Should You Only Use Organic Garden Plants

If you are an organic gardener you may be wondering if you should be using organic garden plants. That is a really good question and I can only say it depends.

We will take a look at the difference between the conventional vegetable plants grown for the local nursery and purely organic plants and where to find them.

The every day plants you will find at the nursery have been grown with lots of chemicals. They are spoon fed chemical fertilizer to keep them looking good for the customer. If you are gardening organically you must decide if that is an option for you.

Most people in our culture have not considered the fact that tons of chemicals are dumped on our food every day. The nursery that grows garden plants only for profit want to make as much as fast as possible and using chemicals are how they think is the best way to do that.

Using chemicals cut a lot of labor and that is a big cost for them. So, to the large company that is worth the use of chemicals and do not even consider any options. Plus, the average consumer does not ask for organic plants, because they are going home and pouring chemicals on the plants to get them to grow in their own garden. You can't really blame the companies giving the customer what they want.

As an organic gardener you may feel like you do not want to use plants started with chemicals. You do have other ways of getting good quality organic plants, here are a couple of ways to do that.

I garden organically, and do buy some plants from the nursery when I lose some plants or see something new I want to try that they have. I don't want to make that a full-time practice and if necessary I could do without the chemical grown plants.

You have the option to start your own plants before spring in a south facing window, under grow lights, or as I often do, start them in a cold frame. I really like sowing my own seeds so that I can get the varieties that I want, and I can stagger the plantings out over the growing seasons. The nursery usually only has plants available during the spring rush.

Another option is to look in the better garden catalogs for organic vegetable plants. They usually do not have much of a variety and they are pricey, but that is another way you can go.

To get serious about going organic and you want organic plants, you will have to do it yourself, just like most things in life. This article should help decide where you are with your organic gardening and what to do about your organic garden plants.

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4 Tips For The Organic Garden

Gardeners need to take more care of the organic garden than conventional gardeners. A conventional garden can always rely on a handful of chemical fertilizer, or bug spray, or weed killer to get than out of a jam. The organic gardener must think ahead to avoid the problems that a lot of other gardeners get themselves into.

The following 4 tips will help you be better prepared this garden season. The tips cover plant care, weeds, pests and harvest and replant. They will help you grow safe, tasty and nutritious veggies for your family.

Plant care

Growing time is the time for watering and feeding. It is best to check the plants growing habits to see how moist to keep the soil. Some plants are different. Most of the time you just want to add water ever couple of days to keep the soil in the root zone moist, but not wet. Give your garden plants a little compost during the garden season, by carefully scratching it into the soil surface.

Weeds

That dirty word... weeds. To some the weed is the thorn in the side for their garden, but it does not have to be that way. Here are two big tips for weeding your garden. One, mulch your garden with straw, leaves, grass clippings, newspaper or just about any organic material. Place it under the plants as soon as they are big enough. Second, walk through your garden every evening after work. As you walk pull any weeds that stick their heads up through the mulch. It will keep your garden weed free and lift your spirits at the same time.

Pests

We do not have enough space to cover all pest, so we will just cover a few. Bugs are everywhere. If you have a garden you have bugs. Some bugs are good so we do not want to kill everything. You can quickly hand pick, and place the bug in soapy water, as you are doing your daily garden walk.

Row cover is a great invention. It is available from your garden center and is placed over your veggies. It lets in rain and light and keeps bugs out, works great.

Harvest and replant

Once, you have enjoyed your beans, or cabbage, or whatever don't let that soil sit there and grow weeds. Rake in a little compost and plant a different variety of vegetable and harvest again from the same spot.

Following these 4 tips for the organic garden will help you harvest more produce from your garden and have more fun while doing it. Organic gardening is easy, once you learn how to do it. Just remember to care for your growing plants, consistently take care of the pests and weeds and replant after you harvest.

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Nothing Beats Organic Gardening Vegetables

Are you tired of the taste of grocery store tomatoes? Nothing beats organic gardening vegetables... nothing. And, taste is not the only plus to eating organic, test after test show that organically grown vegetables are more nutritious for your family than chemically raised produce.

It has always seems strange to me that people will spend all, or more than, they can afford for a home, and their car has to be the best on the block. But, they buy the cheapest food they can find to put in their bodies.

Your conventional groceries you buy at the local grocery are trucked in from who knows where and are grown with chemicals. When I say they use chemicals I mean they use chemicals for everything.

The ground is prepared with a chemical fertilizer made from natural gas. There many minerals present on this earth and each plant needs it's own combination to grow properly. Over time we have pulled these minerals out of the soil without replenishing all of them. Today many of our soils are deficient in certain minerals. This was even noted in congress of the US many years ago.

