Organic Gardening – The Essentials Of Going Organic!
Organic gardening today involves more than making a cultural impact. In fact, it is now considered an intelligent way of living in harmony with the natural environment. While fertilizers and chemical pesticides are extremely toxic and can prove fatal to useful plants and bugs, tending to your garden organically, using organic plant food, organic gardening supplies and natural lawn maintenance all prove very beneficial to the fragile ecosystem that makes up your garden.
The essentials of organic garden tending are:
1. Rich and fertile soil
2. Sturdy plants
3. Adequate water and sunlight
4. Organic feeds, pesticides, and fertilizers
If there is fertile soil, a good spread of manure and ample nutrients in your garden, then your work is made even more easy. Enriched soil is the foundation of an organic garden, organic gardening supplies, and natural lawn maintenance.
In the absence of fertile soil, it is not possible to achieve the same level of distribution of nutrients to the roots or the same level of defense against pests. Besides, without rich soil the groundwork for a good lawn cannot be laid down and even using organic garden supplies with self-assurance is not done on account of the beneficial effects being reduced by poor soil.
Moreover, sturdy plants can do much towards improving the organic garden, organic gardening supplies, and natural lawn maintenance. Selecting healthy plants free from disease makes certain that the diseases are not transmitted to your garden. A sturdy and tough plant can withstand better, adverse gardening conditions. Hence, if irrigation is not carried out regularly or there is blistering sunshine, sturdy plants are able to tolerate the vagaries of nature much better.
Organic Pesticides and Fertilizers
The maintenance of the organic garden, organic gardening supplies and natural lawn preservation are stipulated like add-ons in the diet of a sportsperson. Organic feeds are conditional on the kind of plants you wish to grow and the soil quality. Based on whether the levels of nitrogen are low or the level of potassium is grossly down one can choose to opt for a granite meal or blood meal.
An overall decent organic fertilizer will contain phosphorous, potash and nitrogen as its key nutrients. Even though manure has been used for the past so many years, at times levels of nutrients in the manure are far less than those in organic products.
In the case of lawns, a safe and reliable herbicide is corn meal gluten. A few gardeners use hot pepper sprays or soap to discourage insects or to get rid of aphids. Most of the organic gardeners just remove or wash out the bugs from the plants. In whichever way you seek to set up organic garden tending, organic feed, organic gardening supplies, and natural lawn maintenance as a part of your garden routine is left up to you.
There are several established methods, but then there is always room for improvement, to go organic and to be happy and healthy as a result of it.
Watch the video related to organic gardening
Scott Meyer, Editor of Organic Gardening Magazine, gives you step-by-step instructions for growing your own potatoes. For more information visit www.organicgardening.com
Help answer the question about organic gardening
Tags: garden, gardener, gardening, gardens, organic, tips, tools
March 24th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Dont plant potatoes this way the guy is wrong to plant sprout side down unless you want the potatoes to grow on the other side of the planet
March 24th, 2008 at 1:47 am
You have inspired me to try some potatoes this year in my garden area. Wish me luck.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Sprout side up my brother!! Whats this guy talking about?
March 24th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Organic gardening is a total myth. there is no such thing. The last organic gardening on this Earth was in N.W. Europe 400yrs ago before the rich landowners forced villagers off the land with the enclosure acts. They even used their own excrement on their fields. They were doing so well they wouldn't work for the rich, so the Tories ( Republicans)stole their land from them.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Pepper plants are good for unwanted insects.
You can also use dish soap. Nothing fancy just regular "Joy" soap cheap soap only. But, there is a good chance you will kill the good insects too.
1st: Get a bucket, fill it with water
2and: Pour the soap in (not to much because you don't want to get rid of all the good insects)
3rd: stir it up so it can blend. (not to much suds)
4th: Let the bucket of soap sit out in the sun for at least a couple of hours.
5th: Use a sprayer and distribute it all over your plants.
See the soap gets in the insects esophagus and the insect dies because it can't breath.
You can use this anywhere in your yard.
works GREAT for cinch bugs.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Corn Gluten is a pre-emergent; meaning it wont kill any existing weeds it just keeps the new weeds from sprouting. You can apply the gluten now, but I wouldn't use it in any beds that you'll be starting seeds in. It's safe for beds that will be planted with starter size plants or existing plants.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I love the book Secrets of Companion planting. I've never used any chemicals, but thats probably why I spend at least a hour a day in my gardens pulling weeds. Composting is another great thing (and I have horses!)
March 24th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Contact your county extension agency and ask if there are any gardening classes.
Some websites
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org
http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/organic
http://forums.farm-garden.com/index.php
http://alanbishop.proboards60.com/index.cgi
http://www.johnnysseeds.com
March 25th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Plant sprout side down? I always thought the sprout (eye) was up.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Well, far from self sufficient now. But organic gardening is fun. We started that idea from 40 over years ago. In those days, My dad would collect all the garbage and incinerate them and use the ashes as fertilizers. Our garbage bin is always empty. After harvesting all the beans, he would chop up the vines and bury them under the ground to keep it fertile for the next crop. We used to plant corn, long beans, kale, peanuts and sweet potatoes and cucumbers. Of course we have the problem of snails and catepillars. Organic was unheard of then. He just could not spend money on fertilizers. We had a big land area surrounding our house. All used water from the house flows into a pool and we use them to water the plants. Come to think about it, it is what people have been trying to advocate these days. Going green and organic and all that. Alas, Dad passed away at 1994 at age 85. Also, would be great to be still staying at that place. Keep it up, you are fortunate to have land like that.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I have been making my living growing produce organically for the past 14 years. For 8 years i was certified organic. I assume you don't care to get certified, you just want to grow pure food.
http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/ is a great forum to learn the ropes. Organic gardening also has a really good forum and the magazine is an excellent resource http://www.organicgardening.com
It will take many years to get you soil in shape and learn the techniques for successful organic growing so don't expect a great garden for a few years. Start small, no more than a 10' x 10' (3m x 3m) garden the first year or you will get overwhelmed in august when the weather is hot, the insects are out and the weeds are growing high.
Mulch everything with straw (not hay as hay tends to have a lot of weed seeds) and mulch well-at least 6" thick. Straw mulch will keep weeds down, moisture in the soil and blight from happening on plants like tomatoes. It also adds organic matter to your soil.
Have a good hoe, rake, wheelbarrow, trowel and garden fork as your basic garden tools.
Start a compost pile ASAP, compost will be the main thing you will feed to the soil/plants. Compost is the best thing to build healthy soil and organics is all about building healthy soil as any organic grower worth their salt knows soil is alive and healthy soils means healthy pest free plants.
Good luck
March 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Square Foot Gardening.
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
March 27th, 2008 at 12:33 am
In organic gardening, soil quality decides vegetable quality. That's why you need good quality compost to keep the soil productive for organic vegetable gardening.
Compost can be made from leaves, dead flowers, vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, grass clippings and manure. The ideal organic soil has a dark color, sweet smell and is full of earthworms. Some soil may need more natural additives such as bonemeal, rock phosphates or greensand. A simple soil test will tell you the pH balance and which nutrients you need to use.