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Organic Gardening Tips

Organic gardening is the healthiest way to grow flowers, fruits and vegetables. When you consume your homegrown fruits and vegetables, you ingest whole foods clear of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Additionally, organic gardening is environmentally sound and keeps those toxins out of the soil and water supply.

Here are a few organic gardening tips to get started.

Rotate your garden - Different vegetables and fruits absorb different nutrients from the soil. If you plant tomatoes for example, in the same spot every year, eventually they’ll deplete the soil of the nutrients they need. However, if you rotate your garden, planting flowers where you plant veggies and veggies where you plant flowers or simply rotating where you plant your veggies then you’ll have healthier and tastier produce. Additionally rotation also helps prevent attack by disease and pests.

Use friendly insects as natural pesticides - Ladybugs are a great tool to eliminate aphids from your garden. You can buy wiggly bags of them at your local nursery or even order them online. Place them in your garden and prevent infestation.

Organic insecticides can be used to prevent things like beetles and worms.

Use specific plants to attract or repel insects. For example, Sage repels cabbage moths and black flea beetles and marigolds repel a variety of insects.

You reap what you sow - If you’re sowing your own seeds, then you’ll want to sow them from organic fruits and vegetables. If you’re buying plants to start with, you’ll want to make sure they’re organic.

If you’re sowing seeds, sow several times more than you think you’ll need. For example if you’re only going to plant one tomato plant in your garden, sow 3 or 4 seeds. Seeds don’t always grow well and you can then choose the strongest looking to plant in your garden.

Plant vegetables in a rich soil - Compost is a wonderfully sustainable and nutrient rich way of providing everything your plants need to grow and survive.

Read the information on the back of the seed packet or the tag - This information will tell you how much sun and water the plant needs. This is all good information.

Label your plants - Use the tag attached to the plant when you bought it or make your own. Mid season, it can be easy to forget what plant is what.

Prevent fungus and disease -The biggest killer of most vegetable gardens is fungus and mold. Keep your plants pruned and keep the soil damp but not soaked. Additionally, make sure there isn’t too much of an accumulation of mulch around the plants which can retain water and foster mold growth.

Organic gardening is a fun and easy way to bring fresh produce into your home. You can grow flowers, herbs, vegetables and even fruits organically.