Why Mulching Needs to be Part of your Organic Gardening System

The word “mulch” comes from the old English word “melsc” – meaning rotten hay. In today’s language it has come to mean any material that covers the soil to preserve moisture content, prevent soil erosion and inhibit weed growth. For organic gardening I choose materials that will break down over time, feeding my plants and contributing to the amount of humus in the soil.
Many materials are suitable to use as mulch, such as: leaves, straw / hay, sawdust, gravel / rocks, paper / cardboard, grass clippings, carpet underfelt and even plastic. Each one has its own benefits and disadvantages.
Dark mulches warm the soil, whereas light coloured mulches will keep the soul cooler. In a cool climate a light straw mulch will hold back the development of many hot season vegetables – so take care with your choice of mulch and the time of year you apply it.
I’ve heard it said that mulches can be a refuge for problem garden pests, but nature balances this with enough predators to consume any rise in pest numbers.
Leaves are the most natural mulch of all. However most of the nutritional content has been taken from the tree before the leaf falls to the ground. Many leaves contain tannins and some have growth suppressants (eucalypts & pine needles for example), so it’s better to either add them to your compost heap or place them in a wire container and allow them to decompose for a year or so and become leaf mould, them use as mulch.
Straw / Hay is my preferred method of mulching in my organic food garden. The main advantage over many mulches is that it slowly releases nutrients to feed the plants it surrounds. One disadvantage is that hay may contain weed seeds, but they are usually easy to pull. That is why I prefer pea straw – usually the only weeds are peas and they add nitrogen to the soil. Another problem can be that it may become water repellent. But this is not a problem if you trickle or flood irrigate your food plots.
Sawdust is probably best used by composting it before laying as a mulch as it may rob the soil of nitrogen if your soil is poor to begin with. Also, it can become water repellent. However if you have a good supply it makes an excellent soft, natural looking covering for pathways.
Gravel / Rocks are best used outside of your veggie garden unless you live in a cool climate area and use them around warm climate plants, such as pumpkins and tomatoes. Rocks store heat from the sun during the day and slowly release it through the night.
They can also be used in arid areas around larger plants and trees. Water condenses on the underside of the rocks as they cool during the night helping to keep plants moist.
The disadvantage with rocks is that weeds will grow around them.
Paper / Cardboard are both quite useful as mulches. I often use thick layers of newspaper (which I wet before laying) underneath pea-straw or pine bark. The layers need to overlap about 15cm to prevent weeds from coming through. Don’t use pages with coloured ink as they may contain heavy metals.
Cardboard can make a great mulch under young trees. You can secure it with rocks in a decorative way in addition to straw or bark. Using cardboard beneath sawdust for your garden paths will prevent most weeds.
Grass clippings can be utilised as a thin mulch under trees and shrubs that will feed your plants as it breaks down. Take care not to pile on too thickly though as you will end up with a water repelling, smelly blob!
Carpet underfelt makes an excellent mulch in your organic garden. It won’t blow away, it’s easy to cut to insert your seedlings, it allows air to penetrate and it holds moisture very well. You must make sure that it is the older underfelt though, not the modern foam type.
Black plastic has the advantage of being cheap, easy to install and a great weed suppressor, but its disadvantages are many. It doesn’t feed the soil, it deteriorates with direct sunlight and doesn’t allow the natural gas exchanges between the air and soil.
Whatever your choice of mulch, your organic garden will be more productive and well balanced if you choose a feeding kind of mulch. Remember too that mulches should not come into contact with the stems of you plants as this may cause them to rot.
Ups…great news, I got the great video about organic gardening vegetables … enjoy it.
Learn how to prepare the ground or bed for a home vegetable garden in this free organicgardening video. Get beginner gardening tips & ideas. Expert: Jose Zuniga Bio: Jose Zuniga learned all the basics of landscaping from his Grandpa, including planting flowers according to season, and how to grow different types of vegetables. Filmmaker: Grady Johnson
Anyway, here this several kinds of help that will answer your question about organic gardening vegetables
.Organic vegetable gardening?I'd like to get into organic gardening for my family and I . I have absolutely no idea where to begin. I'd like to grow carrots, peas, lettuce, beans, zucchini, squash. Can anyone offer any helpful hints or websites. Thanks
Tags: broccoli, cabbage, dan, diva, early, frost, garden, organic, planting, spring
December 31st, 2009 at 1:33 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
December 31st, 2009 at 2:31 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.
December 31st, 2009 at 6:55 am
it would be the same as any other garden except you won't be using any chemicals.
December 31st, 2009 at 11:33 am
Firstly you need to buy organic soil …. ie TOTALLY non polluted with chemicals, that is, fertilizers, weed killers, bug killers, road grime etc etc.
Next you need to be away from any fields that use chemical sprays, 1/2 mile to 1 mile is good
Next you need to have Organic seeds, NOT those produced using chemical fertilizers, DNA Modified etc.
