home, but the water filter is a waste of water. For every gallon of drinking water filtered, nearly ten times the tap water is used, and this water also flows into the sewer and is wasted. We changed the small rubber hose from the water filter to the sewer to the outside. This part of the water is also ten gallons per day. We use a large plate to hold the clean water, and place the plate slightly tilted. When the water is full, it will automatically overflow into the watercress puddle below, and when it is full again, it will flow to the celery plate. In this way, as long as the water from the two large trays above is recycled every day, it will be enough to water the vegetable garden.

In addition to increasing revenue, environmental protection also requires cutting expenditure. Even in winter, the sunshine in Phoenix is ​​sometimes very hot. In order to prevent excessive evaporation of water in the vegetable field, we set up a wooden frame for the vegetable garden and put discarded screens on it to reduce the sunlight. This not only slows down the growth of vegetables and prolongs the harvest period, but also makes the vegetables grown very fresh and tender. In addition, when the cold wave hits in winter, the temperature in the early morning may be lower than zero at the time of shooting, which can even freeze flowers, plants and trees to death. Based on the weather forecast, we cover with plastic sheets or cardboard when necessary to prevent freezing damage.

In addition to the vegetable garden behind the house, we have also opened up some areas on the side of the house to plant different fruits, vegetables and plants, including watercress, snow peas, onions and garlic, peppers, wolfberries, celery, etc. Because the fence blocks sunlight, the snow peas under the fence grow more slowly. Therefore, we try to increase sunlight exposure.

We installed an improved satellite dish-shaped canopy on the higher eaves and painted it with white paint to reflect the sunlight. We also placed a white fence on the wall behind the snow peas to reflect the light. We also installed movable brackets on the wall. According to the growth of the snow peas, we tied a rope net to let it climb. We also applied fertilizer frequently to make the snow peas grow into thick stems and green leaves.

Now, the snow peas have grown as tall as a human, and have bloomed colorful flowers and produced snow peas. The stems and leaves are still growing. I believe the flowering period will last for a long time. What is even more gratifying is that you can see these red flowers and green leaves from the kitchen window, which is refreshing. Compared with the automatically irrigated grassland in the past, today's vegetable gardens not only save water, but also produce vegetable harvests. There is no need to go to Chinese supermarkets far away, and the carbon dioxide emissions of cars are reduced. Unexpectedly, vegetable gardens have a lot of contributions to environmental protection!

With a vegetable garden, your home environment becomes more beautiful. When you open the window in the morning, you can not only see the clear water in the swimming pool, but also a field of green vegetables under the blue sky and white clouds. It is really beautiful. The vegetable garden makes us love life and be willing to go out for activities and appreciation. It is very pleasant to jog around the vegetable garden during morning exercise. We do not feel tired doing farm work every day. It also stimulates our infinite creativity, making life fulfilling and enjoyable! Now every time the weather gets warmer, the entire vegetable garden is filled with golden flowers and bees flying around. If you can’t finish the vegetables you grow, you can give them to your relatives and friends, or invite them to your home for a party and cook them on the stove. You can pick them, wash them and fry them! The vegetable garden allows us urbanites to experience the fun of farming and taste organic vegetables grown by ourselves!

This article was published in "World Journal" 3-7-2014 http://www.worldjournal.com/view/full_lit_15/24685348/article-%E7%92%B0%E4%BF%9D%E8%8F%9C%E5%9C%92%E5%A4%9A%E5%89%B5%E6%84%8F?instance=wjbk3b1