Then, there are pesticides and herbicides. Pesticides are used to keep your produce bug free and without blemish. We have been conditioned to look for produce and fruit without any bad spots. When, in reality, the food is just as good with a blemish on it as one without, and tons, maybe millions of tons, are thrown out every year because of some bump on the surface.

Herbicides kill weeds. You can tell a conventional crop field because it looks like plants growing on pavement, nothing growing in the field, but beans, corn or whatever. But, that is against nature. Everything has a purpose in nature and the chemicals have been shown to be a factor in all sorts of health problems.

Organic vegetables are just better for you. You do not have the chemicals to worry about and you are improving your nutrition. In one test organically grown cornmeal was shown to have significantly higher nutrition levels that conventionally grown cornmeal. For instance, the conventional cornmeal had 7.3 grams of protein, but the organic cornmeal contained 11.9 grams, quite a difference.

The best way to make sure you are getting the best nutrition for your family is to raise your own organic vegetables and fruit. You may think that sounds like a lot of work, but if you know how, gardening can be fun and rewarding. Plus, it can give you that exercise you have been planning to start.

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Practical Guide On How To Organic Garden

A lot of the information I read on how to organic garden seems to get way more technical than is necessary to grow your own food in your back yard. Yes, raised beds and hoop houses are great, but if someone is just starting with this gardening thing it can be overwhelming.

If you feel like you barely have time to plant a garden you may give up before you start if you think you have to build trellis', neat little garden fences and just right garden paths. All that looks good in the pictures, but it is not necessary to feed your family.

What do you need to get started?

To start a garden you will need dirt. Makes sense doesn't. Actually, you will need a plot in your yard that is in the sun most of the day, does not sit in the lowest part of the yard where it will be wet all the time and will add to looks of your yard, not distract.

If you do not have a friend with a rototiller, there is an easy way to get your organic garden started. It is best to start the fall before the spring you plan to plant your garden.

Stake out your garden plot and cover the ground with several layers of newspapers, better than throwing them in the trash. Wet these down with water and cover with an old blanket, carpet, or leaves from the yard, whatever, to keep the paper in place and not allow any light to get onto the soil below.

What we want to do is kill all the grass in our garden plot so we will not have to fight with it for two or three more years. Trust me, grass has a strong will to survive.

When spring arrives

Early in the spring, long before you are ready to plant, remove the newspaper and whatever is covering it. Keep the paper if it has not decomposed and use it later for mulch. The reason is, if you do not remove the covering the soil will not dry out until the middle of summer and will be hard to work with.

As soon as the soil dries enough to turn over without making clods it is time to begin getting your hands dirty. Either, have that friend with the rototiller come by, or get out the trusty shovel (I really prefer a good garden fork) and spade up the soil. If you spade the garden, give it a few rain falls to loosen the soil before planting.

Finish soil prep

If you do not have a compost pile started you will need to purchase a few bags of compost from your local garden center. Put about an inch of compost on the surface of the garden and work into the top of the soil. Now you are ready to plant.

If you follow the above advice you can learn how to organic garden in your back yard, and then, you can start to add all the other features as you grow with your organic garden.

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Does An Organic Garden Need A Soil Test?

What is a soil test and do I need one for my organic garden? Some people believe that if they are not using chemicals on their garden there is no need for a soil test. And, some of you may be thinking, how do you give your soil a test?

We need to determine if you need to test your soil, the proper way to take a soil test and what to do with the results if you are an organic gardener.

As an organic gardener you may be applying compost to your garden each season. That is great and compost is good for the soil in a lot of different ways. But, not all compost is the same. Have you ever thought about having your compost tested for nutrient content?

You see, compost is made up of lots of different materials. The compost is only as good as the materials that go into it and the method used to make the compost.

Over time you may be creating a shortage of some mineral or other substance, because it is lacking in one of the ingredients in your compost pile. You have no way of knowing this unless you test the soil or compost, or both.

So, the answer is if you want to have a well balance garden to grow your healthy vegetables in you need to test the soil.

To take a sample of your soil to send to a soil analysis lab you simply need a clean bucket and shovel. You tools must be clean to keep from contaminating your sample.

Take a slice of earth down to 5 or 6 inches deep from 3 or 4 places in your garden, enough to get a good sample of the soil. Mix the slices together in the bucket and let dry. Keep as much debris out of the sample as possible.

The testing lab will supply bags to send in your samples and directions on how to properly take a sample. They will tell you to use a soil probe, but most people do not have one of those lying around, and a shovel will do the job just fine.

What to do with your sample. Contact two or three soil testing labs in your area. You can find those online. Send your samples to each of the labs. You will probably get two or three different results in return.

Why? Each lab has their own way to do the testing and reading of the results. That's why I recommend using more than one lab.

When you get the results look over the recommendations. Unless you find a lab that gives recommendations for organic gardening and farming the test results will talk about the amounts of chemical fertilizers to use. Do not fear.

