Vegetables Tips

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Vegetable gardeners with experience know that what you put in the soil is one of the deciding factors when it comes to the amount and quality of fruits and vegetables your plants produce. Without the right plant food, nothing else you do is going to matter, and your crops are doomed to fail. The soil must be rich or the garden will be poor. 

One distinction that needs to be made when it comes to plant food is the difference between available and non-available plant foods- that is, between foods which it is possible for the plant to use, and those which must undergo a change of some sort before the plant can take them up, assimilate them, and turn them into a healthy growth of foliage, fruit or root. It is just as easily possible for a plant to starve in a soil abounding in plant food, if that food is not available, as it would be for you to go unnourished in the midst of soups and tender meats if they were frozen solid.

Plants take all their nourishment in the form of soups, and very weak ones at that. To be available plant food must be soluble to the action of the feeding root tubes; and unless it is available it might, as far as the present benefiting of your garden is concerned, just as well not be there at all. Plants take up their food through innumerable and microscopic feeding rootlets, which possess the power of absorbing moisture, and furnishing it, distributed by the plant juices, or sap, to stem, branch, leaf, flower and fruit. There is one startling fact which may help to fix these things in your memory: it takes from 300 to 500 pounds of water to furnish food for the building of one pound of dry plant matter. You can see why plant food is not of much use unless it is available; and it is not available unless it is soluble. 

Plant foods consist of chemical elements, or rather, of numerous substances which contain these elements in greater or less degrees. There a very interesting science of this matter. It is evident, however, as we have already seen that the plants must get their food from the soil, and that there are but two sources for such food: it must either be in the soil already, or we must put it there. The only three of the chemical elements mentioned which we need consider are: nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. The average soil contains large amounts of all three, but they are for the most part in forms which are not available and, therefore, may be dismissed from our consideration. (The non-available plant foods already in the soil may be released or made available to some extent by cultivation.) In practically every soil that has been cultivated and cropped, in long-settled districts, the amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash which are immediately available will be too meager to produce a good crop of vegetables. It becomes absolutely necessary then, if you want to have a really successful garden, no matter how small it is, to add plant foods to the soil abundantly.

When you realize, (1) that the number of plant foods containing the three essential elements is almost unlimited, (2) that each contains them in different proportions and in differing degrees of availability, (3) that the amount of the available elements already in the soil varies greatly, and (4) that different plants, and even different varieties of the same plant, use these elements in widely differing proportions; then you begin to understand what a complex matter this question of which plant food to use is and why it is so much discussed and so little understood. What a labyrinth it offers for any writer- to say nothing of the reader- to go astray in! I have tried to present this matter clearly. If I have succeeded it may have been only to make you hopelessly discouraged of ever getting at anything definite in the question of enriching the soil. In that case my advice would be that, for the time being, you forget all about it.

Fortunately, in the question of plant food, a little knowledge is not often a dangerous thing. Fortunately, too, your plants do not insist that you solve the food problem for them. Set a full table and they will help themselves and take the right dishes. The only thing to worry about is that of the three important foods mentioned (nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash) there will not be enough: for it has been proved that when any one of these is exhausted the plant practically stops growth; it will not continue to “fill up” on the other two. Of course there is such a thing as going to extremes and wasting plant foods, even if it does not, as a rule, hurt the plants. 

So you know that your plants need available food. The question then becomes what to use. The terms “manure” and “fertilizer” are used somewhat ambiguously and interchangeably. I use manure in a broad sense meaning anything that will rot and enrich the soil, such as well rotted stable manure, or decayed vegetable matter. Organic fertilizers can be purchased pre mixed in any garden center, but for about three to four times as much money as to use natural things or mix the chemical elements into the soil yourself. It depends what you value more, your time or your money! 

Between the organic manures, or “natural” manures as they are often called, and fertilizers there is a very important difference which should never be lost sight of. In theory, and as a chemical fact too, a bag of fertilizer may contain twice the available plant food of a ton of well rotted manure; but out of a hundred practical gardeners ninety-nine-and probably one more- would prefer the manure. There are two reasons why.

