Week 6 Reflection

In this week’s class we discussed chapters 5-8 of of the book Gaia’s Garden.  We learned
about  the Nature’s key elements in maintaining its garden and how those elements work
together.  We discussed strategies  that will help the garden survive drought and wet
periods through better drainage, storing rain water for future use, and putting water
where it is needed the most. Also I learned that soap water is actually good for plants
because of the nutrients that plants can use. In the next chapter we discussed the
multipurpose plants such as soil fumigators, pest repellents, fortress plants, spike
roots and shelter builders.  We also talked about animals’ role as decomposers in the
nature’s garden. Garden must have predators, parasitic insects, pollinators and weed
feeders. And finally we talked about communities for the garden and guilds that can be
created within garden. Polycultures are very useful because they are dynamic and
self-organizing. The more diversity in the system, the more resiliency in the system.