Posts Tagged ‘Organic Vegetables’

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.

An organic herb farm can be rewarding financially, physically, and emotionally. Even a small organic herb farm can produce a good harvest. You can use the herbs yourself, or sell them for profit at a farmer’s market. You will want to plan, of course. You will need to learn a number of things before getting started with an organic herb farm.

Organic Herb Farm Plans

Organic herb farm plans begin with determining how large a space you will allot to growing organic herbs. Herbs do not require as much space as many organic vegetables require. You can reap a good harvest in a small space.

You will want to plan, too, what types of herbs you will plant. There are three main categories.

1. Culinary – herbs valued for their taste
2. Medicinal – herbs valued for healing power
3. Scented – herbs valued for their fragrance

Organic herb farm plans often use all three, but some limit the farm to one type. Some organic herb farms grow only one herb. Think about whether there are any organic herbs you consider “must-haves” and whether there are some you really do not want to grow.

Once you have decided on space and the type of organic herbs you will grow, you need to test your soil. Is it chalky, clay, loam, or sandy? The type of soil you have will play a part in your organic herb farm plans. Test it, or have it tested so that you know. Determine whether the soil is well drained. Is the location sunny, shady, or mixed sun and shade? Will parts of your organic herb farm be exposed to wind?

Organic Herb Farm Layout

Your organic herb farm plans will need to include a layout. Use graph paper, or a computer program with a graph. On your graph paper, mark north and south. Then draw in the basic shape of your planned farm. Use a key. For example, 1 square on the graph equals 1 square yard. Draw any buildings, walls, ponds, streams, trees, or other obstacles. Indicate how tall the trees are, since this will affect sunlight. Indicate areas that are especially damp or dry.

Use your farm layout to select seeds or healthy herb plants. You can buy bulk organic herb seeds, sometimes at wholesale prices. Consider your soil and climate in selecting plants or seeds. Most nurseries or farm suppliers can give you guidance in these matters.

You may want to arrange plants according to color, If soil, sun, shade, and wind conditions allow. Or you may group organic herbs that offer benefits to one another on the farm. Here are three examples of good groups.

1. Germander, lavender, rosemary, sage, and thyme
2. Cilantro, lemon balm, lemon verbena, oregano, parsley, and thyme
3. Basil, mint, oregano, and thyme

Organic herbs are among the most beneficial plants you can grow. The plants will attract insects to your organic herb farm. Count on the help of bees, birds, and butterflies to enhance pollination and increase harvest.

Your organic herb farm plans should take advantage of the fact that those who grow organic herbs create a beautiful landscape, teeming with wildlife.

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.

Why does partial shade play an important role in organic vegetable gardening? And how can such shade be done? And is it really vital for your produce to grow?

For gardeners, they know that shade plays an important role in what they are doing as much as the sun. This is especially true if one is into organic gardening of vegetables. The exposure to sun and its need to be in shade still depends upon what plant you want as produce. But learning all about the plant and its needs first will lead a gardener for a better output.

Being one with nature, being in touched with your produce, is the main responsibility of an organic farmer, in the first place. So before you might want to delve into this, you must first be ready to be patient and hardworking because of the holistic approach being used in such type of gardening, everything depends on the farmer, they have no one to turn to except for themselves and the natural environment.

Organic Horticulture
The word horticulture comes from two Latin words, hortus that means garden plant and cultura or culture. It is both an art and science of planting and producing vegetables, flowers, fruits and even ornamental plants.

Horticulture has five parts of study; floriculture for floral plants, landscape horticulture for landscape ornaments, pomology for fruits, postharvest physiology is about keeping the harvested produce fresh and how to prevent these from rotting quickly.

The fifth area of study for horticulture is olericulture, which you might be interested in if you are into vegetable gardening because this tackles the process from producing the crops to marketing such.

Partial Shade
You may know that a plant needs soil, sun and water to be able to survive. But you must also be aware that it needs shade, especially the vegetables because not only one must protect it as a plant but must also care for it to produce a good harvest.

In organic vegetable gardening, by exposing the plants to a range of 30 to 50 percent of shade can actually lower the leaves’ temperature by about 10 percent or even more. For the northern and coastal climates, 30 percent shade is recommendable while 47 to 50 percent in hot and summer-like places.

By doing what’s stated above, vegetables like lettuce, arugula, mustard greens and mesclun mix would produce better qualities.

The shade also lessens the temperature of the soil by three to six degrees Fahrenheit. This will benefit vegetables such as cabbages, mustard greens, broccoli, chard, radishes, turnips and spinach that grow in the soil. It is because these produce will germinate better when the soil temperature is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shade Tent
You can also provide your plants with handmade tents. This will be most beneficial if you have a large produce and you can’t attend to each plant one-by-one, placing cloth as shade at top of each one.

