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Organic Gardening and Organic Fertilizer
Organic gardening is a great way to get back to nature and reap the benefits of growing vegetables, fruits, flowers and shrubs with natural fertilizers. This is gardening without harmful pesticides and other toxic substances. In organic gardening, even your fertilizer is chemical free.
The Basics of Organic Gardening
To begin organic gardening, all you really need is good soil, plenty of fresh water and a love of gardening. Instead of chemicals, use an organic fertilizer made from compost. Compost is an amazing and simple substance that you make from leaves, grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps, wood chips and other natural elements. When they're combined in a compost bin and allowed to decompose over time, they evolved into a deep, rich soil-like substance that becomes a true organic fertilizer.
Spread compost on your organic garden to accomplish various wonderful results:
- Compost improves the soil structure, texture and aeration. It increases soil fertility as well as the soil's ability to hold onto moisture. Accordingly, compost promotes healthy root development.
- It balances the acids and alkalines in soil, bringing pH levels to maximum efficiency.
- It contains micronutrients, including some like iron and manganese that you won't find in chemical fertilizers.
- Most important, compost feeds diverse life into soil, including bacteria, insects, worms and other organisms that support plant growth.
Tips for Organic Gardening
Organic gardening is simple. All you need is a trowel, a pair of garden gloves, a shovel and a commitment to gardening with natural elements. Here are some critical tips that can help you to get into organic gardening in a successful, healthy way:
- Use mulch: It saves water, adds humus and nutrients to the soil, discourages weeds and gives your organic garden a lovely finished appearance.
- Got aphids? Don't use chemicals! Instead, spray infested stems, leaves and buds with a well-diluted soapy water solution. It works wonders against those pests!
- Plant trees in your garden: They save energy by offering valuable shade in summer. In winter, they let the sun shine through to provide maximum heat.
- Grow herbs: If you like to cook, use your organic garden to grow herbs. These outstanding landscape plants can add great flavors to your foods. They even have helpful medicinal properties and they're easy to maintain.
- Go for biodiversity: Grow a vareity of plants, flowers and shrubs in your organic garden. Encouraging many different forms of plant life is great for pest control.
- Water early in the morning. You'll prepare your plants to better withstand the heat of the day.
- Enjoy the insect life: Some two percent of insects are harmful. The other 98 percent, including praying mantises, fireflies and lady bugs help out by protecting against those harmful few.
- Keep your soil balanced. The best soil for sustaining healthy life must be filled with organic matter. If your soil has too much clay, dig in some sand or silt. Too sandy? Add some clay.
Your organic garden is an investment in your family's health. Put those chemicals away. Use compost and other natural, organic materials. In so many ways, a natural garden can become a beneficial pastime.
