Organic Gardening In Your Backyard – Fun, Healthy, & Easier Than You Think

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden – Introduction

Gardening is a lifetime love.

My father, born on a family farm, taught me. I’ve been doing it as far back as I can remember. I mean age 4 or younger. Carrying soil in a little wooden wheelbarrow Dad had made for me. My first crop, of course, was radishes. You can’t fail with radishes.

Only a hundred years ago, most North Americans lived on farms or fished the seas. In just that short century, country-based living has drifted into the creeping cement cemeteries called The City.

I’m not that old, but I can remember when most families where I grew up tended gardens.

It wasn’t work, but a kind of simple joy, putting in our vegetable garden every spring. Black rich soil dug by hand. Seeds planted. Fertilized with dried manure from the horse barn next door (I grew up in Harness Racing Country — a true blessing).

We were organic gardening long before Prince Charles gave it a name.

Times have changed, of course. Back then, you could still catch a mess of brook trout in fresh water streams…

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden Is Back!

But Organic Food is back. It’s healthy. It’s delicious. Once you’ve eaten a home-grown tomato, you’ll never go back to those hard, tasteless, chemical-filled commercial things.

We still do it. In fact, we even converted our deck planters to veggie beds. And in wintertime we grow ’em indoors. As well as the Greenhouses, so easy to build…

“Building your own small greenhouse just makes economical sense. You can build a greenhouse at just a fraction of the cost of buying a pre-built one. Most pre-built greenhouse kits you buy need to be assembled anyway. You’re really just paying hugely inflated prices for the material.” – Alex C Linford

You don’t even need special organic recipes. Traditional recipes always used fresh ingredients, or at least properly preserved foods. If you want to cook a traditional meal, just find an old cookbook.

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden – A Guest Blog

Have you ever wondered about starting your own organic garden, ever asked “What is Organic Gardening?” — here’s a wonderful guest blog.

Here, from author C.J. Gustafson is her essential article: Organic Gardening In Your Backyard – Fun, Healthy, & Easier Than You Think…

Organic gardening, which is sometimes thought of as something out of the 60’s Back-To-The-Land Hippie culture, has been steadily growing in popularity over the years. Not only can you find entire aisles of organics at the local supermarket, the number of specialty stores dedicated to organically grown foods has increased dramatically.

Part of this popularity is due to an increasing understanding of the dangers associated with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Growing organically generally means gardening without these potentially dangerous chemicals. Many backyard gardeners are turning to organic methods as they realize how easy and effective organic growing can be.

Part of the reason chemical pesticides and fertilizers are so widely used is because they work well. In deciding to use organic methods in your backyard garden, you first will need to accept the fact that you will likely have more pest damage and lower yields than if you were employing chemicals. Many people are willing to make this trade off in return for the opportunity to harvest chemical-free foods for themselves and their families.

There are several different approaches and techniques used in organic gardening. You may find that you are using some of them already. If you have selected cultivars that are resistant to pests or drought, you are involved in one form of organic gardening.

If you put out a scarecrow or bars of hand soap to keep animals away, this too is organic gardening. Compost is an organic fertilizer. Organic techniques are around in many gardens already. By utilizing them more and moving away from chemicals, you can improve the environment and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden – Reasons

There are different levels of organic gardening and different reasons why people choose organic methods. Some do it because they do not want to harm any animals, even aphids or cutworms. So they try to develop a system where they can cohabit peacefully, keeping insects and other animals out when possible and removing them or learning to live with them when other options don’t work.

Some people are not opposed to pest control and extermination but they don’t want to add any more chemicals to the environment or to the food that they eat. Others go organic as a means of getting back to a more historic, natural, and even challenging way of gardening. You will need to decide which methods match your personal philosophies and reasons for going organic.

Pest control and fertilization are two of the key areas to focus on with organic gardening. In addition to using native, resistant plants, mulching, and practicing crop rotation, the use of other natural methods of pest control and of compost and manure as fertilizer can go a long way toward creating a more organic garden.

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden – Pest Control

There are many ways that backyard gardeners can control insects and other pests without the use of synthetic chemicals.

Use mesh row covers to keep insects off of plants. They need to be removed from squashes, melons, cucumbers, peppers and other plants that require or benefit from pollination during flowering.
Collars placed around young plants will help prevent damage by cutworms.
Allow natural predators such as ladybugs and wasps to assist you in your efforts by planting vegetation that will attract them to your garden and avoiding pesticides that harm them as well.
Screens, cold frames and fences can help keep some insects and animals such as rabbits out of the garden.
Aphids can be removed from plants with a strong stream of water.
Hand removing insects such as potato beetles can be effective in small gardens.
Weed your garden and turn the soil regularly to help reduce the growth of insects that like to nest in certain plant debris.
Learn to identify the egg clusters of harmful insects and remove them immediately
Use homemade insecticides such as garlic spray or other harmless pest inhibitors.
Try using non-invasive methods of pest control including soap bars, cuttings of human hair, or an alert dog in the yard. These techniques may or may not be effective, but are worth a try before resorting to chemicals.
Some home pesticides such as those that use rhubarb or tobacco plants can be very dangerous to humans and other mammals. Use caution and be sure you know what you’re getting into before you begin.

For more, see Green Bean Buddy.

Organic Fertilizers

Of course you want your plants to grow quickly and produce large yields. However, chemical fertilizers are potentially harmful to those who eat the plants and to the environment, especially if applied too heavily and allowed to run off into water supplies and habitat areas. Using organic fertilizers can decrease the problems associated with chemicals.

Manure is a natural, effective fertilizer if used properly. Not only does it improve soil structure, it provides the nutrients plants need to develop. Manure that is allowed to age and decompose before use is most effective. Pasteurized manure is less likely to include active weed seed or harmful bacteria. Do not apply too heavily.

Create and maintain a compost pile to use as fertilizer. Not only does it incorporate the use of natural organic material such as leaves, lawn clippings and household waste such as potato peels and carrot stems, it also provides a free source of fertilizer and reduces the amount of waste that is hauled to landfills.

If you choose to use chemical fertilizers, use sparingly and choose a slow release variety that is less likely to leech into vulnerable areas.

Companion planting, which is the practice of putting together two plants that seem to benefit each other, has been offered as a means of enhancing organic gardening practices. It is thought that plants such as nightshade and marigolds are natural pest deterrents. However, there is no firm research to support this as yet. Still, many gardeners have reported success with this method.

Prickly Vines

Additionally, planting vegetables with prickly vines, such as watermelon or squashes around the perimeter of vulnerable plants may help keep out rabbits and other animals that don’t like the scratchy vines.

These days, many gardeners are looking for ways to reduce the use of chemicals and rely on more natural and inexpensive means of providing food for their tale and backyard growing enjoyment. Organic gardening techniques provide fun and healthy options.

“Live Free, Mon Ami!” – Brian Alan Burhoe

Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden

About the guest author: C.J. Gustafson says that she “would rather lose a few ears of corn than go without wildlife in my garden.” An amateur gardener and a professional photographer from Pine City, Minnesota, she’s written articles over the years providing valuable tips and advice about garden accessories and other vegetable gardening topics. Her over-200 published articles also cover topics from making maple syrup to the history of the North West Company fur post in her area. Her photos include categories such as Nature, Wildlife, Gardens, Flowers and Scenic Travels. She is active in the local arts community and can be found on Facebook.

For more, see Green Bean Buddy.

Organic Food: Your Home Organic Vegetable Garden

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