Organic vegetable gardening does not use fertilizers and chemicals which can be harmful to humans. It also does not use genetic engineering or irradiation. Instead, it uses simple farming techniques like tilling the land, giving it enough water and sufficient exposure from the sun.

When harvesting is finished, something new is planted which is better known as crop rotation that helps keep the soil fertile.

Growing organic vegetables is not something that only farmers can do. This can be done by homeowners since they can plan some of these in their own backyard.

The first thing that you have to do is choose what kind of vegetables you want to grow. You also have to understand how big these can grow so it will be easy to plot how many can be placed per row.

The next step is to check the condition of the soil. There are kits you can buy from the store to check its fertility. If the soil is good, then you can start by clearing it of rocks and weeds by mowing, pulling or digging them out.

You should then add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. You can also add lime or sulphur to adjust the soil’s pH level only if you have to.

It will also be a good idea to till or dig in fertilizers using organic matter. This must at least be an inch of sharp sand if the soil you have is made of clay and then you rake the soil into beds and rows. You should leave it be for at least a month before you start planting.

Don’t forget to use organic mulch to blanket the garden.  You can use ground bark for that since it will decompose over a season or two.

You can also use a compost file made out of recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste since these serve as a good fertilizer.

The organic vegetable garden will grow but it will be always under threat from weeds and insects. For that, you have to use other animals and insects to fight these pests. You don’t have to buy them because setting the ideal conditions will invite them in to your home.

As for the weeds, you can get rid of them by pulling them out or spraying home made vinegar as this stops them growing. If you plant thickly enough, you will be able to discourage weeds from growing in between the plants.

Planting your own organic vegetable garden isn’t that bad given that the only ones who will be consuming what is planted are those that live in the household. But it’s going to be a bed of roses from the time you till the land to the time that they will be harvested.

The advantage of working on a small spaced is that you can easily inspect the whole area so nothing is left behind.

Organic vegetable gardening containers have advantages. You can use it décor every time you decide to let it get some sunlight when you place it by the balcony or patio. If the weather gets too cold outside, you can bring it indoors. But best of all, you don’t have to deal with certain threats that can only happen outdoors like weeds, insects or soil borne diseases.

Organic vegetable gardening containers do not use soil. You need to use potting mix that is much lighter and provides excellent drainage. You need to use organic fertilizer though to help it grow. An example of this is mulch that can be made from chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure which helps prevent it from drying out.

Another thing the plants inside these containers need is a lot of water. Ideally, you should put these in small amounts at least 30 minutes after an initial watering because putting in too much could drown your plant.

The containers can be hung aside from just putting these on the ground. If the container that you purchased does not have any holes, make a few.

By now you may be asking, “What are the ideal vegetables to be planted in these containers?” To give you can idea, these are bush beans, capsicum, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and tomatoes.

You know that organically grown vegetables need sunlight. If you have a lot of these containers and it is getting pretty windy outside, you can protect them from falling by grouping these together with the taller ones with these as your walls.

The best organic vegetable gardening containers are those made from clay, plastic or wood. The length of the roots and its width is the deciding factor when choosing what size you will buy from the store. For instance, if your vegetable happens to have 6 inches of roots and grows to about 10 inches wide, it is best to get a container that measures 8 inches deep and 10 to 12 inches wide. You must always give room for allowance as this may grow bigger. 

We mentioned earlier that one of the advantages of the organic container is that you don’t have to deal with insects. But sometimes, bugs like the hookworm manage to get to your plant. If this happens, just bring the container to the sink and wash the leaves. Should there be slugs, get rid of them by sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the soil.

If there are aphids on your vegetables, fight fire with fire by getting other insects to do the dirty work. A pack of ladybugs will do the trick without causing any collateral damage.

The use of organic vegetables containers makes it people without a backyard the chance to plant their own crops at home. This is ideal for residents living in condos and apartments so they can save money to pay for rent or buy other things when the sustenance they need is just sitting by the balcony or window.

If you want to try it, go ahead and ask someone at the gardening store for some help to get you started.

The concept of organic vegetable farming is not new given that ancient civilizations have been doing it for years. We somehow forgot that thinking that modern science could help us produce better crops.

But if we go back to the basics, we realize that the resources need to make this work is right before our eyes.

First is the soil. Although 2/3 of the Earth is made up of water, the remainder is what we use for infrastructure while a certain percentage of that is devoted to agriculture.

The second thing you need is water. The ancients used an efficient irrigation system so that water from the rivers would go to the land they planted on. These days, we have the technology to divert water to these areas using pipes. When it has not rained for a long time, we are able to make artificial rain.

