Category: General Food Recipes

The Benefits of Organic Gardening

More and more people are getting into natural means of growing crops because of the benefits that organic gardening brings. Experts agree that the most basic premise that peoplewho are planning to do organic gardeningneed to understand about the process of how it replenishes the use of natural resources. Meaning, when one does organic gardening, he or she should understand how important it is to use natural components such as composting plants and other fruits peels to feed the soil where the crop will be planted.

How can organic gardening improve lives

People cannot always be outdoors to feel and see the beauty of nature. Being inside the comforts of home doesnt mean that people can no longer enjoy the feel of nature for they can always indulge and reap the benefits of organic gardening. Contrary to common perception that crops from organic gardens are not good, there are so many benefits of organic gardening. Although it can be a tedious task to start with, all you need to do is to set your mind into something enjoyable and healthy, then, you can start reaping the benefits of organic gardening.

The following are just some of the benefits of organic gardening:

1. It leads you back to basics. Nature always provides the feeling of health and calmness. The trees, the plants, the flowers, and other elements of nature exude the air of serenity and relaxation. But, due to the dawning of modern age, most people neglect how can nature give ultimate satisfaction and tranquility. But, if you want to back to basics, you can always create your own organic garden in the comforts of your own space.

2. Healthier supply of food. Creating an organic garden might mean that you would have to go down and dirty just to grow fruits and vegetables. Putting aside the energy spent on these tasks, you can realize that at the end of the season, you can harvest fresh produce that most people cannot find in leading stores. Not pondering much on the effort you will exert in planting seedlings would also make you realize you are investing on something that could provide you enough supply of fresh, healthy and sumptuous supply of food.

3. An amazing alternative to save money. One of the great benefits of organic gardening is that it can be a great alternative for you to save money. Aside from being an amazing alternative for a feel of great outdoors, organic gardening can also help you save by getting the best crops for free and having a healthy environment.

4. It serves as a great hobby or past time. For older people, one of the amazing benefits of organic gardening is that it can buy some time off to people who want lesser stress in life. Since it has something to do with nature, organic gardening can indeed be a leisure activity not just for the elder but for the younger ones as well.

But, before going into the hobby of organic gardening, it is a must for you to know where to begin and how to begin. Organic gardening should start from a detailed planning. The first thing to consider is to determine the appropriate location for the type of garden you would want to have. If you plan to have a garden with ornamental plants, then it should be located in an area where the plants can be safe from harmful elements. Likewise, if you plan to have a vegetable garden, make sure that the location you have chosen would provide the crops enough exposure to the sun and sufficient water supply.

The Basics of Organic Gardening

The stress brought by modernization has made people realize that there is a need to cultivate healthy foods. Thinking that these will ensure the health of the future generations, more and more of people became interested with the basics of organic gardening.

As defined, organic gardening refers to the act of planting and growing crops without relying on the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other synthetic products. This is to ensure that the crop is 100 percent all natural and free from harmful chemicals and elements that can lead illnesses to people.

Pointers for organic gardening

In organic gardening, the basic consideration is the soil where the crop will be placed. Veterans say that the perfect soil for organic gardening should be filled with nitrogen, which will contribute much to the health of the crop being planted. The soil should also be placed in an area where sunlight and air reaches it.

Experts also advise that clay soil is the most ideal type to be used in organic gardening because it is relatively high in nutrients compared to other types of soil. Aside from containing higher amount of nutrients good for the plants, it is best in holding the water for replenishing the plants. Although some types can also be used such as sand and garden soil, they cannot produce better crops just like the clay soil can. What you can do is to add some organic matter to make it more suitable for the plants.

Aside from the soil preparation and the area where it should be placed, here are some of the basics of organic gardening to help you get by:

1. Preparation of organic matter. Since this will be the one where the plants will get their nutrients, preparation of organic matter should be paid attention very carefully. As defined, organic matter can be a plant that is decaying or an animal waste that is mixed together with the soil. Aside from decaying plants and wastes of animals, organic matter can also be a clipping of grass, leaves that are dried, scraps from the kitchen such as vegetable stalks and peels of fruits as well as heads of fresh or cooked fish. Organic matter is very important in organic gardening because it serves as a conditioner for the soil to support the growing crops in it. Organic matter should always be regularly replenished. It can be put on top of the soil or can be mixed with it so the nutrients and other minerals can be absorbed very well.

