Successful Organic Gardening: Working With Nature
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Successful organic gardening means natural gardening, or working with nature instead of against it. The results are actually better for everyone!
Compost as Organic Fertilizer Successful organic gardening starts with healthy soil. What normally follow are healthy plants that are pest and disease resistant. To enrich the soil, compost your kitchen and garden scraps. Compost as organic fertilizer requires a mixture of green and brown matters. Properly composted matters should have a fresh earthy smell. You can also make your own organic fertilizer. For every three parts of alfalfa meal add one part of kelp, one part of blood meal, and half a part of bone meal. Organic Gardening Requires Green Composting Matters Greens are high in nitrogen content and decompose quickly. For every two parts of greens, have one part of browns. Examples of greens are grass clippings (avoid those that have been sprayed with weed killers), vegetable and fruit scraps, seaweed, animal manure (not dog, cat, pig, or human feces) and weeds that have not gone to seed. Avoid autumn leaves as they decompose slowly. Organic Gardening Also Requires Brown Composting Matters Browns are high in carbon content. Without the greens, the browns will decompose slowly. Some examples of browns are shredded twigs or tiny branches, shredded newspaper or cardboard, sawdust, and very wet straw. The Undesirables in Organic Gardening Ignore diseased plants and other ill matters for composting. No grease, oily wastes, dairy products, etc., as they take an unreasonable time to compost. Bones, fish and meat pieces, and the like are magnets to rodents. Do not use metal, plastic, glass, and rubber. Cover Crops in Organic Gardening Plant in early fall so that they can germinate and slowly develop through the winter. To give them the chance to decompose, till them into the ground several weeks prior to planting time. Cover crops can be cultivated in raised beds. You can use your hand to turn them over. Pest Control and Organic Gardening Think of chemical sprays that are harmful to beneficial insects and organisms in your garden, and you have one view of why organic is better. Take advantage of beneficial insects like ladybugs and green lacewing larvae. If absolutely necessary to use sprays, try insecticidal soaps. You can also use botanical or biological pesticides such as Bt and rotenone. Follow directions exactly. Companion Planting and Organic Gardening Pests use their sense of smell to find their favorite plants. Use plant combinations to confuse them. However, be mindful of what plants are neighborly to which plants as you think of smells and shapes to fool pesky bugs. For example, radishes repel cucumber beetles. Instead of using chemical sprays, you can companion plant radishes and cucumbers. Irrigation Deep watering promotes entrenched root systems, helping the plants with more moisture and nutrients. You can also benefit from installing a drip irrigation system with a timer. For container planting, do not settle for a fixed watering schedule. A container plant’s watering needs depends on humidity, temperature, lighting, and soil. Water only when the soil is dry to the touch about half an inch down, and just enough so that there is some drainage. Do not allow plants to sit in water. Crop Rotation and Organic Gardening. Planting the same crops in the same place each season will deplete certain nutrients from the ground. Your produce quality will steadily worsen. This may entail keeping a journal so that there is a record of what you planted where. Plant What Your Family Eats Planting a garden should be considered in accordance with your family’s needs. Know what and when to plant and what quantity. That is part of successful organic gardening.
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