Ready to start growing your own food via an organic garden? Do you know how to tart growing a garden like that? If not, no worries, this article has your back. Below are some tips and tricks that can get you started with the basics of growing an organic garden.

Pick the right plants. Certain plants will have an easier time germinating than others, and will guarantee a better harvest for the beginning organic gardener. Good choices include hardy varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, and herbs, but of course, you have to choose those plants which are going to do well in your climate.

Plant strawberries for your children. Children love to snap up these sweet juicy fruits for themselves and will be much more willing to eat other foods you’ve planted as well.

If you live in the city, you can still reap the benefits of organic gardening through container gardening. Herbs especially will thrive in indoor pots, as long as they are large enough. Container gardening can be easier than outdoor gardening when going organic, as there is less risk of exposure to insect pests or weeds.

A mixture of aspirin and water can protect your plants from common diseases. Your plants can benefit from a solution you can make by dissolving one and one-half aspirins into a couple of gallons of water. All you have to do is spray the plants with this solution and you should see good results. Use this method to spray your plants every three weeks.

Making your own compost for organic gardening is extremely simple and easy to do. It provides soil of gardens with rich nutrients and keeps soil cool during summer months. You can use kitchen waste, sawdust, aquarium water, coffee grounds, tea leaves, rabbit or hamster droppings, a thin layer of lawn clippings, spices and eggshells in your compost.

Keep your seeds warm and humid. Most seeds are healthy at a temperature of about seventy degrees. Place your pots next to a heating vent or install an additional heater if needed. You can cover your pots with plastic films so that the seeds can keep their humidity and warmth.

Embrace earthworms in the organic garden! Earthworms are an organic gardener’s best friend. Through tunneling and their nitrogen-rich castings, they can help to aerate the soil. This improves the amount of oxygen that gets to a plant’s roots, improves water retention capacity, and keeps the soil loose and workable. They actually raise much-needed minerals from the garden’s subsoil to the topsoil, where plants can get the greatest benefit. These worms also break up hardpan soil, which is detrimental to root growth.

Don’t harm your native critters. Some animals can naturally keep the bug population down; one such example of a good pest-predator is the bat. Bats are well-known for being bug consumers. Since your garden may sometimes look like a tasty treat to these tiny critters, having bats around can help reduce their population naturally, without the usage of harmful pesticides.

When building or maintaining a compost pile, it is important not to add coal ash or charcoal to the pile. Both ash and charcoal have high amounts of iron and sulfur, as well as other unwanted chemicals, that may pollute the soil and potentially harm the health of your plants.

If you are experiencing a problem with slugs or other insects, a wonderful organic contact pesticide is diatomaceous earth. You can buy this at most garden centers, and it comes in a white powder form. It is an abrasive material that will kill the critters by damaging the skin of the slugs and joints of the insects.

To keep rodents, deer, and other pesky animals away from your organic garden, use organic repellents. A spray made from hot peppers can be effective. Otherwise try a spray containing urine or rotten eggs. Regardless of what you use, apply the sprays liberally and reapply regularly especially after a rain shower.

When maintaining an organic garden, be sure to always wind up your hoses. Dragging and storing a hose that is not wound up can take a lot of time away from you. Try using stationary or portable hose reels to wind up your hoses and to save you some time.

Plant slightly more than you will need. Pests and poor weather can diminish yields from your garden, especially if you are new to organic gardening. To account for this possibility, plant a little more than what you will need. However, don’t go overboard, if it is successful, you could have more vegetables than you could possibly use.

With the previous tips kept in mind, you ought to be ready to start growing your own organic food. It does take some research, hard work outside, and some patience, but if you keep at it, it is indeed possible to have a successful organic garden. So, get out there and grow!

Learn New Organic Gardening Techniques With These Simple Tips was originally published on Spring