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| Organic Gardening |
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Saturday, 15 November 2008
Each gardener has his own set of characteristics that make him fit for certain gardening styles. If you know yourself and the right gardening style that will fit your rearing of your organic garden and help you yield your vegetables effectively, then you have pretty much gotten an edge over other gardening enthusiasts. But what are the different types of gardening that you can look out for? Here are some of the types that you can consider:
Residential Gardening
This is the most common of all gardening techniques. If you are just a beginner and not yet inclined to produce vegetables for industrial reasons, then residential gardening is for you. The primary purpose of residential gardening is to sustain a family or two of a steady supply of vegetables and at the same time, render aesthetic appeal to your backyard.
Residential gardening does not require too much space. It can also be cultivated in window sills, balconies and other small areas that have sufficient light source, easy to monitor and at the same time, easy to maintain or free from pests. The good thing about residential gardening is the ease with which it ushers the gardening wannabe from having no knowledge of planting to expanding to other gardening styles, whichever deems the fancy of the budding gardener.
Specialized Gardening
Specialized gardening involves non-residential areas that are known for its green quality and are often marketed as such. Parks, botanical gardens, amusement parts and other tourist attractions fall under this category. Often a staff is required to maintain due to its size, so effective administrative skills on top of gardening expertise may be required. It is also tailored for delivering in profit to certain causes or organizations.
Impact Gardening
If you are up to the challenge of blocking weeds with minimal costs, then impact gardening is for you. It involves using a relatively small space and maximizing its gardening potential. The plants are often crowded together.
Indoor Gardening
Residential gardening is under the huge scope of indoor gardening. Other types under this category include the gardens of conservatories, greenhouses and academic institutions. Systems for heating and air conditioning may also be found for certain breeds of plants. If you are the type of gardener who really loves cultivating plants in and out of season, then indoor gardening is for you.
Water Gardening
If you want to garden with minimal supervision and love water organisms, then water gardening is for you. This is a bit of a challenge for most gardeners because it usually doesn't involve the initial conditions of other traditional gardening techniques. The novelty of water gardening appeals only to those who have ample water facilities to cultivate this type of gardening style.
Community Gardening
If you are motivated by group efforts, community gardening may be for you. It involves concentrated efforts of the different members of the community to be able to help make a greener place. It involves a huge scope, but the members of the community are given autonomy to style their areas in whichever way they choose.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
There is an important aspect of organic gardening that you can very well relate to. Imagine this. You are hungry. You haven't been fed. You haven't taken a bath. You haven't pampered yourself. You've spent so much time working and taking care of others, but you haven't tended yourself for your own good.
How would you feel? For a time being, you may be able to accept the fact. You may still tire yourself out without asking for anything in return. But as the days go by, you will feel the negative effects of the situation. You will no longer have the kind of energy that you used to. Your body will deteriorate until it can no longer function for the things that it used to do.
How is this related to the organic method of gardening? You can actually compare this to the state of the soil. Soil is a very important aspect in this type and all the other kinds of gardening. This is the base of everything. This will be the bed, or the house of your plants. You must choose the right one in the first place.
Depending on your location, the soils that you may acquire vary on such factor. You should base the decision in picking out the plants on the types of soils that are available in your area. Once you have picked the right kind, you are now on you way to the first steps of your gardening venture using the organic method.
Relating to the sample above, the soil must never be left untended. It must never go hungry. Or else, what happened to the example may also happen to the soil. You have to feed the soil. You have to bathe it. And you have to take care of it just like how you tend to yourself or to the plants situated on your garden.
You may know from your grade school days that the soil needs water, sunlight and air. But you are doing everything organically now. Does it carry out any differences? Yes, a lot. Although you still have to feed your soil and the plants on it enough sunlight, water and air, you have to add something else. You've got to have organic matters placed on the soil.
Have you ever heard of composting? This is the process where you culminate decaying matters like leaves, grasses, peelings of fruits or vegetables, even manures and fish heads to act as your soil's fertilizer. This is organic remember? You cannot resort to anything synthetic. This is one proof that this process entails a lot of hard work than you can ever imagine.
Not only are you going to feed the soil, you also have to attend to it regularly. Mulching is like massaging the soil to keep its shape. This way, you will be able to get rid of the pests that your soil has gotten through the days or months, however long you have been gardening.
This will actually help you prevent acquiring bigger problems. There are many types of soils that need certain care and attention. For example, clay can hold up water better than the sandy kind. You have to know those kinds of details to be able to improve on your organic gardening venture.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
When we talk of fertilization for your effective gardening of vegetables in your organic gardening, it is almost similarly attributed to mulching. But there are also other aspects such as the introduction of fertilizers that can be available naturally or commercially. Simply defined, it involves placing matter, whether organic or inorganic, around your plants.