Third is sunlight. We may not control its movement but if we are able to plant our crops in an area that has sufficient exposure to the sun, whatever we plant will grow.
 
But between the period of putting the seeds in the ground and before these are harvested, farmers have to be on their guard. The crops are threatened by insects. This is why people are advised to use other insects, birds and toads.

Organically made fertilizers also come to play here and some examples of them include the application of compost, manure and cover cropping.

The soil where the vegetables were grown and harvested may not be ready to plant the same crops so maintain its fertility, farmers are also encouraged to rotate their crops.
 
To make sure that farmers who practice organic vegetable gardening are doing it right, the Department of Agriculture together with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture or IFOAM that has been in operation since 1972 sees to it that certain standards are in place.

Some people will argue that organic farming is not able to produce the same amount of yields as compared to those who use fertilizers and pesticides. This is true however, in times of drought, these crops are still able to survive because there is still enough water underground. This means farmers will still be able to harvest and there is a steady supply of goods in the market.

It is expected that the demand for organic vegetables will grow in the future. This is as more people become of food safety issues and how this affects the environment.

You can do your share by trying organic vegetable gardening in your backyard. The things you need are very affordable. You just need to practice what farmers do in the fields.

In fact, such information can now be found in books and online so do some research and put this into practice. It is fun and rewarding to see that what you worked on for weeks is now being served on your dinner table.

Back then, you have to remember that there were only a few skilled jobs and one of them was being a farmer.

Residential Gardening

This is the most common of all gardening techniques. If you are just a beginner and not yet inclined to produce vegetables for industrial reasons, then residential gardening is for you. The primary purpose of residential gardening is to sustain a family or two of a steady supply of vegetables and at the same time, render aesthetic appeal to your backyard.

Residential gardening does not require too much space. It can also be cultivated in window sills, balconies and other small areas that have sufficient light source, easy to monitor and at the same time, easy to maintain or free from pests. The good thing about residential gardening is the ease with which it ushers the gardening wannabe from having no knowledge of planting to expanding to other gardening styles, whichever deems the fancy of the budding gardener.

Specialized Gardening

Specialized gardening involves non-residential areas that are known for its green quality and are often marketed as such. Parks, botanical gardens, amusement parts and other tourist attractions fall under this category. Often a staff is required to maintain due to its size, so effective administrative skills on top of gardening expertise may be required. It is also tailored for delivering in profit to certain causes or organizations.
Impact Gardening
If you are up to the challenge of blocking weeds with minimal costs, then impact gardening is for you. It involves using a relatively small space and maximizing its gardening potential. The plants are often crowded together.

Indoor Gardening

Residential gardening is under the huge scope of indoor gardening. Other types under this category include the gardens of conservatories, greenhouses and academic institutions. Systems for heating and air conditioning may also be found for certain breeds of plants. If you are the type of gardener who really loves cultivating plants in and out of season, then indoor gardening is for you.

Water Gardening

If you want to garden with minimal supervision and love water organisms, then water gardening is for you. This is a bit of a challenge for most gardeners because it usually doesn't involve the initial conditions of other traditional gardening techniques. The novelty of water gardening appeals only to those who have ample water facilities to cultivate this type of gardening style.

Community Gardening

If you are motivated by group efforts, community gardening may be for you. It involves concentrated efforts of the different members of the community to be able to help make a greener place. It involves a huge scope, but the members of the community are given autonomy to style their areas in whichever way they choose.

As mentioned, individual plants will require different amounts of water to keep them growing optimally.  But what all plants do like is moist soil.  If you are worried about over-watering your plant, make sure that the pot you choose has a good drainage system.  With holes in the bottom of the pot or gravel inside the pot the soil and plant will soak up the necessary water and the excess will run out through the bottom.

If your houseplants are not thriving no matter what you do, there are two things to look into.  If you are using tap water to water your plants there may be too much chlorine or salt present.  A solution to this is to use distilled or filtered water or you can leave a container outside to collect rainwater.  Either option is acceptable and may be the change you need to make to grow healthier plants.

Choosing to fertilize your plants is another way to give them a boost.  Fertilizer contains nutrients and elements that plants need to grow.  Indoors plants do not need as much fertilizer as their outdoor counterparts do.  Because of a slower rate of growth, feed your plants minimal fertilizer.  In the winter time you can probably skip this step altogether.  The spring or summer time is the best time to fertilize indoor plants.  This is during their growing phase when they need the extra nutrients the most.

In order to get the best results from your home-based hydroponics garden, find a south-facing window to give the plants the best natural light.  If this isn’t possible, you can purchase special lights that are specifically designed for plants.  Instead of using a fluorescent light, buy what is known as a discharge light.  This imitates the light the plants would naturally get from the sun and will produce healthier and hardier plants.