First, natural manures have a decided physical effect upon most soils (altogether aside from the plant food they contain); and second, plants seem to have a preference as to the form in which their food elements are served to them. Fertilizers, on the other hand, are valuable only for the plant food they contain, and sometimes have a bad effect upon the physical condition of the soil. When it comes right down to the practical question of what to put on your garden patch to grow big crops, nothing has yet been discovered that is better than the old reliable stand-by- well rotted animal manure. Hold your objections!

We have already seen that plant food which is not available might as well be, for our immediate purposes, at the North Pole. The plant food in “green” or fresh manure is not available, and does not become so until it is released by the decay of the organic matters inside. Now the time possible for growing a crop of garden vegetables is limited; in many instances it is only sixty to ninety days. The plants want their food ready at once; there is no time to be lost waiting for manure to rot in the soil. That is a slow process- especially so in clayey or heavy soils.

So on your garden use only manure that is well rotted and broken up. On the other hand, make sure it has not “fire-fanged” or burned out, because manure, if piled by itself and left, is very sure to do. If you keep any animals of yourown, see that the various sorts of manure- except poultry manure, which is so rich that it is a good plan to keep it for special purposes- are mixed together and kept in a compact, built-up square heap, not a loose pyramidal pile. Keep it under cover and where it cannot wash out. The pile should be turned from bottom to top and outside in and rebuilt, treading down firmly in the process, every month or two- applying water, but not soaking, if it has dried out in the meantime.

Such manure will be worth two or three times as much, for garden purposes, as that left to burn or remain in frozen lumps. Of course you can purchase your manure in any garden center or buy fresh manure from a local farmer if you live in the country. When possible, it will pay you to start saving manure several months before you want to use it and work it over as suggested above. In buying manure keep in mind not what animals made it, but what food was fed- that is the important thing. Better manure is more expensive, but well worth it. For instance, the manure from highly-fed livery horses may be, weight for weight, worth three to five times that from cattle wintered over on poor hay, straw and a few roots. 

There are other organic manures which it is sometimes possible to obtain, such as refuse brewery hops or fish scraps and sewage, but they are as a rule out of the reach of, or objectionable for, the purposes of the home gardener. There are, however, numerous things constantly going to waste around the house, which should be converted into manure. Fallen leaves, grass clippings, vegetable and fruit tops, roots & peels, green weeds, old pieces of fruits and vegetables, egg shells, coffee grounds, anything that will rot away, should go into the compost heap.

These should be saved, under cover if possible, in a compact heap and kept moist (never soaked) to help decomposition. To start the heap, gather up every available substance and make it into a pile with some fresh manure if you have it. Fermentation and decomposition will be quickly started. The heap should occasionally be forked over and restacked. Wood ashes form another valuable manure which should be carefully saved. Beside the plant food contained, they have an excellent effect upon the mechanical condition of almost every soil.

Ashes should not be put in the compost heap, because there are special uses for them, such as dusting on squash or melon vines, or using on the onion bed, which makes it desirable to keep them separate. Wood ashes may be bought for this purpose at a very cheap price, or use your own if you make fires. Coal ashes contain practically no available plant food, but are well worth saving to use on stiff soils, for paths, etc. If you would rather not go through the trouble of stacking, turning, and restacking manure, there are compost containers you can buy to put these things in to rot. Do make sure you turn it with a pitchfork occasionally and mist it with water enough to keep it moist (not soaked) either way. 

Another source of organic manure is called “green-manuring”- the plowing under of growing crops to enrich the land. Even in the home garden this system should be taken advantage of whenever possible. In farm practice, clover is the most valuable crop to use for this purpose, but on account of the length of time necessary to grow it, it is useful for the vegetable garden only when there is enough room to have clover growing on one plot, while the garden occupies, for two years, another plot and then changing them around.

This system will give an ideal garden soil, especially where it is necessary to rely for the most part upon fertilizers. There are, however, four crops valuable for green-manuring the garden, even where the same spot must be occupied year after year: rye, field corn, field peas (or cow peas in the south) and crimson clover. After the first of September, sow every foot of garden ground cleared of its last crop, with winter rye.

Sow all ground cleared during August with crimson clover and buckwheat, and mulch the clover with rough manure after the buckwheat dies down. Sow field peas or corn on any spots that would otherwise remain unoccupied six weeks or more. All these should be sown on a freshly raked surface. Such a system will save a very large amount of plant food which otherwise would be lost, will convert unavailable plant food into available forms while you wait for the next crop, and add humus to the soil. 