The results can be put to good use. Use your common sense and see which nutrients are low or high. From this you can decide how to correct the soil fertility organically.

I do recommend you test your soil and, if possible, your compost too. Just follow the above steps and you can have a good balanced soil to grow your delicious organic vegetables for your family.

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Organic Herb Garden - My Top 5 Herbs

Life would be pretty dull without herbs. Growing your own organic herb garden can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Once you grow your own herbs you will never go back to the store bought herbs again. It is kinda' like comparing a store bought tomato to a home grown tomato, there is no comparison.

Growing herbs is easier than growing a complete vegetable garden. Just in size and work alone there is a large difference. An organic herb garden is easy to maintain once it is in place and all you need to do is pick and prepare your herbs and enjoy tasty meals.

Herbs do not require a lot of fertility. In fact many herbs are more flavorful if grown in poorer soil. You will need to research the herbs you want to grow in your garden to properly provide the right growing conditions.

My top 5 recommended herbs

Basil is used in everything and is easy to grow. You can often find plants already started at your local nursery. Look for sturdy plants with good color. The soil for basil needs to be well fed with compost as it grows.

The soil should be well drained. When watering basil try not to get water on the leaves, but water around the base of the plant. Just keep the soil moist, but not damp.

Marjoram is grown in fertile soil in direct sunlight, but will tolerate a poorer soil. Sweet marjoram is used in a lot of meat dishes, but is also used in dressings. It is a pretty plant in the garden.

You can start marjoram from seed indoors about six weeks before the last frost date. Or, if you know someone who raises marjoram you can divide the plant for transplanting.

Chives are so easy it does not matter what color your thumb is you can grow chives. Many people keep a container of chives in the window sill for a constant supply.

Chives are an onion like plant that can be used in almost any dish. You just snip off the amount you want and it will grow back. If you want, you can grow it outside in the warm months and inside when it is to cold outside.

Oregano is an herb that I use a lot. It does not take much to add flavor. Oregano is not fussy about the soil, except you will want the location to be well drained. It can be started from seed indoors or directly in the soil, or it can be transplanted from another start.

Oregano is easy to grow and should be in your garden.

Sage is the old standby. Sage is used a lot with meats. It is an old fashion herb that has been in use for a long time. Sage likes a range of soil types as long as it gets lots of nitrogen. Sage will bush out and get up to 36 inches tall, so give it some elbow room. It, too, likes the sun.

That should get you started with your own organic herb garden. Most herbs really are easy to grow and maintain. I hope you will give them a try and good eating.

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Organic Gardening 101 - Getting Started

Have you been thinking about starting a garden to grow your own food? In this article on organic gardening 101 I want to help you get off the couch and get your hands dirty. As you are thinking about getting started let me suggest that you get started right a go organic from the beginning.

There are many reasons to grow your food organically. The biggest reason is the health of your family. That alone should be reason enough. Would you pour chemicals on your cereal in the morning? Of course not! Then why would you want to put chemicals in the form of fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides on your green beans?

So, the question is how do you get started with organic gardening? There are a lot of things to consider. First, and maybe the most important, is the size of garden space you have to work with. Then, consider the location and how you are going to build your soil fertility.

What size is your garden?

It really does not matter how much area you have. I have known of people who garden in an apartment window. So, you have not excuse, just pick your area and let's get going.

For our purpose here we will say you have some space in your yard that you can put a small garden. I recommend you start out small and grow as your garden does. Gardening is a learning process just like anything else.

Where will you locate your garden?

A garden has to have sun. The amount of sun that reaches your plot throughout the will determine how well your garden grows. You can grow vegetables in varying amounts of light, but results will vary too. So, try to pick an area that has full sun for best results.

It is best to stay out of low areas where water will collect. If plants constantly have their feet wet they do not do well. We can work with a location like this, but it is a little more difficult, and not near as much fun.

Building soil fertility

Since we are not using a bag of chemical fertilizer we need to find an alternative. If your goal is the same as mine, to raise the best tasting, most healthy food, then I suggest you go totally with compost as your veggie food.

Using compost means you must maintain a compost pile. That is really not as difficult as it may sound. In fact, building a compost pile can be a project of its own.

You make compost out of stuff you normally want to get rid of, so making compost can actually save you money. A compost pile should be made from a combination of green stuff and dry stuff.

The green stuff can be grass clippings, weeds from the garden, house hold scraps, etc. The dry stuff can be leaves from your, or the neighbors, trees, a bale of straw, etc. Compost is everywhere. Once you get started you will be amazed at what you can compost, newspaper, cardboard, and even tree limbs will compost over time.

If you follow the advice in organic gardening 101 you will soon be dining on your own very tasty, and more importantly, healthy vegetables that you grew with your own hands. So, get out there, pick your spot, lay out your very own garden area and build that compost pile.

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