Organic Gardening: A Getting Started Guide
Organic Gardening: A Getting Started Guide
Organic gardeningthe practice of growing fruits, vegetables and flowers without the aid of chemical fertilizers and pesticidesis a way of gardening in harmony with nature by treating your garden as a small part of a natural system rather than an isolated event.
Organic gardening takes into account all living things: plants, insects, animals, bacteria, people and so on. Organic gardeners seek to minimize damage to any resource and work to replace and maximize the resources their gardening activities consume.
Anyone can become an organic gardener because everyone has access to the kitchen waste and dead plant material needed to make compost, which is the basis of the organic approach to creating and supporting healthy soiland healthy soil makes healthy plants. Indeed, a favorite motto of organic gardeners is Feed the soil and the soil will feed the plants. Adding organic matter such as compost improves the texture of sandy and clay soils alike and helps provide a strong breeding ground for the microorganisms that create nutrients for the soil.
Another part of organic gardening involves making appropriate choices in the plants you grow. Choosing plants that are either native to the region and climate in which you live or well adapted to it severely reduces the need to repel pests and protect plants beyond normal care. Such plants have evolved natural defenses that make them less vulnerable to pests and other problems.
When you garden organically, you develop a willingness to share some of your food with other creatures, garden pests included. Organic produce rarely looks as jaw dropping beautiful as the uniform, perfectly shaped fruits and vegetables you see in advertisements and commercials, but then it hasnt been sprayed with chemicals and gassed or otherwise unnaturally colored, either. Wouldnt you rather share the occasional apple with a worm than to eat only apples no bug would touch?
However, gardening organically doesnt mean you have to allow insects and other pests to eat everything your garden grows, either. It does mean that you will use only non-chemical methods to protect your plants from undue predation, such as creating barriers such as floating row covers that prevent moths from landing on plants and laying their eggs there, or plant collars made from aluminum that prevent cutworms from gaining a foothold.
Because organic gardening considers all of nature, it also involves encourages the presence of beneficial insects and other garden visitors. Ladybugs, for example, have a tremendous appetite for aphids. Butterflies are an essential factor in plant pollination. Birds can eat their bodyweight in grubs and slugs in an amazingly short time span.
It is more work to garden organically? Not really. Its just a way of raising plants that considers your garden as a part of the universe rather than the center of it.
Many people take great pride from organic gardening. It can also save you a ton of money. Have you ever priced organic produce at the market? It always costs more to purchase organic, but lucky for you, it doesnt cost more to grow it!
• Choosing the Perfect Landscape Contractor for You
• Herb Garden Kits - Why It’s Quite Important To Get A Plant Encyclopedia
• How to Safely Spray Pesticide
• Caring For Orchids
• Growing Berries