I am aware that some of you will not use manure because it grosses you out too much. That’s alright, organic fertilizer will do also. You can buy it or mix your own. I’m going to explain how it works. We have already seen that the soil contains within itself some available plant food. We can determine by chemical analysis the exact amounts of the various plant foods-nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, etc.- which a crop of any vegetable will remove from the soil. The idea in scientific chemical manuring is to add to the available plant foods already in the soil just enough more to make the resulting amounts equal to the quantities of the various elements used by the crop grown. In other words: available plant food elements in the soil + available chemical food elements supplied in fertilizer= amounts of food elements available to crop. 

The raw materials from which organic fertilizers are made up are organic substances which contain nitrogen, phosphoric acid or potash in fairly definite amounts.

Some of these can be used to advantage by themselves. Those most practical for use by the home gardener, I mention. 

Ground bone is rich in phosphate and lasts a long time; what is called “raw bone” is the best. “Bone dust” or “bone flour” is finely pulverized; it will produce quick results, but does not last as long as the coarser forms. Cottonseed meal is one of the best nitrogenous fertilizers for garden crops. It is safer than nitrate of soda and decays very quickly in the soil. Peruvian Guano, in the pure form, is now practically out of the market. Lower grades, less rich in nitrogen especially, are to be had; and also “fortified” guano, in which chemicals are added to increase the content of nitrogen. It is good for quick results. Palm bunch ash is one of the best raw forms of organic potash. 

There are many brands of organic fertilizers available for sale in any garden center. You can make your own much cheaper, but some people prefer to buy it pre-made for the convenience. It is little use to pay attention to the claims made for them. Even where the analysis is guaranteed, the ordinary gardener has no way of knowing that the contents of his few bags are what they are labeled. The best you can do, however, is to buy on the basis of analysis, not of price per ton-usually the more you pay per bag, the cheaper you are really buying your actual plant food.

Email the Experiment Station in your state and ask for the last bulletin on fertilizer values. It will give a list of the brands sold throughout the state, the retail price per ton, and the actual value of plant foods contained in a ton. Then buy the brand in which you will apparently get the greatest value. For garden crops the mixed fertilizer you use should contain (about): 

Nitrogen, 4 percent. Basic formula

Phosphoric acid, 8 percent. == for

Potash, 10 percent. Garden crops 

If applied alone, use at the rate of 250 to 375 pounds per quarter acre. If with manure, less in proportion to the amount of manure used. Basic formula (see above) means one which contains the plant foods in the proportion which all garden crops must have. Particular crops may need additional amounts of one or more of the three elements, in order to attain their maximum growth. Such extra feeding is usually supplied by top dressings, during the season of growth. 

If you look over the Experiment Station report mentioned above, you will notice that what are called “home mixtures” almost invariably show a higher value compared to the cost than any regular brand. In some cases the difference is fifty percent. This means that you can buy the raw materials and make up your own mixtures cheaper than you can buy organic fertilizers. You can also use things you would normally throw away for free!

More than that, it means you will have purer mixtures. More than that, it means you will have on hand the materials for giving your crops the special feedings that the individual types need. The idea widely prevails, thanks largely to the fertilizer companies, that home mixing cannot be practically done, especially upon a small scale. From both information and personal experience I know the contrary to be the case. With a tight floor or platform, a square-pointed shovel and a coarse wire screen, there is absolutely nothing impractical about it. The important thing is to see that all ingredients are evenly and thoroughly mixed. A scale for weighing will also be a convenience. Further information may be had from the firms which sell raw materials, or from your Experiment Station. 

In conclusion, manure is preferred, but organic fertilizer can work well also. The most important distinction is that the plant food is available. You should also realize that different crops thrive off extra helpings of certain plant foods. I give detailed descriptions of how to grow many different fruit and vegetable crops including what plant foods to give each in my most recent work, “Organic Gardening Secrets”. Just click the link below to check it out.

Hydroponics gardening or growing plants in the growing media other than soil has been known to humans since ancient times. It is known that during the times of King Solomon, people practiced soil-less gardening, which later became known as hydroponic gardening.

