Establishing and maintaining an organic garden
One of the increasingly popular forms of gardening today is organic gardening. Organic gardening means that the gardener has not used any chemicals or pesticides while growing the crop. A lot of people find that organic gardening produces healthier, purer crops because there are not any chemicals. If you are interested in organic gardening, here are a couple of tips for establishing and maintaining an organic garden:
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- Pick the right types of plants for your garden area: When you are getting ready to establish an organic garden, you will want to make sure that you either plant seeds or starter plants that will do well in your garden space. Usually the backs of seed packets or little tabs in the starter pots will have an indication of what type of garden works best for that type of plant. You should consider the type of soil that you have, the amount of sun exposure that the garden area gets, and also the temperature range for the garden area. This way, you will better ensure that your organic plants will be able to survive in the garden space that you have!
- Organic compost: Part of the process of establishing and maintaining an organic garden involves placing organic compost in the garden bed. Having healthy soil is one of the key things that are necessary for a good organic garden. If your soil is not healthy, then you do not have a chance of growing strong, good crops. Organic compost can help you to maintain good, healthy soil for your plants. After adding organic compost to your garden, you will see over time that the soil texture and structure are very improved. In addition, organic compost is great because it helps to increase the soil's actual ability to hold water, which means that your plants will be able to get more water without having it run off of the soil!
- Organic mulch: Organic mulch is also another key component for maintaining an organic garden. You should mulch your organic garden beds with about three inches of organic material. For one reason, this will help to conserve water in your flower bed, because the soil will not be directly exposed and water will not evaporate as quickly. In addition, organic mulch also helps to give added and necessary nutrients and humus to your garden as well! In addition, organic mulch also helps to prevent a lot of weeds from growing in your organic garden, which means that you'll have to spend less time pulling the weeds out! Finally, organic mulch is a great addition to an organic garden simply because it gives the garden a nice, finished, pleasant look!
- Keep insects off of your plants: One of the hardest parts of organic gardening is finding ways to keep bugs off of your plants. Usually pesticides and chemicals are used to deter bugs from eating your plants - but if you have an organic garden, you'll need to be a little more creative in order to keep the bugs away! One of the suggested ways for keeping bugs away from an organic garden is to use natural deterrents, such as pure garlic extract. One type of garlic extract that is for organic gardeners is called "Garlic Barrier." Many people have found Garlic Barrier to be a really effective in their organic gardens. Another thing that you can try to keep bugs (particularly aphids) away is to spray the infested plants with a soapy water (that is very, very diluted). Then, after spraying the plants with the diluted soapy water, you should then spray the plants with clear water. It has been said that this spraying methods is affective for even really bad cases of aphids in the organic garden, so it's worth giving it a try!