Aside from providing fertilization, it also protects your soil. Whether your garden is subjected under heavy rains or at the risk of weed infestation, the mulches provide ample protection and strengthening needed to supplement the natural growth processes of your organic garden vegetables. Aside from this, it also regulates the temperature of the soil; it can also render aesthetic appeal to the garden because it will help improve the ground texture and overall appearance.
If you have effectively established mulches in your garden, less watering is required because it will also help the plants retain water. The plants will also experience better growth levels and moisture retention. Although known to help in weed control, it does not directly fight or ward off the weeds. It just helps as filler for bare areas that are at higher risk of weed infestation. Also, persistent weeds can die down as it forces itself in the soil surrounded with mulch.
For the case of organic mulches, bacteria has the tendency to eat up the much-needed nitrogen, so in some cases, you might be required to inject additional dosages of nitrogen. Some examples of materials you can use for mulching include lawn clippings, compost misses, leaves, straw, sawdust, wood chips. These are examples of organic materials for mulching. If you opt for inorganic, it often has its optimum results on plants placed on a hill.
When fertilizing your soil via mulching, you may be required to be more meticulous with your organic garden. You might be required to water more frequently when you are using inorganic fabrics, and then you must also watch out for the greater tendency to wilt because the ground cover tends to be more crowded.
Testing your soil is a good way to ensure effective fertilization. You cannot afford to buy fertilizer by the bulk, only to realize that it is not the right fertilizer suited for your soil. The best way to make sure that you are able to score the best fertilizer is by means of doing an actual test on a sample of soil taken from your garden.
Once you apply fertilizer, it is often recommended to maintain it. Having a budget for high quality fertilizer is also a good must-have for a gardener, especially a beginner. There are also some fertilizers solely tailored at the beginning of the planting process and need not be maintained all throughout your gardening activities. In any rate, make sure that you are getting your money's worth and have thoroughly proven for yourself that the given fertilizer you are putting on your garden has been tried and tested on your soil type.
Even if you put fertilizers or inorganic mulches in your soil, the organic matter is still the best source of fertilization for your plant, and it adheres closely to the natural growth process of plants. If at all possible, avoid introducing too much chemical intervention in your soil so that the plants will get used to growing and maximizing its potential via natural means.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Organic gardening can very well pass up as a hobby for starters. This can be true if you are the type of person who has the passion for gardening. This may not be everybody's cup of tea. So consider yourself lucky if you are among those who can grow green things out of the blue.
Gardening requires certain skills. You have to know the type of soil, what kind of plants you can place on them, how you will take care of those plants, aside from the many other considerations that you must be aware of when you are serious about it.
It may sound complicated enough for the beginners. But if you have been marked as the one with a green thumb and you've already honed you skills on this, then you might as well try the organic way of gardening. This method is particularly special as well as hard. It will require you to double your effort as compared with the regular stuff that you do with the usual gardening tricks.
The Concept
The basic rule on this type of gardening is that you will only use synthetic products in your entire endeavor with regards to the task. This will include the important elements such as the fertilizers and the pesticides.
You can actually get from the earth what you will then use for your organic venture into gardening. You will use such elements to be able to grow something new; these are your plants, your vegetables or whatever greens you may want to grow. Do you get the picture? To look at it from a bird's eye view, it is like working closely with nature. Or as others may say, this is like being one with nature.
Organic Fertilizers
Is there such a thing, you may ask? Yes, and you are the one to make it. You can actually perform composting on the materials found on your garden. You can use fallen leaves and twigs, animal manure, but this will depend on the type, and many more.
Organic Pesticides
This type of gardening wants, as much as possible, to stay away from pesticides. But if you can't afford to pick the insects one by one by your bare hands, then you can go to your local grocery store and ask for an organic pesticide that is available commercially.
The old way really is to be vigilant with your garden and take off every pest that you see. You should only turn to the organic pesticides when it becomes too many and uncontrollable that you can no longer handle. You can also try to bring in the animals that feed on those pests. This way, you'll have some help in picking those pests up. And that is also helping the other animals satisfy their hunger.
As a hobby, this may be time consuming. So if you cannot devote enough time into it, might as well find a partner or drop the idea until you've found the right time to carry on with the tasks.