The word “hydroponics” is derived from two Greek words: “hydro”, which means water, and “ponics”, which stands for labor. The principles of gardening without the use of soil were developed many and many years ago. Since then this type of gardening demonstrates certain valuable benefits in comparison to traditional growing plants in soil. One of the key benefits is that hydroponic plants grow 30-50% faster than plants, grown under the typical conditions in soil.

Traditional organic gardeners have always demonstrated certain level of contempt for hydroponics as the type of efficient and successful gardening. The followers of the traditional soil gardening consider hydroponics to be a kind of chemical gardening. Organic gardeners have always been pretty pessimistic as to supplying their plants with a balanced and calculated set of chemicals, which is a common practice among hydroponics gardeners. However, such an attitude of wide publicity and professional gardeners to hydroponics had changed after Steve Fox demonstrated his achievements in hydroponics gardening.

One of the key components of hydroponics gardening is growing media, an inert material, which unlike soil, does not supply any chemicals or nutrients to the plant. There are multiple types of growing media used today. The examples are sand, gravel, coconut fiber, perlite, and vermiculite. Amazingly, but even air can be used as a growing media for growing hydroponic cultures under the certain conditions.   

The undeniable benefit of hydroponic gardening is that it protects the fertile soils from exhaustion. Besides, it does not presuppose the use of chemical pesticides and other chemicals, which are extremely harmful for the environment. In general, hydroponic gardening may ensure greater yields and, at the same time, let the fertile soil regenerate itself for further organic farming.

Though hydroponic gardening also uses some of the chemicals to feed the growing plants, all the chemical plant fertilizers and nutrients are contained within the enclosed area of hydroponic greenhouse and do not spoil the open air, water or fertile soil.

You have now planted your own organic vegetable garden and have done everything that you can to get it started.  Unfortunately the seeds have not started sprouting or your started seeds have not grown much if it all.  Before you throw in the towel and give up on organic gardening there are a few things that you should try.

First of all, have you been hand weeding your garden daily?  This might sound like a pain and stupid chore but it could make all the difference in the world.  Make a point of visiting your vegetable garden each day and carefully checking for weeds.  Do not let the children do it and do not rely on a glance from your back window to tell you whether weeds are growing or not. 

Many gardeners have done casual checks and later realized that the sprouts they thought were growing in their garden were really weeds.  Make a close inspection each day and weed by hand to make sure the job is thoroughly done.  Throw these weeds away do NOT put them into your compost pit.  In order to get the best results dedicate 20 minutes each day to pulling weeds.

If you have been weeding your garden each day and your plants still seem to be growing slowly start adding rich, aged, compost to the slow growing vegetables.  Many plants just need a helping hand and some vegetables, corn, pumpkins, and squash, all need compost to provide richness and nutrients.  Spreading some aged compost from your composts pits will help your vegetables grow properly.

After adding compost to your vegetables every few days leads to no results consider investing in some manure from your local garden supplier.  They will often have organic manure on hand for your gardening needs and this will act as a stronger fertilizer than your compost.  If you are afraid to try manure you can invest in some aged compost purchased from a nursery first.  In many cases your compost pits will only be a few weeks old when you are trying to use them to encourage growth some older compost might just do the trick.

Do not be afraid to increase the amount of water that you are giving your garden.  You should be careful not to over water your plants but you want to make sure that your plants are getting enough water to survive and thrive.  When you water your plants in the morning always check to see if the soil appears dry.  If the soil seems dry one day after watering you might want to consider increasing the amount of water you are giving them.  The soil should always be a little damp around your plants.

Lastly, do not be afraid to spray your homemade pesticide or even a bit of diluted soapy water on your plants to get ride of insects.  If you notice a lot of pests are attracted to your vegetable garden consider spraying once every ten days or once every two weeks.  Also, spray diluted soapy water directly onto vegetables that have insects on them all the time.

I was convinced about fresh organic food one weekend when I visited a local ‘Farmers’ Market’ for the very first time.  The vegetables were so different from the stuff I usually bought in my local supermarket.

Firstly they were in season, not flown in from somewhere halfway across the world.  Secondly they smelled different. They smelled of something! I guess they smelled ‘fresh’. Finally thay tasted so different. They burst with flavour. You know, I forgot how good eggplants and zucchini could taste!

