Organic Gardening Tips
Instead of chemicals in your soil and on your food, why not try organic gardening?A good start is a few plants in pots or tucked in your flower beds, or a small garden area, or you can get really ambitious and turn your whole yard into a garden!
Actually, if it’s your first garden, it’s better to start small.Gardeners want to plant everything they see in those wonderful garden catalogs, so it’s easy to plant way more than the gardener can reasonably take care of!Gardening is a great hobby, but although it’s fun and a satisfying pastime, it’s also a lot of work.A month or two into the gardening season you’d likely wish you hadn’t planted quite so much.It’s much better to start small and work your way up to a bigger garden as you gain experience!
On Location…
Like the real estate agents are fond of saying, “It’s all about location, location, location.Vegetables generally do not thrive in shady spots. They needs lots of sun to do well.One thing you can’t provide artifically is ample sunshine. Even a huge bank of portable lights wouldn’t do the job, not to mention being outrageously impractical.
Sunshine is required for any garden, organic or otherwise, to thrive. Put your pots or garden plot where the plants will get at least 6 hours of sun a day for best results.It’s nice to have the garden close to the house so you can get to it easily, but shade from trees or the house itself may make that impracticle.It’s great to have easy access, but sunshine is a must.
Ample sunshine is important for your garden location, but so is drainage. Plants won’t thrive if they sit in water. Fertile soil is a big plus, but if that’s lacking, you can always add soil amendments.
Down and Dirty
Adding compost will help your soil no matter what type it is.To improve the soil and help plants grow better, you can also use organic materials and natural fertilizers. Most vegetable roots are in the top 6 inches of soil, so tilling or double digging will easily mix the materials into the soil where the roots can reach it.
Time to Plant
Seed catalogs and nurseries are brimming with all types of vegetables.Take into account what kind of vegetables you and your family like to eat, then choose varieties that will do well in your area.Sweet potatoes, for instance, need a longer time to mature and generally wouldn’t do well in the far north, while on the other hand, peas thrive in cool climates and wouldn’t do well during a southern summer.
Organic material mulched around your vegetables will discourage weeds from growing, help conserve water, plus add humus and nutrients to the soil.It’s a super way to improve your garden soil, keep weeds at bay, and help your plants grow better!
Don’t Let Them Bug You
Where there’s lovely young plants, there’s bugs looking for a meal.A spray of plain or soapy water will dislodge bugs from plants, or they can be hand picked to remove them..
Not all bugs are bad, and some are even beneficial such as ladybugs, green lacewings, praying mantis, spiders and wasps since they eat insects that try to eat your vegetables.
Companion planting with insect repellant plants such as marigolds or nasturtiums can also help keep bugs away from your garden.
Don’t expect every vegetable to be absolutely perfect.Taste is what’s important, and a vegetable doesn’t have to be perfect looking to taste good.Bad spots in the food can just be cut out before eating it.
No Freeloading Weeds Please!
Weeds have been defined as “a plant growing in the wrong place.” That pretty much sums it up.When something comes up you didn’t plant, consider it a weed and pull it up or till it under.Whatever method you use, just get it out of the garden.There is only so much water and nutrients in the soil to go around, and weeds steal some your vegetable plants could be using.
Ready, Set, Garden!
The right ingredients for the garden are a good location, fertile soil, the right plants, and keeping the garden weed and bug free. Growing an organic garden is a wonderful way to put great tasting food in your diet. So get out there and get your garden growing!
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