Organic gardening really entails a lot of hard work. So you better be prepared to perspire in the process. To ease your tiredness when you are already into it too deep, just think that what you are doing is helping nature. This is your way of giving back what nature has bestowed on you since the day you were born.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
A good garden aficionado must know that cultivation or weeding is effective for growth control. Weeds are your garden's most persistent and cloying enemy. You need to be able to know how to handle weeds in order to foster growth control for your organic garden. If you let weeds take over, they will completely obliterate your capacity to yield a rich number of vegetables.
They are the number one stealer of nutrients, sunlight and revenue for farmers, so the earlier you try to eliminate them, the better will it be for your gardening. This can eat up your time to such extremes at certain seasons, but monitoring weeds and eliminating them is definitely worth your time and effort.
Weeds are usually much harder to remove when they have matured. So it might require you a keen observing eye to really check out and inspect your garden for the earliest appearances of these culprits. Cultivating your soil regularly in the garden will help eliminate the younger weeds. Once you let those young weeds take hold and be firmly established in the garden, it will become a more herculean task to try to remove them from your garden.
Seasons also affect the appearance of weeds. Warm-season and cool-season weeds proliferate at different times of the year, and it will be your advantage to recognize which weeds are in season so you can more easily expect them in your garden and prepare your anti-weed arsenal more effectively. Some of the weed seeds may also lie in your garden, so make sure that you are able to cultivate your soil properly to remove them as well.
Make sure that your ground remains filled up with the good stuff. If you leave any portion idle or bare, the weeds are more likely to secure that area for their growth. If you are unable to fill the entire area with plant outgrowths, at least have a good cover to keep the weeds from invading your plant territory.
In the case where weeds have already grown when you discovered them, chopping them off from the ground is the most efficient way to remove them. Some of these weeds may cease to be removed, and will not stop even when you cut them down. But repetitive cutting down of those weeds will help eliminate them for good after some time.
The use of herbicides and pesticides is also advised, but it is not entirely necessary when you are able to do good cultivation of your land. The pesticides and herbicides, especially the commercially available ones, may prove to have other harmful effects. It may also pose as a threat to other useful organisms living in your garden. In any case, when you are presented with a huge weed problem, you may use herbicides and pesticides but only sparingly.
Mulching and composting are also good ways to help maintain the soil and ward off the weeds. Ultimately, you will not have to encounter huge problems in weed management if from the start; you are able to keep them from thriving in your garden in the first place.
If you are really consistent in digging up your space, you will have made the most out of your vegetables' garden and have exercised true growth control against weeds that can steal, kill and destroy your organic garden.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
If you are pondering about organic gardening, keep doing so. Not many people are like you who think of such causes for the benefit of nature. Nature may be smiling at you now. With the advent of all the problems with the world around us, specifically the global warming, such simple steps to ease the bigger problem is already a big leap to be carried out.
This will take a lot of hard work. So you better be prepared for it. Once you are already into the process, take time to familiarize yourself. Do not give up just because of a minor problem. Just think of it like nature is testing you how big your love for it is. So prove it worth your tears and fears regarding this type of gardening.
What makes this hard? Unlike the ordinary kind of gardening, going organic will remove from you the freedom to use just about anything that is commercially available as long as it will help you with your venture. No way. You cannot use synthetic materials on this one. Everything must be organic. It must come from nature itself. You must have done it using elements that can be found on the ground. Or you can also buy those available in the market as long as they claim to be organic.
By going organic, you'll be able to help nature replenish its resources. Yes, you get from it all the materials that you will need for this task. You will get the dried leaves, the sawdust, some vegetable peels and other materials from the ground. This is also your way of cleaning your surroundings. But such materials can be used as elements in compost.
You can actually do your own compost by going over some books on how this can be done. You can also turn to someone who is successful with this type of gardening and ask that person for tips and tricks. You can use the result of that compost as fertilizers on your garden.
Finding a guru may serve a lot of purpose as you go along in this type of gardening. It doesn't matter if you will just be doing so as a hobby or you will turn it into a business. So start asking around and look for that person who can further mentor you in the trade of doing the stuff that surrounds such method of gardening.
By having the aid of an expert, especially if you are only beginning on this task, you will be better at helping nature. You will know what type of plants you can grow in what type of soil. You will have a clearer view as to how the elements of the ground can contribute to the success of your project. You will know what to do in cases of trouble with regards to the growth of your plants or the emergence of pests on your garden.
Nature will really love you for the way you will only utilize organic materials for the purpose of growing green things on your garden. And you will benefit a lot in the process of organic gardening. You will be able to become a guru of this type of task. You will be able to produce organic sources of food.