The only drawback was availability and price. You see the farmers’ market only happened on a Sunday, just once a week. There was an organic section in the supermarket but, wow, the prices were so high. I could see buying just organic vegetables as a treat but every day? Forget it, far too much money!

So I started to research how I could grow some vegetables myself. Now I was always led to believe that vegetables growing was very hard work. Also there was so much jargon involved I assumed that only ‘experts’ could do it. The third false assumption I made was that I couldn’t grow enough my small garden to make it worthwhile.

Then I was recommended a vegetables growing step-by-step instruction program by a friend. This program, called Food4Wealth, promised to show me how wrong I was on those three assumptions I had made! Jonathan White, an environmental scientist and horticulturalist, explained how he had developed a simple, low-effort gardening system based on principles he had examined, researched and taught over 20 years.
To quote Jonathan, his method is……

“ based on ecology, and not horticulture. You see, the problem with horticulture is that it is problem-focused. Have you noticed that gardening books are filled with ways to fix problems? People seem to love creating problems where problems don’t need to exist. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way!
In my experience, the study of natural ecosystems reveals everything we need to know about growing food. After all, Mother Nature has been doing it this way for millions for years.
From my own results I can say, with absolute certainty, that this is the way we will be producing food in the future. It’s just commonsense. Why wouldn’t the world want to use a method that produces many times more food with a fraction of the effort? The biggest challenge is convincing traditional gardeners. Like many industries, the gardening industry gets stuck in doing things a certain way. And for many dedicated veterans, it can actually be quite threatening when an embarrassingly simple solution comes “

So I bought his course of a step-by-step manual which comes with 14 short videos and action plans and actually, for once in my life, ‘followed the script’ and I can tell you the results are quite amazing.If I can do this, so can you!

Jonathan suggests that a family can save up to $5000 off their grocery bill by following his system and he’s not wrong. But I am getting so much pleasure from producing my own food – which I know is healthy -  and that is almost compensation enough.

In the last ten years there has been huge advancements in technology which has led to homogenization and mechanization of farming. Now farmers have access to herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, mass production, additives and pesticides. This is most definitely affecting the health of mankind. New diseases, like bird flu, are spreading very quickly among humans as well as animals.

The W.H.O. (World Health Organization) has produced certain reports that show how chemicals as well as other dangerous products that are used in our food along with the process in which the food is manufactured is actually threatening our health.

If your garden has a little extra space where a few pots can fit, you should consider growing an organic vegetable garden of your own. Here you can see seven reasons why this would be good for you:-

1. There are no additives in organic vegetables – Many organic food associations have studied and concluded that additives in the food you eat can lead to osteoporosis, migraines, hyperactivity and heart diseases.

2. There are no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides – These chemicals are applied on crops so that they can be grown irrespective of weather conditions or plague and they greatly affect quality of the crops. Also, most pesticides are poisonous to human beings.

3. No genetic modification [GM] of vegetables – Hormones, drugs and antibitoics are used on many vegetables to get more, larger vegetables. This practice has one consequence. That the vegetables all look similar and are pretty much tasteless.

4. Eating organic vegetables made yourself is healthy – These vegetables won’t have any of the chemicals or products mentioned above. They are much more natural as compared to any ones that you may find at a super market. You won’t be risking your health as there will definitely be nothing dangerous added in your vegetables.

5. Home grown organic vegetables are more tasty – When pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and synthetic fertilizers are used to grow vegetables, they grow un-naturally and have no taste. When you grow them yourself you will be able to experience their full flavor.

6. Growing organic vegetables is environmentally friendly – Since you are not using pesticides or any  other harmful substances, you won’t damage the air or the soil with these harmful components.

7. If you grow organic vegetables of your own then you are adding to self sustainability as well as sustainability of our planet. There are many small communities across the country where vegetables are grown naturally and then exchanged between the members and this creates a better, much more friendly place for everyone.

Lastly, growing organic vegetables simply means that we will not add anything, that they are not naturally meant to have, to help them grow. As you will be able to guess, fertilizers, additives, hormones or pesticides are all components that are not found in food that is grown naturally. To take good care of your own health, you should grow organic vegetables of your own. All you need is a few pots.

