Permaculture in Bulgaria

One of the principles of permaculture is to avoid tilling the soil. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly it takes a lot of energy to move so much soil. Secondly, and more importantly, disturbing the soil, especially inverting it, destroys its natural fertility by destroying organic matter and structure. By digging into soil you disrupt soil life and you kill many of the vital micro-organisms, including man’s best friend: the earthworm. In the wild, soil disturbance is rare and normally localised. It happens for example when wild pigs dig for roots, or a tree is blown over.

Keeping soil covered with a mulch goes along with avoiding tilling. And it has further advantages. Mulching kills weeds, it conserves water by reducing evaporation, it protects the soil by avoiding erosion and capping, and it adds organic matter to the soil. So we decided to try these principles in our small двор (yard or garden) where we attempt to grow the Bulgarian classics, such as tomatoes and melons.

One of the small tomatoes we have planted struggling for survival

Mulching with bracken

Some time ago I wrote about a plant you either love or hate: Rhododendron Ponticum. Working in England in conservation, I came across another plant that you either love or hate: Bracken (Pteridium aquilinium). In the UK, this species is encroaching in many areas, threatening archaeological sites and rare wildlife habitats. However, the litter of Bracken also creates a warm microclimate necessary for the caterpillars of two very threatened butterfly species in the UK, the High Brown Fritillary and the Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Butterfly Conservation, an NGO that works to conserve butterflies and moths and their habitats is working very hard to prevent their extinction. In the mean time I have already encountered my firm friend the High Brown Fritillary in Bulgaria, with no Bracken slopes in sight, and it is doing very well here. The extra warmth that the Bracken litter offers is not necessary for these butterflies in the Mediterranean climate in Strandja Nature Park. So I thought I would put the Bracken I saw growing along some of the roads to some other good use: as a mulch following permaculture principles.

So instead of clearing the growing area for a row of tomatoes and 2 melons, we mulched this weedy area with a thick layer of other weeds and bracken litter. We planted the tomatoes and melons in holes through the mulch, watered them well, and waited for the results. Hopefully some juicy melons and tomatoes.

A small problem

However, we had not reckoned with our small grey guest. Our experimental tomato growing areas happened to be the kitten’s favourite play and rest ground, and if we were lucky, mum would join in too. The tomatoes did not like this very much. And when we decided to also sow some lettuce and basil next to the tomato research station, more drastic measures were necessary.

We built a fortress from an old rusty bed frame together with some bricks to protect the lettuce and basil seedlings. Small watch towers were erected around the tomatoes to guard them. But to no avail. The kitten thought it was rather nice to sit in between the bricks while catching mum’s tail. And the shade provided by the bed was a cool hang-out for adolescent youngsters. So we ended up with quite a few squashed tomato plants. The extent of the damage to the lettuce still needs to become evident.

Barn owls come to the rescue

The threat by the misbehaving grey ball of fur now seems to be a thing of the past though. We have not seen her for at least a week. The last time we saw her, when we were sitting outside watching the glow-worms dance in the warm evening air, we heard loud screeching and saw at least three barn owls just outside the garden. They were using the lamppost on the other side of the road as a hunting look-out, and we found a suspiciously large splash of bird pooh the next morning just outside the garden gate. We are not inferring anything here, but mother cat seemed to be looking at the bird shit with a certain sadness in her eyes… Or maybe she is just sick and tired of being pregnant again…

Is this dollup of owl poo the last we will see of the grey kitten?

We have to admit that we miss the small grey kitten quite a bit, even though it was becoming more cheeky every day, running into the house and hiding under the kitchen cupboard or under the bed. And screaming VERY loudly that it would quite like some more food…

There are rumours in the village; she has been seen here and she has been seen there, but because there are many young happy cat families, and one grey tomcat is a popular father, we cannot be sure it is our grey little nuisance they are seeing.

How the plants are growing

Judging the success of our no-dig-just-mulch experiment is now difficult. The tomatoes that were planted through the mulch are definitely much smaller than the ones that were planted in the conventional Bulgarian way (on small earth ridges, watering the gullies next to them). The melons are also not growing very quickly, and one does not look too happy.

Time will tell whether there will be any melons, lettuce, and grey kittens here, or whether they are mutually exclusive.

Some of the plants in our garden

Sources

For more information on Permaculture, see the permaculture “bible” for temperate climates:

• The Earth Care Manual, Patrick Whitefield. Permanent publications 2004.