Why organic gardening?
This is a good question, why is the world turning to organic gardening? what is the big buzz all about? and what are the benefits of having an organic garden? first, growing organically means growing crops without the use of synthetic pesticides, because these pesticides can contaminate the foods we grow.
Secondly, the use of synthetic pesticides can and have contaminated the air causing humans as well as animals to become ill, and thirdly having our own organic garden in our backyard will save us money. So we can see then that growing organically will benefit us in many ways.
Planning your garden
There are two ways in which you can plant your garden. The first way is to find an area in your yard that gets sufficient sunlight (5-6 hours) per day. Make sure that the planting site is clear of debris. To help condition the soil it would be good to add some organic materials because this will help with drainage, hold the right amount of moisture, add nutrients and help with proper air circulation in the soil.
A good idea also is to start your own compost pile, to learn more about composting click this link, Starting a compost pile.
How to plant?
Seeds can be purchased either package or brought as seedlings from your garden center. Place seeds or seedlings in rows giving them the proper amount of spacing, Instructions for this should be on the package when planting seeds or in the case of seedling, your nurseryman should be able to assist. Do not plant seeds or seedlings to deeply about one to one and a half inches into the soil is good.
Also, make sure that soil is moist never allow the soil to dry out completely. The best time to water is in the morning or when the weather is cool.
To help combat disease and insects that inhabit the soil, group plants that have the same water requirements, this method is known as hydro-zoning. Also, rotate beds each year.
For example, if you are planting a herb garden then you would plant
Chives, Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, Mint
For vegetables, your choice would be
Bell peppers, Onion, Tomatoes, Carrots, Cabbage, Potatoes
To learn more about how to grow herbs and vegetables continue reading. How to grow herbs and vegetable garden.
Keeping beds free of weeds
Weeds can not only make your garden bed look unattractive but weeds can also compete for water, nutrients and also bring uninvited guests such as disease and garden insect pests. Applying a layer of mulch around your plants is a good way to keep weeds down. Mulches also help to retain water, keeps soil temperature cool and as the mulch breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil.
Hand weeding is another way to get rid of weeds or using a hoe and once every two weeks lightly turning the soil, this will help in keeping weeds down, this method is known as soil cultivation.
Organic pesticides
Organic pesticides are made from natural products or plant parts, these products work well in home gardens to help combat insects. Organic pesticides such as neem oil and garlic oil are safe to use or and effective is to add about a tsp of dish liquid to a gallon of water shake well and add the mixture to a spray bottle, apply when the temperature is cool early in the morning just before the sunrise.
Spray the entire plant making sure to get both the top and bottom of leaves, the spray should come out of the nozzle fine and misty. Leave the solution on for two and a half hours then rinse plants with freshwater, do this once every seven days until there is no visible sign of insects. Make sure when using organic pesticides to read the label and follow directions because the label is LAW.
Container organic gardening
Even if you have limited space in your yard for an organic garden all is not lost, you can still grow organically with the help of using containers and example of container gardener can be viewed by clicking this link container gardening
Make sure to choose a sunny location and follow the steps mention above. With container gardening, the growth of weeds is limited therefore weeds in this type of garden are easier to control, water is also limited because plants are confined to containers so keep watch on the soil. A good rule is to make sure that the soil is moist, not waterlogged. Allow the soil to dry out a bit between watering and then apply water again.
The final word
Growing an organic garden is not hard at all, all it requires is some know-how and you will be on your way, so follow these steps and watch as your garden takes shape. What a joy it is to be able to harvest your own homegrown produce.
About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
I found you website very knowledgeable.Tons of information I would use. I liked the lay out as well. very user friendly and appealing to look at.being new to this I am not sure I can give you any advise. I liked the fact that you included your journey with wealthy affiliate and added their review into you page.
Thanks a lot for those kind words all the best to you and have a good day.
I love gardening and love your website! I will definitely be stopping back to improve my gardening skills! Thank you for your advice and tips about organic gardening! I have heard that human hair can keep animals out of your garden. I have not tried it but was told to keep your hair after a haircut and spread it around your garden to keep animals away. Do you know if this is true?
