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Organic Gardening
Organic gardening is gardening without the use of harmful or synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals. Read on to learn more.
About Organic Gardening
Organic gardening is gardening in conjunction with nature, rather than trying to work against it. Essentially, it is about respecting the balance of nature. While there may be undesirable pests in your garden, there are also things that you need, such as earthworms, insects, bacteria, and fungi that work to create harmonious conditions. If you try and destroy the pests through the use of chemicals, it is likely that the chemicals are also destroying the beneficial organisms in the garden.
Soil and Organic Gardening
The main component of a successful organic garden is the soil. Organic gardening improves the soil through one simple thing – adding more organic matter into the soil. You can make your own organic matter by creating a compost heap and adding the compost that you’ve made into the soil. Use natural, biodegradable fertilisers and manures that will break down and feed the soil. After you have harvested your crops, mulch them down and turn them through the soil. They will decompose and release their nutrients.
You can also grow plants for the express purpose of improving your soil. A great way of doing this is by growing legumes. These plants are active nitrogen gatherers and actually give more nitrogen to crops than fertilisers and manure will. This is done through a process known as nitrogen fixation, where bacteria attach themselves to the roots of the legumes and form nodules that are high in nitrogen.
Fertilisers and Organic Gardening
Fertilisers that are not made from natural products are shunned in the organic garden. These chemical or otherwise artificial fertilisers cause soil deterioration, destroy healthy soil organisms, lower the amount of nutrition in edible crops, and actually make plants more likely to succumb to disease and insect infestation. They will also stop the plants from absorbing the minerals that they need from the soil.
Composting and Organic Gardening
Compost is a vital element of the organic garden and something that you can easily do yourself. In fact, you can build your own compost heap in a weekend or less, or just buy a readymade composting bin. Many different types of organic waste can be tossed into your compost heap – table scraps, vegetable and fruit peelings, newspapers, straw, grass clippings, prunings, and so forth. Some weeds can be added but be careful which ones you use as some can start growing in the compost heap and cause you problems. Never add diseased plant matter to the compost.
Mulching and Organic Gardening
Mulching is also valuable in an organic garden. Mulch helps to prevent weeds from growing, keeps moisture in the ground, and acts as a “blanket” to help keep plants cooler in summer and warmer in winter. The mulch itself will actually gradually decompose and provide nutrients to the soil. Mulch also helps to hold plant matter off the ground, stopping it from rotting – great if you have low growing vegetables that need to remain dry.
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