Organic Vegetable Gardening Works

In the US, farming is $6 billion industry. To keep it that way and with the health and welfare of the public in mind, the Department of Agriculture has taken steps so farmers can shift to organic farming. This does not only save money but also has some health benefits.

But first, we have to know what organic farming is. This is a technique that has been practiced by ancient civilizations that simply relied on the land they worked on, the sun and the water to make the harvests grow.

It was only when scientists invented fertilizers and pesticides that we moved away from this technique because it was thought that this will make the crops bigger and harvesting faster.

Unfortunately, the use of fertilizers and pesticides has done more harm than good. The chemicals used are harmful but never in small dosages. But imagine what if somebody consumes this in excessive amounts and unknowingly develops an illness or their baby has birth defects.

Such threats are real which is why we have to do something before it happens. Before the Department of Agriculture wanted everyone to go into organic farming, tests were conducted.

The results show that organically grown vegetables have more nutrients and vitamins compared to conventional farming. The same goes for its taste.

Organic vegetables do not have hydrogenated fats, artificial flavor or coloring, sweeteners, additives, preservatives or residual antibiotics. This means that what you get is all natural. But don’t forget to wash these first before it is cooked to remove any residue from the compost used in helping it grow.

The government or the Department of Agriculture is not the only one who should push farmers to shift towards organic farming. You can do your share by talking to the farmers themselves as they are the ones who plant them. You can also start planting organically grown vegetables yourself because they cost a bit more in the supermarket.

Before you start planting, check how big is the area so you have an idea what kind of vegetables can be planted given your limited space. You then need to buy the necessary tools and make some of them yourself. This information can be found online, in books and from the gardening store.

If you don’t want to start making an organic vegetable garden using seeds, you can get starter plants instead but be aware that they cost a bit more and this takes the thrill out of gardening.

But if money is no object to you, by all means get this from the store. Just make sure that there is a stamp which certifies that this has been approved by the Department of Health, Quality Assurance International, California Certified Organic Farmers or the Oregon Tilth Farm Verified Organic.

If everyone does their share, no one will use chemicals and fertilizers anymore. Everyone can live healthy and eat healthy. At the same time, we are able to protect the environment so future generations will be able to use the land we have used to plant their crops in the future. 

Organic vegetable gardening is truly the way to go. If you noticed, some restaurants have done their share as well by making people know that whatever they use is organic.

The Basics – Organic Vegetable Garden

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to plant vegetables. But if you want to do this the old fashioned way which has been proven to be very effective, you should know the organic vegetable gardening basics.

The first thing you have to know is what is organic vegetable gardening? It is simply a way of farming that does not use any synthetic products which includes fertilizers and pesticides. In short, you work with nature to get what you want.

When choosing the right vegetable to plant is knowing which of these are suitable to the soil and the climate. If you live in an area that experiences droughts, buy those that do not consume that much water.

Before you drop seeds into the soil, make sure the land is ready by tilling the land so it is clear both of rocks and weeds.

The next step will be to add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If the pH level of the soil is too high, add lime or sulphur to adjust it.

One more thing you have to do before planting the seeds is putting in organic fertilizer. You can use recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste which should be applied a month before planting begins.

Then it is time to plant the seeds. Each seed must be spaced by a certain distance the roots do not fight for water. In between each of the vegetables, you can plant other things as well because the tighter the space, the lesser the chances that weeds will grow.

Pests are the biggest threat to your organic garden. To fight them, you can use birds, frogs or other insects. You don’t have these creatures to fend off other insects. You simply have to create the ideal environment by putting a bird house or a small pond. Once they are in place, they will do the rest by patrolling your garden and eating those who seek to eat your crops.

Putting up a few barriers can also help. Row covers are known to prevent moths from landing and laying eggs. You can also use sticky traps and foil collars to stop pests and borers.

There are also organic pesticides around but some of them can only kill one or two kinds of pests. So before you buy them, make sure you know what you are dealing with.

Crop rotation is the best way to preserve the fertility of the soil. This is done after you harvest the vegetables so it is ready for planting once again. For this to work, you have to plant in the same area a different vegetable.

Anyone can learn organic vegetable gardening basics and soon have their own little farm in their backyard. It is fresh and you can pick this anytime you want which is very convenient as these are only a few feet from your home.

Should everyone get into organic vegetable gardening? Perhaps because there is a food shortage right now and most of the vegetables imported do not use this technique. The government for its part has given incentives to farmers here to shift to this method but its going to take more effort to persuade countries that do business with the US to do the same thing.

Controlling Pests in Your Vegetables – The Organic Garden Guide

If there is anything that prevents your organic garden from yielding the best vegetables, it will have to be the pests that invade and surround your area. Now, if you are really serious about controlling those pests and keeping them out of your garden for good, a volume of materials is readily available for you to be equipped and knowledgeable about the various types of pests that can threaten your crop.

The very hard thing about pest control is the fact that there are so many types of pests that can invade your garden; it will really be quite a challenge to recall them in one sitting, so full immersion to your gardening activities is the only surefire way to inculcate ample knowledge on pests to watch out for.

One of the tried and tested tactics for pest control is by familiarizing yourself with the famous insects and animals. These enemies of the garden will really hamper the growth of your crop only if you let them.

Beetles

You have two options for beetles: manually remove them by hand or spray them with insecticide that is poisonous to them. If left untreated, beetles have the capacity to bore so much holes on your leaves and eat away at your vegetation over time, especially when their population has already burgeoned. Beetles comes in a variety of types, but the remedy for it is usually the two techniques mentioned above.

Aphids

You will often find sticky groups of insects that are invading your garden in hues of red if you have aphids in your garden. Fortunately, you can easily remedy this by spraying it with soap insecticide or any similar material. Aphids are common to almost every garden vegetable you can possibly imagine, so if you are growing vegetables, you are most likely to encounter these sticky organisms.

Cabbage Worms

Neem oil is the cabbage worms’ worst enemy, so if you spray them with it, they will be out of your garden in a jiffy. The thing is, you can determine whether cabbage worm are in the garden if you find green caterpillar and holes on the leaves of your plants. You can also pick them by hand if you are more courageous or maybe spray them with insecticide if you don’t have neem oil handy at the time of infestation.

Cut Worms

If you see crawling, dull caterpillars that are brown in color, then you have found cutworms invading your territory! Placing paper collars around plants after digging around the area may help prevent cutworms from taking up your precious soil and nutrients. Some chemicals may also work like insecticides, but this is a general cure. You also need to dig a lot because the cut worms have this tendency to snuggle up on your plants for shade and life.

Maggots

Maggots are extremely disgusting, and they tend to make your landscape ugly if you do not try to get rid of them. Bleaching is one of the best ways to get rid of maggots. If your organic garden is also situated beside a garbage bag, you may choose to transfer your garbage bag elsewhere because leftover meals like meat tend to attract these maggots and they might decide to branch out of the garbage bin and into your garden.

There are many other kinds of pests that you can control in your garden given the right handy tools and knowledge on how to best eliminate them from your organic garden.