Hello Melissa it is good to meet you thanks for those kind words and as for the human hair and keeping animals out of ones garden that is the first that I have ever heard, you never know it might work. All the best to you and have a good day.
Thanks for the info on organic gardening, we keep a small garden going almost year round in georgia but have not gone totally organic yet. We have wanted to for a couple years but thought the cost would be too high, as I read your article it seems like we were wrong and there really isn’t too much more we would need to do. Really appreciate the information.
Hello Justin glad that I could help all the best to you and have a good evening.
Great info about how to grow an organic garden at home. I have to admit I was not to sure the reasons behind organic produce and why people would rather have them. I always thought that organic was just more expensive to buy, but now I understand the health risks. I live in a climate that only has about 5 months of warm weather and also I have very limited yard space. Do you know of any organic produce that I could grow indoors?
Hello Erin and thanks for those kind words and I am glad that I could help, you can grow herbs on the inside for example chives, basel, mint, thyme and so forth, just make sure that you locate a place in your kiichen that gets aleast 4-5 hrs of sunlight or what you can do is change your light fixture to grow lights, these can be found at you garden nursery or hardware store. Grow lights are use to grow indoor plants. Hopes this helps
I love this article! I have been considering planning an “off the grid” setup for a long time now and a garden would be a huge part of that. I had not considered all natural pesticides until this article. It makes you think why don’t the larger companies use things like neem oil and garlic oil? I hope more people see this article and use it to cultivate delicious food for free in their own backyard.
Hello Devin it is so good to meet you, I am glad that I could help and going organic is the best way. All the best to you with your garden project, and if you ever need my help in the future please give me a shout, it would be my pleasure to help where I can, have a good day.
Wow Norman! I’ve gotta say your website is amazing. There is not much I can critique. It is filled with information relevant to your niche. I is very interesting and will grasp anyone’s attention. I am very impressed. The only critique I have is a spelling error you have in your about me page. It’s no biggie. Just change “their” to “there” when you said Hi “there”. Keep up the good work.
Hello My friend it is so good to meet you thanks a million for those kind words and for your advice, I will look into that, all the best to you and have a good day.
I try to buy organic vegetables when ever I can. I just feel that they have to be healthier for me. My son, in his health class, was told this too and now he insists on organic as well. So it would be pretty cool to have an organic garden at home. I love potatoes and carrots, so these are the two I would want to plant. You made it sound so simple, I thought that there was much more to it. They sure charge a lot more for it :/
Hello again lady, good to see you and thanks for commenting, Growing organic and going organic is great but I believe that the reasons why the hip in prices is because these products are grown without any chemicals. The good part however is that we can actually save some money by growing our own vegetables. Thanks again, wishing you the best of success.
Thanks for your sharing on organic gardening,Richards. It is very informative.I wish I can have my own organic farm one day, planting fruits and vegetables.
Organic gardening been treated as some kind of leisure in my staying country and didn’t trigger much interest among the working group,probably due to their busy working schedule. But getting to eat a food that is free from pesticide benefit our health a lot. I hope that one day there is a way to reduce the cost of producing organic food, with the advance in planting technology.
Hello my good friend it is so good to see you again, organic is great because of how the foods are grown. The good thing in all of this is that we can grow our own organic foods without having to pay those high prices. All the best to you and d have a good day.
I have always wanted to start my own veggie garden. The only problem is that I have a big golden retriever who I worry would dig up all my hard work! I hadn’t considered container gardening before so thank you for your insight into this. I agree that it would definitely be a joy to grow my own produce.
Hello again Amy so good to see you and yes growing your own produce is a wonderful and beautiful experience. All the best to you and your garden project, have a nice day and please let me know how it goes.
Hello, I really love this niche as I am attempting to grow my own vegetables and fruits with an aquaponic system. I wanted to become healthier and I know that alot of store bought fruits are not organic, and the ones that are tend to be a little pricy. This is some great info, and I will definitely be using it to help me on my aquaponic journey!