If you don’t already have your own compost, check with your local municipality. Most give away leaf compost for free. Some even deliver by the truckload to your home!

Leaf compost is very rich in organic matter; however, it still needs a few amendments. Lime added to your compost will balance the Ph and Gypsum added (about 5lbs. per 100 sq. ft.) will keep the soil nice and loose, it also adds trace minerals such as calcium which is great for the soil. Adding these will also help plants intake the nutrients they need to thrive. Work this into the top 4”-6” of soil.

Another important key to growing organic veggies is sunlight. Take some time to watch the sun as it moves across your property throughout the day. Start your garden where it will get the maximum amount of sun and plant your rows from NE to SW. It is also important to water your garden in the early morning between the hours of 6 and 10 am. The will allow for good water absorption and any water left on the leaves will evaporate before the heat of mid-day. Watering in the middle of the day is not recommended because the water will evaporate before it has a chance to really soak in (or you will have to water longer to get the same effect). The leaves of the plants may also burn as the water on the leaves heats up. Never, ever water your garden in the evening unless you want a tough battle with the evil fungus! Let me explain. When you water in the evening it is cooler and dark. The ground will absorb the water well, however, the round will only suck up so much, and then the garden is left with water on the leaves and puddles (even small ones) around the stems. There is no sun to gently evaporate the excess. Water and air can carry fungus spores naturally. The water laying on the leaves and around the stems acts as a fertilizer to the evil fungus and it grows literally overnight. Before you know it you have black spots on your tomato and pepper plant and curling leaves on your cucumbers!

Ok, once you have chosen your location, prepared the soil, and have placed your plants in rows, use your recycled newspaper as a weed preventer between the rows. Once the newspaper is wet, no weed can penetrate it. It’s not very pretty, do like I do and give it a covering of mulch. Newspaper and mulch also serve a dual purpose…they help retain moisture around the plants. Just try to keep them away from the stems of your plants.

Pretty simple so far, huh? There is a great misnomer about the word ORGANIC. Many people think that organic means work. It’s just the opposite. Working with nature, and using simple principles is always easier and more successful than working against nature with harmful chemical based fertilizers and control products.

Beneficial insects in your garden are a must. Lady bugs and Preying Mantids will eat many unwanted insects. Bats are also great insect eaters. And no, they will not get stuck in your hair! Install a bat box up in a tree and you will have less garden pests and mosquitoes in your yard. Bats are nocturnal so they won’t bother you at all. They are actually great fun to watch at dusk, dancing in the moonlight.

If you do find yourself with a garden invasion of nasty little critters, there are a few easy tricks. If you only see a few insects, pick them off, put in a refuse bag and throw in the trash. If you have more than a few, a solution of soapy water generally will do the trick. Using recycled bath or dishwater works great. It also saves precious water. If your garden is too large to bucket the water from your sink or tub, pour some liquid dish soap in a hose end sprayer and spray the garden. A good soak of the plants is what you want. You can do this weekly all the way until harvest.

As for fertilizing your veggies, there is nothing better than Merrill’s! When I find a product that works this well, I have to spread the word. Merrill’s Compost Fertilizer or Compost Tea (a water soluble fertilizer) is an All Natural Certified Organic Fertilizer. Your plants will love it! They will grow bigger, and yield more veggies than any other fertilizer I’ve ever used.

Ok, now let me tell you how to rid your garden of the EVIL FUNGUS. If you come across a plant (particularly tomatoes) that is curling or wilting with no other apparent signs of disease, (and it’s been getting adequate water) pull it our and dispose of it immediately. Throw it in the garbage… do not put it in your compost bin!

Do not replant in that spot again this season. It could have Fusarium Wilt or some other disease that attacks the root system of the plant and can travel quickly from plant to plant. If you have Black Spot or Powdery Mildew, make sure you are only watering in the morning, and you can get an organic fungus control at greennationgardens.com or your local garden center.

