Monthly Archives: October 2009

Organic Gardening

Six Ticks For Organic Gardening

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Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?

1.One can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it certainly helps to put garbage to good use and so saves the environment.

2. Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. This is especially important when growing vegetables. Chemical companies tell us that the chemicals we use are safe if used according to direction, but research shows that even tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such things as cancer, especially in children.

On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child’s life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.

Remember, pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose – to kill living things.

3. Less harm to the environment. Poisons are often washed into our waterways, causing death to the native fish and polluting their habitat.

4.Organic farming practices help prevent the loss of topsoil through erosion.
The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 – 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year.

4. Cost savings. One does not need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. Many organic recipes for the control of pest and disease come straight from the kitchen cupboard. Sometimes other plants can be grown as companions to the main crop. An example of this is the marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables.

Mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil can make a cheap garden pest spray. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.

5.A simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the growth of weeds as well as keeping the moisture in.

6. Organic gardening practices help to keep the environment safe for future generations.

Organic Gardening

A Beginners Guide For Organic Gardening

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Organic gardening is not as difficult as many beginning gardeners believe it is. It is true there is a bit more work and increased attention levels to the details of an organic garden than a regular garden. However, with the proper guidance you will soon discover it’s not anywhere near as difficult as you thought it was. This guide will provide you with the basic steps you need to get you started.

Assuming you know little to nothing about organic gardening lets make certain you understand what it is. Quite simply it means you are going to plant your garden without using synthetic fertilizers, for making the plants grow and chemical pesticides to control the bugs.

To really maximize your garden, regardless if its going to be flowers, herbs, veggies or a mish mash of several plants it’s best to have a detailed plan. And the best time to formulate your plan is in the fall, right after the fall growing season ends. The reason for this is you will have time to prepare the ground before the spring planting season begins.

Perhaps the most critical thing you must do before anything else is to select the optimum location for your organic garden or for that matter any garden. Your plants will do extremely well if they can receive about six hours of sunlight per day. In almost all cases positioning of your planting area in the southeast part of your ground will give more than adequate amounts of sunshine. Also make sure your ground has easy access to water and the ground has good drainage, to allow water run off and aeration of the ground.

Once the proper location has been determined the next step is preparing the ground where you will be planting. This means it’s time for the physical labor part. You are going to till the ground using a yard fork or a tiller, then get on your knees to start pulling weeds, grass and removing the rocks. To make the weed and grass removal successful you should perform the initial removal, then go back a couple of weeks later and remove any weeds and grass which have grown up in the meantime.

Now it’s time for you to actually determine what your selected ground is going to need, in the way of the proper nutrition to help your vegetation grow.  You do need to have the soil tested for the proper ph level. If you’re not sure you would do an accurate job of this take a sample of your soil to your local nursery or garden center and they can do this for you.

Once the testing has been completed by the nursery folks they can tell you exactly what kind of natural fertilizers and pest control product you will need. While you are at the nursery or garden center you should ask their advice on the proper plants and vegetables which will grow best in your treated soil.

In conclusion this guide has given you the basic things you need to start your organic gardening project the right way. It has covered the location of the garden, the sunlight exposure, preparation of the ground prior to planting and the proper nutrition your ground will need. Organic gardening is not as complicated as it seems.