Hello Belle it is so good to meet you and thanks for those kind words. Glad that I could help, wishing you the success with your garden project and please let me know how it goes. Have a good day.
Hi there Norman,
Great post and I really enjoy reading and learning from your site. Thanks for creating it and sharing your knowledge with us all!
You mention the use of mulch in this article, what is mulch and where would we find it?
What are you thoughts on organic methods that introduce a pests predator as an effective organic and natural way to rid the garden of pests?
Hello my good friend Derek it is so good to see you again and thanks a million for those kind words. Mulch is a material that is produce from wood that goes through a process and comes out as a beautiful fine texture. There are different kind of mulches.
There is red mulch, cypress mulch, chocolate mulch, just to name a few and there is also artificial mulch. You can purchases mulch from your garden center or plant nursery. Biological control is great because it is a safe way to get rid of pest predators. Biological control is great, the only problem is if your garden is highly infested with predator pest
you may want to switch to using chemicals because although this method is great it would take some time before the predator pest is brought under control, by that time the damage to you garden my be far beyond repair. If you must switch to chemicals then the best choice would be to use organic pesticides
which are more safe to apply to your crops and is also safe around humans and pets. Hope this helps, all the best to you and have a good day.
Hi Norman,
What a helpful article!
I always dreamed of growing my own organic garden. The reason why it held me back to do it until now is because I live in a rented house and just the idea of working so hard, and then maybe one day will move always discouraged me:). Containers to grow my organic garden is an excellent solution, and to be honest, I’ve never thought about it before.
Quick question, please. Is there a plant that naturally kills insects?
Thank you very much for this informative post!
Hello Daniella my good friend it is always nice to see you, hope all is well. Organic gardening is great because we can grow our own produce chemical free and save some money at the seem time because as we know organic products can be very expensive.
Here is a link on my website that gives some ideas. Hope this helps and all the best to you my dare lady. Have a good dayhttps://staging-gardenofedengardencenter.siterubix.com/plants-that-repels-insects
I have always wanted to do this, when I was little my grandmother had a garden and I would help her with the planting and growing of the different vegetables. So it has stuck with me ever since. I will get started this weekend with my small garden, as I have created the space to get started last weekend. I once planted a lemon tree that started producing oranges, and then back to lemons. Nobody believes me lol! But it happened.
Hello Christian and yes nothing like those good memories of yester years as they say. It good to plant a vegetable garden where can eat from our own hands the things we have grown, along with getting a good work out keeping that heart rate up.
And that truly is and amazing story a lemon tree that produce oranges and then back to a lemon WOW that is really amazing. All the best to you with your garden project and please let me know how it goes. Have a good day.
This is great information! I especially liked the section where you spoke about using organic pesticides. I would never have thought of using dish soap. Is it really effective? Do you know of other organic pesticides besides the ones you have already mentioned? Chemical laiden pesticides are scary. No matter how much you wash your fruits and vegetables, you can’t wash off all the chemicals.
Kathy
Hello Kathy it is so good to meet you, and thanks for those kind words. Here is a link that you can follow, hope this helps all the best to you and have a good day.https://staging-gardenofedengardencenter.siterubix.com/organic-insect-control
Thanks for the all the great information and the tips around Organic Pesticides! I definitely feel more confident about starting my own herb garden now.
I have a small space in my yard about 3 square feet. Do you think that is big enough?
or would you recommend using a container?
Hello Rob it is so good to meet you and thanks a million for sharing. With a size space like this you can plant lets say beets, carrots, and potatoes or if you like you can try your hands at planting some of these herbs, Just follow this linkhttps://staging-gardenofedengardencenter.siterubix.com/how-to-grow-herbs. Hope this helps and please do let me know how it goes, I also have a post on planting vegetables if you like you can check it out.
Wow! I’m really glad I discovered your website! I have this desire to be a gardener, but I just can’t seem to keep anything alive! I do not have a green thumb, but maybe your site will help with the knowledge I clearly lack! Do you have more information on keeping weeds out of your garden and yard? We’ve used all kinds of products but to no avail. A landscaper once told us we have extremely resistant weeds. Are there any natural weed products we could try?