Now that the gardening season is over, when breaking down your garden… COMPOST IT! Any newspaper and mulch can be placed in your compost to break down naturally to be added back into your garden next year. Plant stems unfortunately have to go into the garbage. They are fibrous and difficult to break down. You do not want any disease spores wintering over in your compost bin. Make sure to test the Ph and amend your soil yearly to replace the nutrients and trace minerals your veggies took from the soil. After all, the organic vegetables you’ll be growing the following growing season will be looking for those very same nutrients. They’ll thank you for it with a bountiful array of fresh organic produce, and your family will thank you for all the wonderful goodness you have provided them with no chemicals, and that is a wonderful thing!

HAPPY “ORGANIC” GARDENING!

More farmers are getting into organic vegetable gardening because it is cost effective and they are able to produce almost the same yield of crops. You to can do this at home but first, you have to understand the principles of organic vegetable gardening.

First, organic vegetable gardening does not use any fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides. Nature is your partner here because you will be using two things to make it all work namely sunlight and water. We don’t produce these ourselves but you have to find the ideal area and provide adequate drainage.

Aside from sunlight and water, you can help the crops grow by using compost heap from leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure. You can mix these all together and then spread this throughout your garden.

A lot of people are grossed about by manure. You don’t have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores. If you have a dog, put on some gloves and put it there. Chickens are also great to have. Just let them roam around in the garden.

Some people use dead animals or meat products. You don’t put these in the soil but leave it for a couple of weeks in the bin because maggots will soon appear and this is what you use to help fertilize your garden.

Another helpful creature is the earthworm because it digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface which also provides better drainage. This long pink colored creature also leaves casting behind that experts say is five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. Again, this can be purchased from the gardening store.

Organic garden is challenging since you have to deal with unwanted guests. Some of these pests include armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. Before, people used fertilizer to kill them but in an organic setting, the best weapon is the toad that is known to eat more almost every type of insect. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because this is not in the toad’s diet.

In some cases, you don’t have to buy a toad or a bird from the pet store. They may come in to your home as long as you set the ideal environment for them. You can put up a bird house or a small pond. Within days, you will have some new occupants protecting your garden.

Other insect killers which you can get to do the job include the preying mantis and the ladybug because they mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain.

Plants can also be used to protect your vegetables. For example, the rosemary, sage or thyme is an effective deterrent against butterflies. Marigolds on the other hand are effective against nematodes.

But despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile. If you planted this kind of vegetable for this season, change it with another and the return to the first after this one is harvested.

The principles behind organic gardening are very simple. You just have to be practice it so you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.

Many people know about the benefits of eating organic fruit and vegetables. However, not many people regularly eat organic food. The biggest disincentive is usually the price. Organic veggies are invariably a lot more expensive at the local supermarket. The good news is that anybody with even a modest vegetable garden can grow healthy organic vegetables for a much lower cost than they would buy off the shelf.

Nevertheless, some people avoid growing their own vegetables because they are running short on space, time and the know-how to tend a successful veggie patch. However, organic gardening isn’t as difficult as many people think.

Mulching is one of the main secrets. The regular incorporation of old organic matter helps keep the soil functioning well. Mulching helps the soil retain moisture, suppresses weeds, reduces temperature fluctuations, and can prevent soil crusting. Many organic gardeners find that plant disease problems decline as the health of the soil improves.

Of course, the main reason for growing organically is to avoid the use of chemicals and commercially produced fertilizers and pesticides. Again, this helps to maintain a healthy soil across numerous growing seasons. More importantly, you can be sure that the food your family is eating is free of pesticides and herbicides. While avoiding synthetic chemicals, many organic gardeners approve of and use sprays and other preparations containing naturally occurring materials. Other pest control methods include the use of mechanical devices such as traps. Another favorite is to encourage other animals, which like to eat the pests, to the garden.

For city dwellers who have more enthusiasm than space, container gardening may be the answer. Many herbs and vegetables can be grown quite successfully in containers. These include carrots, radishes and lettuce, as well as crops that bear fruit over a long period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers. No matter what you grow it is important to remember that drainage is extremely important. Another possibility if space is at a premium is to grow herbs and vegetables amongst your flower garden.

You never know, if the prices of organic produce remains high and concerns about food safety grow you might be able to convert that backyard vegetable patch into an income earner as well. For those less entrepreneurial, there is the opportunity to work on projects, such as neighborhood food growing, in order to benefit the whole community. At the very least, home grown vegetables definitely taste better.