2. Controlling pests and other plant-related diseases without the use of synthetic chemicals. Since the basic premise of organic gardening is using all-natural products, it is best if you familiarize yourself with the natural means of controlling pests in your crops. These natural means of controlling pests include worms and other insects that can defend your plants against other harmful elements. You can also prevent your plant from diseases if you inspect them regularly for any sign of damage. Once you suspect that there is a threat for plant illness, it is best if you remove the plant affected quickly to avoid the spread of the disease to nearby plants.

3. Selecting the ideal plants for your organic gardening. One of the basics of organic gardening that all people should know is how to select plants that will fit your natural condition. It is very important to understand that not all plants are suitable for all climates. To ensure that you will grow healthy plants, make sure that you check your site conditions and decide which are the plants that can withstand the environment available.

The Organic Vegetable Gardening Way

Planning ahead, making the right choices, dedication, and constant care are basic traits needed for organic vegetable gardening. There are other elements involve, of course, such as garden locations, plant types, the amount of sunlight, and the richness of the soil to achieve a bountiful harvest from your organic vegetable garden.

Just like what they say in the movies, its all about location, location and location. The same goes with vegetable gardening. When choosing a place to plant your vegetables it would be advantageous to your crops to be planted in well-drained soil and if possible near a good water source. You may also want to invest on a perimeter fence for your garden. You never know, some animals might be prowling about or some mischievous kids. Both can easily decimate a garden that youve been laboring for months.

After choosing a location, you should also by now have a general idea on how to plant your crops. How many rows of vegetables on which plot and the series of crops to be planted are often involve when we talk about designs of your vegetable garden.

Composting is an important aspect of any organic garden. This is a good reason as any to create your own compost pile. Ideally a compost pile should occupy an area of about 10 square feet. Dont allow the compost to pile up that high. It would be to your convenience to maintain the pile between 3 to 5 feet high. Make sure that you leave the top flat with a small catch basin on the middle for adding water or rain into the compost pile.

To add the compost into the soil, you can either work it into the soil or use it as a mulch and spread it on the surface. The first method would provide sustenance to your vegetables plus a good, mature compost will lessen weed problems. As a mulch, the nutrients will eventually be integrated into the soil providing nutrients along the way.

In any gardens, especially in organic ones, disease control and pest management are always issues. At times, the problems might be too much that you see yourself inching towards the chemical insecticide or weed killer in your shed. You better throw that can of chemical stuff away, youre not supposed to have that in the first place if youre going organic. There are natural and safe ways for you to solve weed and pest problems so relax.

To avoid diseases it would be great to check the seeds from the start. Get vegetables from resistant variety strains or seeds from disease-free plants. While other organic farmers resort to sprays or solutions which are 100% of natural and friendly to the environment other would fight fire with fire or in this case, insects with insects. Organic growers usually practice introducing natural predators into their gardens to help control pests.

If you still find these ineffective, try using the low tech but very effective method: use your hands. You can pick off the pests in your vegetable garden. You only have a problem if you have a big garden.

Organic vegetable gardening brings a lot of satisfaction. The fresh air, the sunshine, and the experience alone are really worthwhile. And this does not include the fresh vegetables you can get from your harvest.

Some Organic Gardening Advice

Most people who cultivate their own gardens miss the fact that the whole gardening activity is actually a good opportunity for strengthening family bonds. Organic gardening should be a family activity enjoyed from the parents to the youngest sibling. Therefore, our first organic gardening advice for gardeners is to engage the whole family to make the experience more meaningful and worthwhile.

For gardening, it has been popular lately for growers to go organic especially with regards to growing vegetables. People are looking for a healthy lifestyle and eating vegetables free from toxins of chemical fertilizers and insecticides are becoming more and more the ideal.

If youre just starting out, or if its your first time planting a garden and you encounter problems like weeds and pests, you might have this inclination to go to the store and get yourself a can of chemical herbicide and pesticide. Dont succumb to this internal need to spray to kill. Most of the time, you garden dont even need such strong chemicals in the first place. All they need is some assistance from you and they will grow fine. For simple weeds, you just need to pull them out by hand especially when they are still just sprouting out of the soil. By removing them while they are young, your plants can grow stronger and in time will be strong enough that weeds or no weeds, it doesnt matter.