Hello Jane it is so good to meet you and it is my pleasure to help where I can. Weeds can be a real problem and pain so I understand your pain. You can follow this link for more ideashttps://staging-gardenofedengardencenter.siterubix.com/weed-control. Hope this helps and have a good day.
Greetings! I honestly had a hard time finding anything to improve on this site. The only thing I think would make this site better is probably its theme. I feel the tabs kinda get lost in the background. I love the colors, content, menus, sub menus, and categories. Very well organized and thought out. You may add a couple of banners for your affiliates if you like, but that’s all I would consider. Great page!
Hello Roxana it is so good to meet you, thanks a million for those kind words and for your help, wishing you the best of success and have a good day.
Good Day Norman,
Excellent description on how to start, grow and maintain an organic garden. Your experience in gardening and soil management is very evident.
The step by step instructions you provide shows that you have done this many times in the past. Your passion for growing the food you eat and your love of the soil are also pleasing to see.
With Spring just around the corner, I have begun planning this year’s garden. While my gardens are fairly small, 8 feet x 12 feet and a small greenhouse, I do manage to grow quite a bit of food that I enjoy very much.
Some of my friends always seem to drop in for a visit when my peppers and tomatoes are at the right level of ripeness.
I am getting more interested in container gardening and I will be returning again to read up more on this topic.
Very interesting reading. Your passion for the soil is all over your writing. Keep up the good work.
Paul
Hello Paul it is so good to meet you, and thanks a million for those very kind words, it is comments like this that lets me know that my hard work is paying off. It is good to see that you know the value of Gardening and there are benefits to gardening like getting a good workout, saving a few dollars and so on. I am glad that I could help all the best to you and happy gardening.
Hi Norman,
As an environmentalist I am all in for organic foods, especially of you can grow them yourself! I love your post, and really want to garden my own vegetables when I have a house with a garden that actually recieves sunlight.
At this moment, I unfortunately have not a suitable garden, since I am living in a big city. I would love to give people the knowledge and advice that many cities actually have their own community gardening in the local parks and natural areas. I myself go help out in those organic gardens about once or twice a week, and can bring some of the vegetables with me during harvest time. Also I collect my own compost, and bring it to the organic garden.
This way I still feel like I contribute a little bit myself, eventhough I do not grown my own crops.
Marianne
Hello Marianne it is so good to meet you and I am glad that I could help, having a garden is so awesome especially when harvesting and eating that which you have grown. I hope that one day God’s willing you will have that garden of your dreams. Thanks for sharing, all the best to you and have a good day.
What a wealth of information on organic gardening! I appreciate the thoroughness and range of plants you talk about. I wondered about how I should get rid of insects without spray, and like your recipe. I plan to bookmark this page for an easy reference.
I would love to know more about different regions in the country and what will grow best in my area, the PNW. Can you direct me to a resource?
Hello Anne it is so good to meet you, sorry for the delay in responding. You can grow these , mint , thyme, rosemary, garlic onion, potatoe, carrots, lettuces, corn beans and egg plant. This is just a few you can plant. Hope this helps, all the best to you and have a good day.
What a great post about starting a vegie patch. I’ve always dreamed of a vegie patch but unfortunately I have brown thumb not a green one. Everyone I’ve tried to start in the past has ended in disaster. It’s so bad that my kids walk past a pot plant they go “look mum a plant for you to kill”. I was even given fake plants for my kitchen bench a couple of years ago which I managed to kill by knocking them off the bench. However, now I’ve found your site I might give it another shot as your posts are clear and concise and may just help me get it right this time.
Hello Megan so nice to meet you. And no don’t say that about yourself, all it takes is some know how and your success is sure. We are all learning on a daily basis. The good part is that you are willing to give it a try and I am sure that you will succeed.
I am so happy that my post could help, please let me know how it goes all the best to you and have a good day.