The water that the root system is growing in needs to be healthy water full of nutrients and this can be determined by checking the pH level (it should be a pH level of 6).  The pH level should be checked on a regular basis to ensure it is not too acidic or alkaline.  If the reading is too high, add small amounts of vinegar and keep re-testing until you can the reading you want.  If the water reading has a pH level that is too low, use the same procedure to raise the pH level except use baking soda instead of vinegar.

By growing your plants with hydroponics, you will see faster and more abundant growth.  The method that the plants get their nutrients is more efficient and results in robust and prolific plants – whether they are houseplants, vegetable plants, or herbs.

You want to look at the long-term growth expected in the plant you have chosen and use that information to pick an appropriately sized container.  If you pick a pot that is too small your full-grown plant the roots will not have enough room to grow and the plant will be come “root bound”.  This is a rectifiable condition with re-potting, but it can put  the plant through unnecessary stress and creates more work for you.  Your plant may look unbalanced at first in a container that is out of proportion but you will be glad you thought ahead as the plants continues to grow.

The container you choose needs a form of drainage too.  The most common method of  drainage is one or more holes in the bottom of the pot to let excess water drain out.  If  you have chosen a pot that does not have these holes there you still have two options to provide drainage.  You can put your plant in a smaller pot with drainage holes and then place the smaller pot inside the larger one with no holes.  Or place an inch or two of gravel in the bottom of the container before you put in the soil.  The gravel will allow the excess water to run through the soil and into the rocks instead of staying in the soil and water-logging the plant.

Consistency in temperature is important to plants.  Once you find the ideal temperature, try and maintain it daily.  It is okay for the plants to be colder at night time; this is natural as the same happens outside in nature when the sun goes down.  An average temperature range is 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit (18-23 degrees Celsius) during the day and a drop in temperature to 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit (15-18 degrees Celsius) is acceptable.  As this is within the temperature range most houses are kept at this should not be hard to maintain.

You may be tempted to place a plant beside a sunny window to keep it nice and warm.  Just remember that exposure to extreme temperature ranges is not good for a plant.  It can get overheated during the day and then too cold at night.  Give the plants natural sunlight but doing so on a windowsill is not recommended.

Inside a house is a lot dryer than outside.  A lot of plants like at least some moisture in the air.  Controlling the humidity in the house will help the plants and you if it tends to get dry inside.  You can purchase a mister or humidifier for your house or another option is to get the plant’s leaves wet.  By taking a spray bottle, you can lightly spray the leaves or you can use a cloth or sponge.  Take care of any special instructions your plant may have, some do not like to get their leaves wet.

The seeds of Rosary Pea and Castor Bean plants are lethal.  Fatalities have been reported from the ingestion of just one seed.  If a young child or cat chews on one of the leaves they are sure to get sick.  You can purchase necklaces that are made from the seeds of this plant.  These are not meant for children and can cause skin irritations in adults.

Parts of the Oleander plant (the leaves and bark) are also poisonous.  It is not worth the risk to have these in the house.  Even with due diligence children or pets are bound to get into a houseplant at one point or another.  It is hard to safeguard against falling leaves or other unavoidable events.

The bulbs of certain flowering plants are considered poisonous too.  Even if you are planning on planting the bulbs outside, be careful they are stored in a safe out of the way area that is not accessible to little heads.  The flower bulbs in question are from the Hyacinth, the Daffodil and the Narcissus flowers.

If you own any of these plants and don’t have little animals or children running around to get into still use caution.  Be aware of what plants in your house are potential hazards to humans.  In addition, be a considerate host or hostess and put the dangerous plants in a safe way when young visitors are coming over.

If you are pruning a branch off of a plant that is diseased (with fungus) it is very important to disinfect your pruning shears after using them.  If you do not, and continue to prune your healthy plants there is a chance the fungus will spread to your other plants.  A solution of bleach and water will kill the unwanted organisms nicely.

When you look at the plant if it appears too full you can thin it out, this is important around the base trunk or stem.  You want good air circulation around the plant and if the branches and leaves are too congested this will not happen.  Trim enough of the excess foliage away to let the plant “breathe”.  When you are trimming branches to keep a uniform appearance to your plant just trim what is necessary.  Prune the new growth to keep it inline with the rest of the plant.

As plants grow so do their root systems.  If your plant isn’t thriving or you notice that the roots are visible around the outside of the pot, your plant is most likely root bound.  It is important to transplant the plant to a larger pot.  Once you have chosen one and have prepared it for the plant very gently loosen the roots on the outside of the root ball.  Then put the plant in the middle of the new pot surrounding it with new potting soil.