To do a shade tent, you would need sturdy plastic tubing that are about 1/2 or 3/4-inch in diameter. Cut this tubing into 6-foot in length, just enough for it to arch a foot length above your crops. For each arch that you’ve made, place a bamboo or rebar stakes, each one at about 18 inches. Put these in the ground at the sides of the plants’ bed until about 10 inches of each of the stakes is visible. Now you can bow your tubing by sliding its ends at the stakes.

With the foundation ready, you can now place a shade cloth over the arches for it to cover the plants’ bed. Make sure to clip the cloth at the tubing so that it will remain in place.

Remember, if partial shade is not readily available when you are into organic vegetable gardening, make one by just doing the above mentioned procedure.

Anybody can do organic vegetable gardening at home because the principle behind this is not that different from what they do in the farm. The only difference is that you work in a smaller area and you get to choose what you like plant.

The first thing you have to do is find an ideal location. A lot of people do organic vegetable gardening in their backyard. To make it work, whatever you are planting should get at least 6 hours of sunlight everyday and access to water.

Just like the ancient civilizations that relied on an efficient irrigation system, you too should do the same by making sure there is adequate drainage because if you don’t, you will have to do organic vegetable gardening using a raise bed.

When your ideal location has been found, it is time to cultivate the land. For that, you will need your gardening tools and a pair of gloves to pluck out the weeds on the ground. This might take a few days to make sure the area is ready for planting.

You will only know if the ground you are going to plant your vegetable is a good spot by testing it with some compost and mixing this with the soil. Should it be able to integrate and stabilize itself with the soil, this means that you can start planting your crops and see it grow in the succeeding weeks.

If you don’t like to buy compost from the gardening store, you can make your own using coffee grounds, dead leaves, grass clippings, food waste or even manure. They also serve as excellent fertilizers.

As for your vegetables, take note that some of these may not be suitable in the land you are planting these on. This is because of several factors that are beyond your control such as the weather, pests and other plant borne diseases. You can avoid making this mistake by doing some research on what vegetables are ideal to plant in your area and asking fellow organic gardeners.

One way to protect the organic vegetables you are planting is by planting a variety of them at a time since some of these protect each other from pests. Such practice is better known as crop rotation especially when you want to adapt with the weather in your area. Another defense system that works is getting the help of Mother Nature as birds, certain insects and even toads have proven to be useful.

If you live in an area where wild animals may eat your vegetables, you should put up fences so they are not able to get through. Other tools you can use are animal hair, baby powder and deodorant soaps.

Part of preparing the land is removing the weeds. But remember that new weeds grow after some time so you have to inspect the area from time to time.

Planting your own organic vegetable garden at home will surely save you money as these are quite expensive in the supermarket. If you have some excess stocks when it is time to harvest them, maybe you can give some to your neighbors or make some money by selling it at the local market which isn’t that bad given that you don’t shell out that much cash for this investment.

Organic vegetable gardening seems to be the trend these days as more people have become conscious of what they are eating. This is because conventional methods which involve the use of harmful chemicals may enter our systems.

In order to control the problem, the US Department of Agriculture has issues a new directive. This encourages farmers to shift to organic farming.

With organic farming, farmers will no longer need to plant crops using genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge. Instead, this will be replaced with crop rotation.

Crop rotation is the practice of planting a different crop in the same area where another crop once occupied. This keeps the soil’s nutrients fertile so it can be used again in the following season.

If you think about it, this approach is easier said than done as farmers are accustomed to the old ways of doing it. To help them change their minds, the government offers incentives and subsidies to farmers who decide to follow this plan.

But the main reason why organic vegetable gardening is so important is the fact that the crops harvested have 50% more nutrients and vitamins compared to that of conventional farming methods.

This means the food they consume will reduce the risk of people suffering from a number of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and certain cancers.

Children who drink milk will be able to get more anti-oxidants, CLA, Omega 3 and vitamins when this is extracted from pastured grazed cows that will really strengthen their bones and muscles.

You can buy organically grown vegetables from the supermarket. The sad part is the almost everywhere you go, although the packaging comes from Department of Health, Quality Assurance International, California Certified Organic Farmers or the Oregon Tilth Farm Verified Organic, most of these are only 50% to 70% organic.

This is why homeowners who want to eat 100% organic vegetables are encouraged to grow these themselves.

There are two ways to make this happen. First, you buy the seedlings until they grow so you can harvest the. Second, you buy them fully grown and then just plant it into the ground.

Most people prefer the first because it makes them proud to know that what is served on the table was done from scratch.

In both cases, you have to prepare the soil, use compost and make sure that these are safe from threats such as insects, weeds and other animals that will eat what you have planted.

You can fight these with other animals, insects, organic fertilizers, deodorant soap and a few other items which you can find out after doing some research.

For those who don’t have a big garden, they can try growing these organically grown vegetables in containers. They require more water than those planted in the soil so give doses frequently.

There is no doubt that organic vegetables and other products are important these days. If you value your health and those of your family you can buy these from the store or plant it yourself.

For those who decide to buy organically grown vegetables, remember to wash before cooking them. This will remove any harmful substances or residue that may still be there which is invisible to the naked eye.