Then you need to use CLEAN water to water, preferably rainwater from storage butts if you have it.
And you also need natural organic fertilizers, and organic weedkillers
You may look at organic bug repellant as well, Pyrethrum is good (Marigolds) or buy some ladybirds etc to eat aphids
Enjoy the fruits of your labour
You may want to look at some UK sites where they are heavy into Organic horticulture
December 31st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
December 31st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
BBC Gardener's World has an article on this in this month's edition (April 2007). They recommend http://www.organicplants.co.uk. That's only any use if you are in the UK of course!
I find most plants are easy to grow from seed if you start them indoors in a seed tray. You only need to keep them moist, really. Then you need to "prick them out" i.e. ease them out of the tray and transplant them on a warm, dampish day. when soil temperatures are up to at least 7 degrees Celsius. (You can't do most root veg this way, tho').
It gets easier with practice but the main thing is to read the seed packet carefully and follow the instructions – and to check the seedlings daily.
January 1st, 2010 at 12:52 am
You are asking a huge question. There are big books written about this subject. Since you ask a broad question I will answer it broadly.
Growing plants organically is a lot more than avoiding chemicals. It really is about healthy soil.
http://www.rodaleinst.org is one of the most complete sites devoted to organic growing
But start with the soil. Fertilize with compost, green manures, natural mulches. Start a compost pile ASAP
Have a crop rotation plan (this is important for even the smallest gardens)
Find certified organic seed to plant
Control insects through a variety of methods including crop rotation, exclusion, hand picking, beneficial insects, selective spraying (most organic pesticides, and yes they do indeed exists, are broad spectrum so you want to use them sparingly so you do not kill off the beneficial and neutral bugs that make up 97% of the bug population), trap cropping etc..
Hoeing and mowing to control weeds
January 1st, 2010 at 12:58 am
These are all good answers, but here's a website that can help, too. There are links for every vegetable and fruit you've listed and more.
http://growingtaste.com/
Good luck!
January 1st, 2010 at 2:23 am
I use chicken manure and cow manure from our farm. I put it on the ground and till the dirt about 10 times before I plant.
I don't use anything to debug or to control weeds. If I see bugs, I pull them off. Once my plants are big enough, I let the chickens control the bugs. I also weed the garden about three times a week.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:08 am
Just build a raised bed or find a planter in your yard you can convert. Amend the soil with organic compost and plant away. I would guess at most $100?
Composting is a lot of work, you have to be very dedicated. I've been an avid organic gardener for 12 years and have always been able to buy good stuff for cheap. Some places offer it free if you pick it up, but generally I buy a few yards every spring for under $100 delivered. That and Eleanor's VF11 fertilizer is all you need. Best stuff in the world. Quite simple actually. Easy to use and makes plants strong so you don't need as many sprays for disease and pests. Just keep it simple, there are so many organic gardening products now it should be easy for you.
http://www.vf-11plantfood.com/
January 1st, 2010 at 3:34 am
I highly recommend using fish /seaweed mix…I uses Neptune's Harvest. Buy it in concentrate form..mix teaspoon per gallon. Works great for vegetables, squash and pumpkins. I got it at local nursery.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:53 am
Yes…it does that. The only way to control mint is to plant it in a large pot buried in the dirt, but with the rim just above the surface. This stops it sending out runners.
The only way to get rid of it is careful hand weeding. Wet the soil thoroughly and leave it for several hours to soak in, then start teasing out the plants. Make sure you get it ALL. You may have to do this several times, as it is easy to miss bits, or for pieces to break off. Keep a few pieces for your new confined pot, and put the rest in the trash. Do not try to compost it, as you may not kill it all in the compost heap.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:02 am
Square Foot Gardening.
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
January 1st, 2010 at 10:30 am
There will be so little pesticides left after it is broken down that it shouldn't matter. In addition, the amount taken up by new plants growing in the future from that compost would be very small.
January 1st, 2010 at 12:45 pm
January 1st, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Yes it is. People look to their leaders to set examples. this is a wonderful example to be setting. Everyone should grow some of their own food even if it is just a couple of pots of herbs in your kitchen or a container garden on your deck
And people need to learn they do not need to be using dangerous and toxic chemical in their gardens. organic takes a bit to learn but it is a vastly better way to grow food than using toxic chemicals that will harm your kids and pets.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:30 pm
That depends on the vegetable and the method of storage.
The Muse
January 1st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
January 1st, 2010 at 4:39 pm
It depends on the produce. Green peppers are not ripe peppers so the seeds will be immature. to get pepper seeds you need to use a ripe (red, yellow or orange) pepper
tomatoes you can use the seeds but you need to ferment the seed first than dry them which takes about 2 to 3 weeks to do properly so you don't get seed born diseases.
