By Page H. Gifford
Correspondent
On April 2, at 10 am, the Friends of the Library will feature author Tanya Denkla Cobb, who will discuss her book The Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing Organic Food at its monthly meeting. The short version of a long story that spans nearly 36 years is that Cobb began writing the original book in 1989. She said that back in the day there was no internet and no easy ways to compile information fast so she interviewed experts, and researched books, and magazines on the subject.
“I did this out of necessity,” she said. “My first husband and I were going to run an organic farm.” She self-published the book and it sold out in six months. A publisher took over the printing and throughout the past decades Cobb has updated it and it has been re-printed into its current form.
There is so much to learn about organic gardening. Cobb said there is not a one-size-fits-all when it comes to how you do it.
“The key principle is the soil, the basis for the garden. Sun is important and water is important, aeration, and planning and prevention.” She calls areas where gardens grow micro climates, where one thing will grow in one area it may not in another, and that could mean you can grow beets but your neighbor can’t. “Test your soil. Send a sample to the cooperative extension. This way you find out what the soil is missing and replace it.”
Cobb is excited about the variety of fruits and vegetables she grows, including a Puerto Rican pepper, super-large cherry tomatoes, long seedless cucumbers, sweet potatoes, berries, apples, and more.
Pests and prevention of other things such as mildew, Cobb suggested being proactive in a healthy way and avoiding pesticides. She prefers what she calls mechanical means for ridding the garden of pests rather than reaching immediately for biological deterrents such as Neem oil for Japanese beetles.
“This means the biological deterrent will remain in the soil for less time than a commercial pesticide that will last for years.” And since healthy soil is key to a successful organic garden, pesticides are frowned upon and biological ones are a last resort. Some methods to handle pesky critters like Japanese beetles are spraying with soapy water or banging them off with a broom or swallowing them up with a dust buster. “We need to ask ourselves what we are doing to harm the soil or pollinators?” She added that the book has a comprehensive pest section to address gardening questions when they arise.
The book is a compilation of scientific research and anecdotal remedies used throughout the centuries.
“We’ll know things in ten years we did not know now,” she said, looking forward to the next update of her book.
