You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for May 2010

The Antagonist of Your Organic Gardening Venture

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Yes, you are helping nature by doing organic gardening. But nature has a bigger scope than soil, plants, sunlight, water and air. There may be good insects that will be beneficial for your organic garden. But there are certain pests that you have to be vigilant about in order to get rid of them while you still can.

If you are only starting on this hobby or business, however you’d like to put it, you may be wondering about the pests. How are you going to be able to get rid of them without turning to synthetic pesticides. The short and quick answer is that you buy an organic one. There are actually many brands that are available commercially. You just have to ask around what are the types that will work best in your location and with the kinds of greens that you are growing on your garden.

But before you start choosing the right pesticide, you must be fully aware what the problem really is. To do this, you must inspect your garden thoroughly. Take down notes. You can also take pictures if you are not so sure about the kind of pests that are pooling on your garden.

Then you can go to the store and detail to an expert the problems that you are having. This way, you will be given a brand that will best fit and solve the problems that you have on your garden.

The other way that you can do so that you won’t have to turn to pesticides, even the organic type, is to do things manually. Yes, this is harder. But just consider this as a challenge that you need to overcome to help yourself become an expert.

If the plants are infested by unnecessary pests, what could be the problem? One root of the problem could be the plants themselves. They may be depressed or stressed. What have you done to them? This type of gardening means that you are to take things personally. You are being one with nature. So this succeed on this, you’ve got to take things seriously.

What makes a plant depressed? You may not be spending enough time with it. It may sound weird, but talking to your plants or singing to them may help you with the whole process. Throughout your gardening trek, you should be able to familiarize yourself with all the plants in your garden. You have to know how to make your plants healthy, happy and productive.

If you have to pick out the pests manually, then do it. This can be done as long as there are only few that can be found on your garden. You must only resort to the pesticides once the situation becomes uncontrollable.

You can also add some insects and animals that will help you kill the pests. This way, you are still staying in touched with nature and helping in the process of food chain. For example, a lady bug would eat up an aphid banquet. Frogs and lizards can also help you sort your problems with these pests.

Above everything else, whatever problem you may encounter in organic gardening, just think about nature. How are you going to solve things that you will still be able to help nature and be one with it.

Filed Under: Organic Garden Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Sustainable Organic Vegetable Gardening

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sustainable organic vegetable gardening can only happen if people know how to use and prepare organic matter.

This is because it improves the soil and prevents it from compacting and crusting. It increases the water’s holding ability so earthworms and other microorganisms can aerate the soil and it slows down erosion and in later stages of decay so that organic matter is able to release nitrogen and other nutrients which help the crops grow.

Such a technique is old but is now making a come back because the conventional method of using synthetic materials like fertilizer and pesticides have ruined the soil and depleted it or organic matter so this cannot be used for replanting.

So where do we get this organic matter? Believe it or not, the best form of organic matter comes from animal manure. The fresher the better because you can apply this directly to the soil but this should only be done in the fall and plowed down to give it adequate time for sufficient breakdown and ammonia to release before the planting season begins.

If you don’t have access to fresh animal manure, you can use the dried version that is being sold in nurseries and garden stores.

For those who don’t to use manure, you can use compost instead. This can be made from lawn clippings, leaves, food waste and other plant materials. It is cheap but its nutrient content is very low.

There is another kind of manure better known as green manure You don’t use any waste by animals here but rather growing a cover crop in your garden and then plowing it under so you are adding organic matter to the soil. The best way to maximize this is for you not to use the garden for one season.

You can also seed the green manure in the fall and then turn it under with a plow or a large tiller in the early spring. That way, you can use your garden normally while at the same time building up the soil.

Annual ryegrass is a good example for green manuring and covering. THIs should be seeded 1 to 2 feet per 1,000 square feet. If this is not available, you can use seed rye or wheat and place it 3 to 4 feet per 1,000 square feet. This helps prevent weeds from growing and in order for this to be effective, wait at least 2 weeks before you start planting.

Sewage sludge is also a good source of organic matter. There are two types namely digested sludge and dried activated sludge.

The first is relatively low quality. It contains from 1 to 3 percent of nitrogen and should only be applied during the fall. But you should be careful when you use it because it sometimes contain metal ions that are not good to use on vegetable gardens.

The second which is the dried activated sludge has been separated from coarse solids, inoculated with microorganisms and aerated. This is better than the other one because it is filtered, dried in kilns and screened. It contains 5 to 6 percent of nitrogen and 5 to 7 pounds can cover an area of 100 square feet.

Take note that these two types are different from raw sewage. That being said, never use that to garden any soil.

Sustainable organic vegetable gardening can only happen with organic matter. Now that you know this, choose from manure, compost or sludge.

Filed Under: Organic Garden Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Organic Gardening – Steps to Success

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you have long been curious about organic gardening, you may now be familiar with how things are being done in this process. But even so, you must not tire out from learning new things to help you with this venture.

It is important to keep yourself updated with how things are being done. You should be in tuned with the local gardeners in your area so that you can talk things out with enthusiasts like you. If your goal in going organic in terms of gardening is to help nature, then you are on the right track. For sure, nature itself will find ways to help you out and for you to be able see solutions to your problems just around the corner.

This is how generous nature is. And this is also the basic idea of the organic process of gardening. It is to give back to nature what nature has bestowed you with. In gardening, you will have to veer away with synthetic materials. You only have to use what can be found on the ground or the environment around you.

For example, in fertilizers, you have the option to make your own compost. But this is no easy task. Doing so will take a lot of effort and time on your part. The first method to go about this is to gather dried leaves, certain animal manure, vegetable peels and the likes on a compost bag. You have to attend to it periodically to add moisture once in a while and to make sure that you are doing things right.

The second method is to pile up the materials that you have gathered on the ground. Pile those up in a space that you will allocate for your compost. You just leave them there and let nature takes its course through those materials. Through time, years even, that pile will be turned into compost materials that you can also use as fertilizers for your garden. But you’ve got to be careful to choose only the part that is not infested with pests. If not, you’ll have bigger problems with your garden.

The latter method will take longer. And because it is open and you cannot regulate it, certain elements can be accommodated into the pile which may be harmful to your garden. So when you are already using that, you still have to check very closely so that you will retain your garden’s health and beauty.

You have to remember that you must be picky with your plants. Ask a local dealer what plants will grow easily on your location. You must not opt for something you like that will not survive the site’s conditions.

Learn the art of mulching. You have to do this periodically in your garden beds. This will kill the growing weeds. You’ll be able to monitor the unnecessary pests and get rid of them. This also moderates the temperature of the soil. And by mulching it, you’ll prevent the soil from eroding.

Have a variety of plants in your garden. This way, you will be able to attract beneficial insects. These are the types that would feed on the pests that your garden may incur.

And the most important thing to do in organic gardening is to befriend your plants. You must know all them fully well. This way, you will have an idea as to what to do in cases where a problem struck and you have no one to help you.

Filed Under: Organic Garden Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »