When you think of organic gardening, do you just see it as something that takes a long time to grow without pesticides? If so, then you have a very narrow view of the subject. Organic gardening is so much more than that and it can be personalized so that it works for you. Read on to find out how.
Establish a precise schedule to know when you should plant your seeds. Even if you are growing your plants indoors, you should follow a schedule that matches the season and outside temperature. Spend some time on your schedule at the beginning of a season and you should be able to improve it the next year.
Plant ornamental, edible plants as part of your regular yard landscaping. Good plants to start with include rosemary, thyme varieties, sages, oregano and basil. These all look great mixed with perennials, and they will supply you with enough that you won’t need to purchase them anymore – herbs are expensive at the supermarket.
When raising an organic garden, sometimes a solution to resolving bad soil is to raise your garden bed. Building a garden bed or roost above the regular soil, can allow you to put your own fertilized soil within the bed without the risk of the soil becoming diluted or mixed in with the surrounding area.
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.
The best way to weed your organic garden is the old-fashioned way, pulling the weeds out by hand. Even though organic herbicides sold at the store are tempting, they aren’t nearly as effective as getting on your hands and knees and pulling the weeds out by hand. It’s also very invigorating to do it yourself. It gives you a sense of accomplishment.
If you are beginning an organic garden, you should make sure that you re-pot your seedlings into larger containers with a compost mix as soon as your seedlings begin crowding each other in their original containers. If you do not do this, your seeds will eventually suffocate themselves and die.
An important tip for organic gardening that will naturally help prevent disease from appearing in your plants is to move your plants to different spots of your garden each year. This will keep any disease from spreading because the soil doesn’t build up harmful organisms from planting in the same spot each year.
Many horse farms will give you their horse manure for free if you ask. Some will even transport it to your door for a small fee. Horse manure is rich in vitamins and minerals that plants crave. Usually, the manure is blended with wood shavings to reduce the smell. For the serious organic, make sure that the shavings used are also organic.
When watering your indoor seeds and seedlings, it is important to keep in mind that how you water is significantly more important than how often. You will only need to water about once a week, but when you do, you want to make certain that only the top two to three inches of soil are moist and damp. You also want to be careful not to water too deep because then they will not be able to grow.
The best way to spread mulch on your organic garden is with a flat-headed rake. A flat-headed rake is effectively two tools in one. You can use the tined side to distribute mulch over fresh areas. When you flip the rake over, its flat side makes an efficient tool for smoothing your mulch and making sure it is distributed evenly.
Choose the correct spot for growing organic vegetables. An organic garden needs to be self-sustaining, with the ability to defend itself from damage. This defense is promoted by four factors: water, sun, soil and air circulation. Choose a sunny spot, preferably with both morning and afternoon sun. In humid areas, morning sun is important to dry dew quickly, avoiding fungus. If your soil is clay or sandy, amend it with peat to improve water retention and drainage.
If you’re trying to decide how to water the plants in your organic garden, consider a soaker hose. The water slowly seeps from these hoses and is positioned so the roots get the water, and the leaves remain dry. Compared with sprinklers, a soaker hose wastes less water and is far more convenient to use.
After reading through all of that, do you still see organic gardening in the same way? Do you now see that it is so much more than a pesticide-free garden? The work involved is not too bad, but it will take effort and patience to grow an organic garden of your own.
Grow Organic Produce For Your Family With These Tips was originally published on Spring