Dried beans will work. Potatoes will work but get only organic as the non organic kind have a sprout inhibitor and tend to have more diseases (seed potatoes are certified disease free)
Strawberries and raspberries do not come from seed but from plant divisions and runners
leafy greens are harvested before they go to seed.
Melon seed would be viable but these are almost always hybrid AND they are not grown in isolation so the seed would not only be hybrid but would have crossed with any other melon varieties grown within 2 miles so what ever grew would be nothing like the melon you got the seeds from. This would be true of zucchini, cucumbers and all winter squash as well.
So in theory you could grow a garden this way but few if any of the crops would come back true because most everything is hybridized and since none of these crops were grown for saving seed you would have a lot of crosses on top of the hybrid crossing.
If you want to experiment go for it, if you want a garden from which you can eat the food (by this I do not mean any food you harvest will be inedible, it won't. I am saying you probably won't get a lot to harvest) buy seed.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:52 pm
What ever you grew last year, be sure to rotate the crop, don't plant in the same order. Be sure to fertilize, I used steer manure that was aged and no weeds. The vegetable will even taste better. Hoyakins
January 1st, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Study up on what plants ward off pests. Like onions and marigolds. Then be prepared to plant those along with your tomatoes and cucumbers and pumpkins, and maybe your watermelon too. Go to the library and look up some information. Your local gardening club organization could probably help too.
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
This is a good first step:
http://successfulgardening.50webs.com/
This site has hundreds of organic gardening tips
http://www.organicgardentips.com/
I like this site because, as an organic gardener, knowing the nutritional content of compost materials is valuable information. This site offers an easy to interpret table of nutritional values.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:41 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
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:05 pm
The best way to fertilize your organic garden in the long run is to vermicompost. Vermicomposting is easier and has more nutrients than traditional compost. Just how the directions of the following website.
http://www.vcompost.com
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:52 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.
January 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 am
dig over the ground to the depth of a spade, as soon as possible. spread fertiliser, ( animal , veg compost) when you have sown, or planted what you need. only use organic sprays if necessary, like vegetable oil mixed with garlic, to get rid of pests. Straw for mulch is good, seaweed liquid fertiliser also very good.Keep the weeds at bay. If you put out water for the birds and a little food, it will encourage them in your garden, and they will eat the snails and slugs etc. Good Luck!
January 3rd, 2010 at 4:25 am
To get a good organic garden going takes years of soil building. start small as a big garden will get overwhelming come the hot part of summer. I would say a garden no bigger than 10 feet by 20 feet the first growing season.
Now is the time to start garden prep by choosing where you want the garden and opening up the sod. smothering the area where you will have the garden is a good first step or you can plow the sod open and till it in next spring. plowing is a lot more effective than tilling for killing grass.
You will also need some tools. Get a couple of hoes, my favourite is the shuffle or stirrup hoe. You can find these at any box store. they are lighter and easier to use than the standard concrete hoe most people think of when they think about hoes. You will also need a wheel barrow or garden cart, a potato fork (looks somewhat like a pitch fork but fatter), a shovel, a spade, a couple of trowels.
You will need seeds. My favourite place to get seeds is Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. http://johnnysseeds.com
Start with easy things to grow and pay attention to the fact not everything grows in every season. Lettuce for example is best planted in the spring, it likes cool damp conditions. Tomatoes and peppers like it hot. A good seed catalogue will tell you such information. You will likely want to use seedlings for a lot of things such as tomatoes. Do not buy these at places like Wal-Mart. Go to a local nursery and tell them you are just starting out and you will get a lot of advice. One caveat, most nurseries (and box stores) are NOT organic and do not know much about organic growing so ignore all advice to use chemicals. But you will find healthier seedlings at most local places than box stores.
Good luck
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 am
Absolutely no chemicals! When you use chemicals to garden, you end up eating those chemicals as well. You will find that the taste of organic verses chemical gardening is outstanding. No comparison.
There is also heirloom organic…I will use tomatoes as an example. Tomato plants have been genetically altered to produce more and for better looks. (Beefsteaks, Early girl, etc…) But the Brandy wine, my favorite, has not been altered. It is the same tomato plant that our forefathers have grown. And the taste…..All I can say is that you have never had a tomato until you taste an organic brandy wine.
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:07 am
First of all, way to go in trying organic!!. Ok now I would try to get rid of the granite rocks because they dont really serve a purpose. As for removing the the top twelve inches then bringing in newer topsoil, I wouldn't do it. You'll waste money. The soil that the city put in probably is light brown because yes it is sorta dead. But you got it right with the humus. Also well rotted and composted manure will help also. A cubic yards worth of organic material would do wonders to about 50 square feet of area. Look for these materials at the garden center or if you can look for yards that sell bulk material.
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:49 am
Over the counter you can use Neem, or Safer-soap
From home, use mild dish detergent, like Ivory with a drop of vegetable oil and water to spray on your flowers and veggies.