Tuesday, June 19, 2012

How to Grow Better Food Organically

Watering the plot edge after planting Ipomea


There seems to be a push going on by a lot of people who want to make our whole planet go green because they believe it will save the world and our species.  While we might never succeed in getting all of the gas guzzlers off our highways, as individuals we can decide to do some simple things to go green.  One of these things is enjoyable and healthy – and it can save you a lot of money as well.  That “thing” is organic gardening.  Here are a number of tips that will help to go become an organic gardener.


You might be tempted to use chemicals in your organic garden but if you do, not only will it do more harm than good, it will defeat the purpose of organic gardening.  Think about it and you’ll probably realize that all of the pollutants in the chemicals will run off from your garden and contaminate everything that they touch.  In any case, if you keep your soil healthy you won’t need to use any chemical fertilizers.

Keep in mind that one of the goals of many organic gardeners is to create habitats that encourage great growth in an ecofriendly manner.  So when you are designing your garden consider using lots of different plants.  When your organic garden is diverse it will invite a diverse population of insects which could benefit both your garden and your home. 

When you water your garden you should use a soaker hose instead of a watering can or a regular hose.  Just turn the soaker hoses’ pressure to low.  This way you can leave the water on for several hours.  When you do this you will slowly irrigate your garden while giving yourself the time to do other things as well.

Composting
One of the key components of many organic gardeners’ plans is composting.  Composting is the most natural and best way to fertilize an organic garden.  You can make compost from anything that was once alive, so don’t discount the value of your grass clippings, leaves, kitchen waste, or anything else that was once living.

Gardeners use compost to create soil for their organic gardens.  Composting makes it possible for your garden to have fertile and rich soil without using pesticides and chemicals.

Wise gardeners can minimize their efforts by composting in small batches that are located close to the planting beds that will need compost.  If you follow their example you’ll save the time that it would take to cart the compost from a centralized pile to where you are going to use it.

However, if your compost piles are open you still need to build them in places where there’s at least six feet of open area between the piles and your garden.  If you make your compost piles too close to your garden your plants could come into contact with immature compost.  This could cause your plant’s roots to become damaged.

You don’t really need to be an ecofriendly person to grow an organic garden.  Maybe you’re just looking to save a bit of money or to lose a couple of pounds.  Either way, there are a ton of benefits available to the people who go organic.  The tips you’ve just read should help you to start out when you want to start growing your own produce organically.

Beth McDonald is a stay-at-home mom who’s concerned about environmental issues in the United States.  In her spare time she does freelance writing and is often is a guest blogger about a lot of different topics including Radius maps.

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