ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE OF PEAT MOSS

Q:  Hi Mel, my name is Andrew, and I live in London.   I worry about your recommendation to fill your boxes with peat. Many important bits of wild landscape in Britain are being destroyed by the extraction of peat for gardening. I'm sure the same is true elsewhere. What do you think ?

A:   Dear Andrew,        Thank you for your question and yes, of course, we are all concerned about using up non-renewable materials from the earth and we have considered this for quite a few years.         

USE MORE THAN JUST PEAT MOSS

First of all let's be accurate and explicit.  You stated that my recommendation was to fill your boxes with peat.  That's not correct and I hope you are not telling people that because we are not saying that .  First of all, we are telling people to fill their boxes with Mel's mix, which is composed of only 1/3 peat moss, not 100%. Then, Andrew, if you consider this:  first of all Square Foot Gardening is a very natural method of gardening.  We use no insecticides and no fertilizer.  In addition all three of our ingredients are all natural.  Therefore, we have cut down on all of the petroleum-based products that normally go into a garden.

LESS SPACE - LESS USE

Next, because we have condensed gardening down to only 20% of the size of a normal garden in order to get 100% of the harvest that is another huge reduction of 80% of the land space as well as the need to improve that much garden soil.  Next, instead of digging down for 6, 12 or even 18 inches as the French intensive method does we do not even disturb your existing soil but can grow all of our plants in only 6 inches of soil mix.  So 6 inches compared to 18 inches is another reduction of 2/3.  In essence then, once you reduce the land area by 80% and then the soil depth by 67% what we are talking about is 1/3 of 1/5 or a total of 1/15 which now becomes something like 6% of the original.  Why that is such a small number, politicians aren't even happy if they get 6% of sales tax.  They want more, at least in this country, how about yours?     

PEAT MOSS USED FIRST TIME ONLY

So as we considered the problem of using up non-renewable materials we thought well, if we are talking about a number like 6% and then on top of that in a normal garden you keep adding peat moss every year to build up your soil, but in a Square Foot Garden we use it for the first time only and then never after again.  All we do to improve that soil mix each time we replant a square is to add a trowel full of home made compost, which is a renewable source.  So if you took that 6% and spread it over the garden life we are talking about such a small pittance that we felt that that alone was a huge, huge advance in earth conservation.  We feel that we are stewards to the earth and do all that we can to practice conservation.

NON-RENEWABLE SOURCE

Now the next thing, Andrew, is that since peat is a non-renewable source but useful for many purposes you could put it in the same category as other earth found non-renewable materials such as coal and oil and gas and water.  Just because they are non- renewable it doesn't mean we have to throw up our hands and say we can't use it at all.  If we use it constructively and with a conscience towards earth friendly, there is no reason why we can't use these materials without using them up them and without destroying the landscape.  The problem comes when some companies or individuals become greedy and want to make a lot of money without thinking about their debt to earth friendly types of endeavors. We have the same problem with coal as with peat, and that is when it is mined near the surface there must be a conscience of that operation so that it is not left in a devastated condition.

USE PEAT MOSS SPARINGLY

The other thing that I hope you will pass on to your friends and family is to ask them to do their homework and read up on the subject on our website and they will find that our philosophy is, yes, we are still using peat but with great caution and in very small quantities and if we found companies that were destroying the landscape or altering nature in a devastating manner we would certainly object also.  I hope that explains our position and that you will feel likewise.

ALTERNATIVES TO PEAT MOSS

Concerning alternatives there are a few and one of them is ground up coconut hulls.  We have experimented with it and tested it and found that it is not as satisfactory as peat moss and much more expensive although it is a renewable material and I hope someday that they will be able to bring the cost down and it will become more popular to replace peat moss.  But the mere fact that we are only using a very small percentage of something I think is much more advantageous than trying to find a total substitute and eliminating that material unless it becomes an endangered species.  Yours truly,     Mel B.