The same goes with pests. When you see some bugs in your garden, some damage on the leaves, or a few flying beetles here and there, dont be alarmed and drop that can of pesticide spray. Remember that by using pesticides to your gardens, youre killing not only the pests but the beneficial insects as well.

Beneficial insects? There are insects that feed on fellow insects or other animals whose diet consists of insects. If you allow the beneficial insects to enter your garden or allow friendly animals in, the percentage of damage from other insects will be at a minimum. Also, you wont have to deal with insects growing immune to chemical pesticides.

If things, however, still do not improve and your garden plants are receiving more and more damage from pests, what you can do is to apply environment friendly concoctions that you know off to effectively drive the insects away from your priced plants. A diluted mix of water and soap has proved to be quite ingenious way of getting rid of those pesky pests.

What you can do is mix a tablespoon of liquid dish soap into a half gallon of water and spray the solution to your garden. Bear in mind that this is not a very powerful one unlike most pesticides. You will have to spray the garden a couple of times to make this homemade solution to work.

Another useful piece of advice: as much as possible, get your seeds from organic workers. This will ensure that your seeds will grow into free from disease making a better chance to provide a good harvest.

Also, another good organic gardening advice is to plant your garden directly to the ground. Although creating a garden from containers is highly possible and can really be successful, you will eventually need to take care of your plants more often when they are placed in garden containers. Your plants will eventually outgrow its containers and will require more time to maintain and care for.

Pests in Organic Gardening? No need to worry

If youre into organic gardening, there are a number of things that you need to consider and one of them is a very interesting one: if you see a bug, its not the end of the world, or in this case your garden, as you know it. A bug doesnt mean you have a problem. A pest in organic gardening is only normal. But there are times that one bug becomes a pair, and then more bugs join in forming a small group, and then eventually the population of the insects will grow beyond your control. Only at this point, you are allowed to panic and be paranoid. Im just kidding you on that last statement. You should follow the opposite. Be calm, carefully observe the insects, look at the damage they cause, and then properly consider your course of action.

Among the most common pests that will bug your garden are ants, aphids, armyworms, cabbageworms, grasshoppers, slugs and snails, pillbugs, spider mites, whitefly, thrips, and all sorts of beetles.

Controlling your pests the organic way has a number of benefits. First, the use of chemical pesticides can cause a number of diseases and other health problems including but not limited to infertility, birth defects, cancer, allergies, encephalitis and even lymphoma. Aside from that, chemical based pesticides can damage the water, soil, air, and other animals as well.

Not to mention, that pesticides can be quite hefty to your wallet. There are cheaper alternatives which you can easily get from your kitchen.

You can manage your organic garden by paying particular attention to your plants itself. Try and understand how specific insects affect different plants. The asparagus beetle for instance can be quite damaging to your cultivated asparagus vegetables so you need to watch out for those earlier on.

Also, a tip that most organic farmers give is to plant native varieties as much as possible. Native plant species usually have their own systems to repel common pests. By planting local varieties, you will have a bigger success rate when harvest time comes to an end.

It is a good thing to mix plants species among other varieties. Each plant has their own unique abilities to protect themselves from the onslaught of pests. By placing them in the same area, they will be able to help each other out when pests start invading their town.

A healthy soil is important as well. It has been found out that healthy soils attract fewer pests. You can achieve and maintain a healthy soil by crop rotation, adding of composts or other animal or plant based fertilizers like manure.

You can also time your planting season to avoid the weeks or months where bugs are at their peak.

Be aware that there are friendly bugs out there that will help you control other pests. Ladybugs and ground beetles are some insects that are very helpful in control pests. If you use chemical fertilizers, the good bugs will also get caught in the crossfire.

Again a pest in organic gardening is a natural phenomenon that cannot be totally avoided. You will eventually come across pests and therefore should be prepared to address the situation with a clear mind and a serious disposition. Be prepared to do the dirty jobs as well. If you see one bug, just pick it off your plant. Its crude, I know, but it still remains an effective means to eliminate pests in your garden.