And you can also turn this into a business venture once you have mastered the art and you are already harvesting more than enough.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Organic food products are the trend these days after studies have shown that the age old practice of using fertilizers and pesticides happen to be harmful to our health. This means that we have to change our approach and try something else.
The concept of organic vegetable farming is not new given that ancient civilizations have been doing it for years. We somehow forgot that thinking that modern science could help us produce better crops.
But if we go back to the basics, we realize that the resources need to make this work is right before our eyes.
First is the soil. Although 2/3 of the Earth is made up of water, the remainder is what we use for infrastructure while a certain percentage of that is devoted to agriculture.
The second thing you need is water. The ancients used an efficient irrigation system so that water from the rivers would go to the land they planted on. These days, we have the technology to divert water to these areas using pipes. When it has not rained for a long time, we are able to make artificial rain.
Third is sunlight. We may not control its movement but if we are able to plant our crops in an area that has sufficient exposure to the sun, whatever we plant will grow.
But between the period of putting the seeds in the ground and before these are harvested, farmers have to be on their guard. The crops are threatened by insects. This is why people are advised to use other insects, birds and toads.
Organically made fertilizers also come to play here and some examples of them include the application of compost, manure and cover cropping.
The soil where the vegetables were grown and harvested may not be ready to plant the same crops so maintain its fertility, farmers are also encouraged to rotate their crops.
To make sure that farmers who practice organic vegetable gardening are doing it right, the Department of Agriculture together with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture or IFOAM that has been in operation since 1972 sees to it that certain standards are in place.
Some people will argue that organic farming is not able to produce the same amount of yields as compared to those who use fertilizers and pesticides. This is true however, in times of drought; these crops are still able to survive because there is still enough water underground. This means farmers will still be able to harvest and there is a steady supply of goods in the market.
It is expected that the demand for organic vegetables will grow in the future. This is as more people become of food safety issues and how this affects the environment.
You can do your share by trying organic vegetable gardening in your backyard. The things you need are very affordable. You just need to practice what farmers do in the fields.
In fact, such information can now be found in books and online so do some research and put this into practice. It is fun and rewarding to see that what you worked on for weeks is now being served on your dinner table.
Back then, you have to remember that there were only a few skilled jobs and one of them was being a farmer.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
If there is anything that prevents your organic garden from yielding the best vegetables, it will have to be the pests that invade and surround your area. Now, if you are really serious about controlling those pests and keeping them out of your garden for good, a volume of materials is readily available for you to be equipped and knowledgeable about the various types of pests that can threaten your crop.
The very hard thing about pest control is the fact that there are so many types of pests that can invade your garden; it will really be quite a challenge to recall them in one sitting, so full immersion to your gardening activities is the only surefire way to inculcate ample knowledge on pests to watch out for.
One of the tried and tested tactics for pest control is by familiarizing yourself with the famous insects and animals. These enemies of the garden will really hamper the growth of your crop only if you let them.
Beetles
You have two options for beetles: manually remove them by hand or spray them with insecticide that is poisonous to them. If left untreated, beetles have the capacity to bore so much holes on your leaves and eat away at your vegetation over time, especially when their population has already burgeoned. Beetles come in a variety of types, but the remedy for it is usually the two techniques mentioned above.
Aphids
You will often find sticky groups of insects that are invading your garden in hues of red if you have aphids in your garden. Fortunately, you can easily remedy this by spraying it with soap insecticide or any similar material. Aphids are common to almost every garden vegetable you can possibly imagine, so if you are growing vegetables, you are most likely to encounter these sticky organisms.
Cabbage Worms
Neem oil is the cabbage worms' worst enemy, so if you spray them with it, they will be out of your garden in a jiffy. The thing is you can determine whether cabbage worm are in the garden if you find green caterpillar and holes on the leaves of your plants. You can also pick them by hand if you are more courageous or maybe spray them with insecticide if you don't have neem oil handy at the time of infestation.
Cut Worms
If you see crawling, dull caterpillars that are brown in color, then you have found cutworms invading your territory! Placing paper collars around plants after digging around the area may help prevent cutworms from taking up your precious soil and nutrients. Some chemicals may also work like insecticides, but this is a general cure. You also need to dig a lot because the cut worms have this tendency to snuggle up on your plants for shade and life.
Maggots
Maggots are extremely disgusting, and they tend to make your landscape ugly if you do not try to get rid of them. Bleaching is one of the best ways to get rid of maggots. If your organic garden is also situated beside a garbage bag, you may choose to transfer your garbage bag elsewhere because leftover meals like meat tend to attract these maggots and they might decide to branch out of the garbage bin and into your garden.
