Archive for the ‘organic gardening’ Category
Ah, to this day I still remember my first gardening experience. It was such a disaster that I didn’t think I would ever want to garden again. I almost decided to turn my casual hobby into the most rage-inducing topic you could possibly bring up to me. It all started a few weeks after I moved in to my first house. I was excited just to have my own grass to mow, since I had been in apartments and condos for quite a while. In between plans to paint walls and renovate the inside to exactly how I like, I thought it would be a good idea to start a fruit garden so that I could have some fresh produce and put my yard to use. At that point I didn’t really know anything at all about gardening. But still in my spunky youthful years, I decided I didn’t need help. How hard could it be to start a garden and grow stuff? After all, it happens in nature all the time and nobody even has to do anything.
I already had a grassless patch in my yard where it looked like the previous owner had attempted a garden. But any attempt they had made turned out to be an utter travesty. The area was full of rocks and weeds, with no signs of any agreeable plants. I spent several hours of work spread over several days to clear out the entire area, leaving nothing but dirt. At that point, however, I didn’t realize the difference between “dirt” and “soil”. I was dealing with barren, hard, nutritionless, and unforgiving land.
I made some attempt at making my garden look nice; although I think even Martha Stewart would have had difficulties. I took some stained boards that were sitting in my basement (quite convenient, no?) and used them as a border for my garden, to keep out all the pests that couldn’t jump more than a foot (I figured I would be safe from lawn gnomes). I used the pile of rocks I had collected from the garden to make a creepy shrine looking thing in front of it. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did that.
I went to the store that very day, and picked out whatever looked tasty.Strawberries? Sure! Watermelon? Yeah! I hacked away a hole in the rock-hard ground and poked the seed in. After that, I think I watered it faithfully every day for several weeks before realizing that it was not going to grow anything. But even after I had that realization, I continued to water in hopes that my seeds would pull a last minute sprout on me. But
I knew there was no hope, and I was heartbroken. After all those hours of pulling up weeds and tossing rocks into a pile, I had no fruit to show for my labor.
So, feeling dejected and betrayed, I logged onto the internet and searched for a guide to gardening. I quickly ran across a site that led me to realize the true skill required for gardening. It was then I learned about soil consistency, nutrients, ideal watering conditions, seasons, and all those things. After I read up on my area and how to grow fruits, I learned exactly what to do. I learned how to get the ideal soil, when to plant the
seeds, how much to water, etc. Just a night of browsing the internet and printing off sources, and I was totally ready for the next planting season. If you’re in the position I was, and you’re just itching to start a new garden… I urge you to learn from my mistake. Make sure you do plenty of proper research on the types of plants you’re trying to grow, along with the climate. Spend money on good soil, good fertilizer, and good garden tools. Hopefully you don’t have to go through the emotional disaster that I went through.
What is Organic Gardening – The Basics for Gardening Organically?
What does it mean to have an organic garden? Does organic gardening mean you have to put up with insects eating your plants or unattractive flower beds? The short answer is that organic gardening means not using synthetic products, including pesticides and fertilizers. Ideally, organic gardening replenishes the resources as it makes use of them. Like feeding depleted soil with composted plants, or planting legumes to add nitrogen to an area that had been planted with heavy feeder.
Why Organic?
Organic gardening is gaining popularity as people realize the many benefits to themselves, the environment and other living creatures. Growing organically simply means not using synthetic or chemical fertilizers, insecticides or pesticides. Instead, organic gardeners stick to fertilizers made from animal or vegetable by-products and get creative when dealing with unwanted pests — often utilizing beneficial garden insects or plants that deter the unwelcome visitors.
Not only does gardening organically cause less harm than conventional-type gardening, it actually has many benefits.
• Organically grown food has been shown to help defend against cancer with its higher essential vitamins and nutrients.
• By eating organically grown food, you ingest fewer chemicals.
• Organic gardening feeds the soil rather than depletes it.
• Most organic gardeners use compost, which reduces the amount of waste going to landfills.
This guide to organic gardening will help you to plan, start and maintain your organic garden. Organic gardening focuses on the health and feeding of the soil, not the plant. By growing and alternating a wide variety of plants, the organic gardener can create a mini “eco-system” that will maintain a healthy balance.
“Organic Gardening” : provides information on creating and maintaining a healthy, natural garden that is free of harmful chemicals.
Organic Gardening Ideas
Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature. Organic gardening is the exact same as regular gardening except that organic gardening does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. Organic gardening starts with the soil. Gardeners must add organic matter to the soil regularly in order to keep the soil productive. One thing that makes even gardeners that are very serious about organic gardening reach for pesticides is insects on their plants. The best way to defend plants against insects is to take preventative measures. A variety of plant types is a good idea to keep pests of a particular plant type from taking out the entire garden.
Other ideas are sticky traps, barriers, and plant collars. To avoid plant disease in organic gardening, choose disease resistant plants and plant them in their prime conditions. Weeds can be an annoying and frustrating part of organic gardening. Organic gardening may take a little more time and care than regular gardening, but after gardeners get the hang of it and figure out all the quirks of their garden, it is definitely worth the extra time. Few pursuits are as rewarding as growing your own organic garden. Organic gardening produces healthy, more diverse ecosystems which are better able to resist significant pest damage…naturally!