Information on How to Garden Organically

Information on how to garden organically is everywhere, but sometimes the facts can be confusing.

Your grandparents probably practiced organic gardening without even knowing it. One of the goals of the organic gardening movement, beyond growing healthier produce and plants, is to create a more wholesome and natural environment, rehabilitate the soil and institute measures to minimize the negative impact of caustic chemical use on the ecology.

Gardening can be challenging. Sometimes it seems like everything is out to destroy your plants, from bugs to bacteria, birds and even bunnies. Predators eating their way through the garden make it easy to see why the idea of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and insecticides became so popular.

Plants and seeds that are treated with chemicals are more pest resistant, but they may also be less healthy to eat. The chemical residue left behind after plants are chemically treated creates problems too. Thanks to nature's desire to redistribute resources, poisons travel. They get into surrounding ecosystems through rainwater reaching underground aquifers, and from runoff going through storm drains and eventually ending up in streams and lakes.

Organic gardening is a way to use natural practices to create and maintain crops, replenish the soil and restore nature to a more healthy balance both in the garden and out. All this sounds great, but it's hard work too. Some estimates suggest that using organic practices, which are less caustic and effective than chemical alternatives, can result in 25 percent losses in commercial crop production. In your garden, this can mean more of a struggle to keep your plants healthy and pest free. Happily, home gardening is a pretty hands-on practice as opposed to commercial crop generation. This means that being diligent and knowing what to look for will help you control pests and anticipate problems.

Organic gardening starts with clean soil that hasn't been amended with chemical fertilizers or treated with chemical insecticides or pesticides. If you have used these substances in the past and stopped, it may take as much as five years to purge chemicals from your soil. Until then, you can begin using organic products, like organic fertilizer or your own compost, and work to cultivate more organic soil over the next few seasons.

Check the seeds and seedlings you buy for cultivation with pesticides. Many plant growers these days treat seeds and plants with chemicals to make them more viable by increasing their resistance to bacterial and pest attack. If seeds or plants are cultivated organically, they will typically be marketed as organic.

Plants and seeds that aren’t artificially protected sometimes have lower germination or higher failure rates. When using an organic approach to gardening, it's often a matter of accepting trade offs. Because your organic okra crop may have a lower germination rate, hedge your bets by planting a few more seeds. Planting hearty, heirloom plant varieties can help too.

One of the most difficult organic practices to pursue in the home garden is to eliminate the use of prepared chemical pesticides. Just because you're staying away from the really toxic stuff doesn't mean that you can't protect your plants, though. Two traditional ways to repel pests is to protect plants with companion plantings and to use plant parts to make organic pesticides.

• Organic Pesticides - Pests react to different organic pesticide preparations and no single recipe will work for every type of bug. This is one way that being observant pays off. If you can identify bugs that are causing problems, it will be easier to find a deterrent. Your local agricultural extension office will help identify any bug specimens you can trap or photograph. Once you know what you're dealing with, it will be easier to find a solution. Pests will often avoid strong smells, and some of the best organic pesticides use plant sprays containing garlic, catnip or other stinky plants to create an unwelcoming environment for bugs. These solutions usually work quite well, but will need to be reapplied regularly.
• Companion Plantings - Another way to help control pests is to plant in groups. If you know your roses attract Japanese beetles, place garlic and rue near your rose bushes to help keep them away. This kind of companion planting strategy works great if you have an idea of what types of bugs you should be watching out for. In the case of squash or melon plants, planting marigolds to repel squash bugs is a pretty easy call. With some plants, it's harder and may require some trial and error.
• Natural Predators - Another option is to introduce natural predators into the garden. Breeders sell ladybugs and praying mantis as natural bug predators. This strategy is an environmentally friendly way to deal with the problem.

Organic gardening is sometimes more work than conventional gardening using chemical aids, but the results can be gratifying. In using this information on how to garden organically, your efforts aren't just creating a more wholesome and safer landscape around your property and producing a few vegetables and flowers. You're helping to keep the water in your local lakes and streams free of dangerous contaminants and protecting native wildlife species too.

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