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Watering of Your Vegetable Organic Garden

May 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ninety-five percent of the structure of the plant is composed of water. Almost all of the processes of the plant involves water, and this is why watering is one of the more important aspects of effective gardening for your vegetables’ organic garden. Together with light and carbon dioxide, water helps accelerate the necessary processes needed in effective care of your plants.

With vegetables, you cannot afford to go wrong since this will provide nourishment to both animals and humans alike. Water also acts a supplementary source aside from rainfall.

An irrigation system is necessary to provide the required amount of water in your garden. The natural sources of water, namely, precipitation and underground water systems, are not often sufficient for the plants. Most of the time, human intervention is required to ensure that the plants will reach their maximum potential. The frequency of your watering is proportional to the average amount of rainfall that falls on the area under which your garden lies.

The type of soil also affects the quality of plants’ water retention. The soils made of clay are usually lauded for its excellent ability to hold water in, but sometimes it goes overboard, so caution is required.  Sandy sieves require more assistance as they tend to slide off the water being placed on it. The addition of organic matter such as a composting mix also helps improve the ability to hold water.

There are also other external factors affecting the nature of watering in your garden. During cold weather, the plants can easily drown in water and wilt. On the other hand, the plants require more water when there is a surplus of sunlight or humidity levels. The factors of wind and air movement can also move the water from the plants. Also, the type of plant can affect the capacity to hold water. More mature plants may find it more difficult to retain water than the younger counterparts. 

When watering the plants, make sure that you are able to soak the soil thoroughly before doing anything else. Another thing to consider is observing the plants at different times of day. Usually, plants look more wilted at night time, but this is natural and won’t usually require excessive watering. The balance is usually obtained the following day. But if you see the plant wilted during daytime, it is best to soak it with water to avoid it from wilting completely.

Often, vegetables picked from well-watered plants last longer than their less watered counterparts. Unless you are growing a cactus, water need not be used sparingly. There are various ways to water your plants: by a sprinkler that is manually controlled or automated, by hose or other means. Often, the sprinkler is the most famous form of watering tool. Proper scheduling of the frequency of your water sprinklers’ operations will also ensure that your plants will be consistently watered at different times of day.

It is also recommended that uniform distribution of water be maintained in order to ensure that all the plants in your vegetables’ organic garden are well-cared for. Despite the need for frequent watering, also bear in mind that there is also a need to conserve water, so make sure that there are no leaks whatsoever beyond what your organic garden needs.

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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.

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Information about Organic Vegetable Gardening

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Organic vegetable gardening is making a comeback. This is because people are more health conscious about the food they eat and in some places, there is already a food shortage so some have decided to plant and grow these on their own. To help you get started, here is some organic vegetable gardening information.

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.

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