Organic Gardening
Organic gardening can seem a daunting undertaking before you actually dig in and get some health compost beneath your fingernails. Hopefully we can dispel some myths and get you out and growing!
There are a few steps to growing an organic garden, almost all of these steps can be as easy or as hard as you'd like to make them. What does that mean? Well, it's simple, if you don't want to have a backyard composter, you can buy good healthy organic compost, or maybe you have a local leaf dump that offers free organic compost. If you don't want to sprout your own organic seeds, you can buy organically grown plants ready for transplant into your organic home garden. We just want to lay out the steps for organic gardening, and let you know what to avoid. Remember also, you are not looking to get certified as organic by the FDA, you are just looking to have a health garden on a healthy planet.
Sowing the seeds
Seed starting can seem like a thankless task that is messy, well, don't get discouraged, this can be one of the most rewarding parts of organic gardening, you are breathing life into dry seeds, and it allows you to have a much richer variety of plants that your local nursery may not stock. Really, the only things you need to sow seeds are light, heat, soil and water in correct levels.
Light
A good rule is about 16 hours of light, you can buy a grow light, or a cheaper alternative is just a regular fluorescent bulb on a timer. Keep the light about 2 to 3 inches from the plants, as they grow, you will need to raise the light to maintain that distance.
Soil
Regular garden soil and even potting soil tends to be to heavy for seedlings to start. Peat is a great way to start your seeds, but bear in mind, peat is renewable, but it takes a long time to fully renew, so you might cut your peat growing mixture with about 20-30% of fresh screened organic compost. The organic compost will also fertilize your seedlings and help to fend off fungi that can harm your future plants. You can use peat pots for planting, but if you want to avoid using up this valuable natural resource, you can recycle your cardboard toilet paper and paper towel tubes, just line them up side by side, cut to about 3-4 inches tall, this will give plenty of room for roots to grow organically, and they will break down over time, so when your organic seedlings are ready to grow in the ground, just plant them, recycled tubes and all!
Water
Once you start to see your seedlings, don't water your organic plants, water the soil. Make sure that the soil is wet top to bottom, but don't over-water, wait for that soil to dry out before watering again. Ideally you will water your organic plants from the bottom up, that is done by putting your pots or tubes in a tray of water, the soil will soak up the water, you just drain the tray once the soil is wet all the way thru.
Temperature
Seeds will germinate faster with a bit of bottom heat. You can use a horticultural heating cable or a waterproof heating pad until the seedling appear. You should leave the heat under your seedlings if you are planting heat loving plants like organic peppers and organic tomatoes, but be sure to remove the heat if you are planting organic broccoli or organic cabbage.
Soil is a Staple
It should be obvious, but is so often overlooked, you organic garden will need a good health soil. An organic garden can be sucessfully grown in any type of soil, but you will need to tend your organic garden differently depending on what type of soil you have.
Here is a quick and easy test you can do to find out what type of soil you have.
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Collect about a half quart of soil from several locations around where you'd like to plant your organic garden
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Let the soil dry fully, then fill a quart jar about 2/3 full of water with 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid.
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Slowly pour the soil into the jar until it's full, then put the lid on the jar and shake it for at least 1 minute.
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let the soil settle for 2 days, as it does, it should seperate into 3 layers. The bottom should be sand, as the largest and heaviest particles, silt will settle in the middle, and clay will settle on top.
Compare the ratio of the 3 layers and you can get a reletivly accurate proportion of your soil.
Clay garden soil typically is 60% clay 30% silt and 10% sand, Loam soil is about 20% clay 40% silt and 40% sand, and Sandy Loam soil is about 10% clay, 20% silt and 70% sand. If your soil is more than 60% clay or 70 % sand, you should dig in 2-3 inches with organic compost to make your soil more workable and improve fertility.
Once your seedlings are ready and you know what type of soil you have, you are ready to plant. If your soil is sandy, you will need to water more often, if you have a high percentage of clay, you won't need to water as much. Plant your seedlings about 2-3 inches down, and spread some fresh compost around the base, as you water the nutrients from the compost will organically fertalize your plants.
As your garden grows, be sure to tie up string beans, cage tomatoes and try your best to keep critters away. Pinwheels work well to keep out rabbits. The main point of gardening organically, DON'T USE PESTICIDES.
Pesticides will kill harmful bugs, but they will also kill helpful bugs, and they may be harmful to your health. The fun challenge of an organic garden is providing a harmonious ecosystem. Ladybugs, dragonflies and ground beetles are good bugs that will defend your garden. Some fast growing annuals like sunflowers will provide shelter for good bugs to lay eggs. A small wading pool can attract damselflies and dragonflies. Many plants also attract good bugs like caraway, dill, lemonbalm, and small flowering plants like buckwheat and clover will provide food and shelter for you friendly bugs.
A quick note about your lawn
Did you know that 5% of all air pollution in the US is caused by lawnmowers? When it comes time to replace that old mower, think old school, think vintage. Think about buying a push mower. They have gotten A LOT better since you were a kid. Check out a Brill Lawn Mower, they are made in Europe and they have no metal on metal friction, making it easy to glide the mower over your lawn, and pinching off the tips of the grass instead of grinding the blades of grass off. This leaves your grass healthier, and makes the air a lot cleaner.
Questions? Comments?
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