There are many other kinds of pests that you can control in your garden given the right handy tools and knowledge on how to best eliminate them from your organic garden.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to plant vegetables. But if you want to do this the old fashioned way which has been proven to be very effective, you should know the organic vegetable gardening basics.
The first thing you have to know is what is organic vegetable gardening? It is simply a way of farming that does not use any synthetic products which includes fertilizers and pesticides. In short, you work with nature to get what you want.
When choosing the right vegetable to plant is knowing which of these are suitable to the soil and the climate. If you live in an area that experiences droughts, buy those that do not consume that much water.
Before you drop seeds into the soil, make sure the land is ready by tilling the land so it is clear both of rocks and weeds.
The next step will be to add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If the pH level of the soil is too high, add lime or sulphur to adjust it.
One more thing you have to do before planting the seeds is putting in organic fertilizer. You can use recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste which should be applied a month before planting begins.
Then it is time to plant the seeds. Each seed must be spaced by a certain distance the roots do not fight for water. In between each of the vegetables, you can plant other things as well because the tighter the space, the lesser the chances that weeds will grow.
Pests are the biggest threat to your organic garden. To fight them, you can use birds, frogs or other insects. You don't have these creatures to fend off other insects. You simply have to create the ideal environment by putting a bird house or a small pond. Once they are in place, they will do the rest by patrolling your garden and eating those who seek to eat your crops.
Putting up a few barriers can also help. Row covers are known to prevent moths from landing and laying eggs. You can also use sticky traps and foil collars to stop pests and borers.
There are also organic pesticides around but some of them can only kill one or two kinds of pests. So before you buy them, make sure you know what you are dealing with.
Crop rotation is the best way to preserve the fertility of the soil. This is done after you harvest the vegetables so it is ready for planting once again. For this to work, you have to plant in the same area a different vegetable.
Anyone can learn organic vegetable gardening basics and soon have their own little farm in their backyard. It is fresh and you can pick this anytime you want which is very convenient as these are only a few feet from your home.
Should everyone get into organic vegetable gardening? Perhaps because there is a food shortage right now and most of the vegetables imported do not use this technique. The government for its part has given incentives to farmers here to shift to this method but its going to take more effort to persuade countries that do business with the US to do the same thing.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Organic gardening isn't only for farmers or people who have backyards. This is because it can be do using containers.
Organic vegetable gardening containers have advantages. You can use it décor every time you decide to let it get some sunlight when you place it by the balcony or patio. If the weather gets too cold outside, you can bring it indoors. But best of all, you don't have to deal with certain threats that can only happen outdoors like weeds, insects or soil borne diseases.
Organic vegetable gardening containers do not use soil. You need to use potting mix that is much lighter and provides excellent drainage. You need to use organic fertilizer though to help it grow. An example of this is mulch that can be made from chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure which helps prevent it from drying out.
Another thing the plants inside these containers need is a lot of water. Ideally, you should put these in small amounts at least 30 minutes after an initial watering because putting in too much could drown your plant.
The containers can be hung aside from just putting these on the ground. If the container that you purchased does not have any holes, make a few.
By now you may be asking, "What are the ideal vegetables to be planted in these containers?" To give you can idea, these are bush beans, capsicum, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and tomatoes.
You know that organically grown vegetables need sunlight. If you have a lot of these containers and it is getting pretty windy outside, you can protect them from falling by grouping these together with the taller ones with these as your walls.
The best organic vegetable gardening containers are those made from clay, plastic or wood. The length of the roots and its width is the deciding factor when choosing what size you will buy from the store. For instance, if your vegetable happens to have 6 inches of roots and grows to about 10 inches wide, it is best to get a container that measures 8 inches deep and 10 to 12 inches wide. You must always give room for allowance as this may grow bigger.
We mentioned earlier that one of the advantages of the organic container is that you don't have to deal with insects. But sometimes, bugs like the hookworm manage to get to your plant. If this happens, just bring the container to the sink and wash the leaves. Should there be slugs, get rid of them by sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the soil.
If there are aphids on your vegetables, fight fire with fire by getting other insects to do the dirty work. A pack of ladybugs will do the trick without causing any collateral damage.
The use of organic vegetables containers makes it people without a backyard the chance to plant their own crops at home. This is ideal for residents living in condos and apartments so they can save money to pay for rent or buy other things when the sustenance they need is just sitting by the balcony or window.
If you want to try it, go ahead and ask someone at the gardening store for some help to get you started.
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