The Gardener's Guide To Organic Gardening

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening This is NOT a free ebook. You do NOT have the right either to sell this ebook or to give it free. This ebook is for your own use. You cannot sell or share the content herein.

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented in this ebook represents the views of the publisher as of the date of publication. The publisher reserves the rights to alter and update their opinions based on new conditions. This ebook is for informational purposes only. The author and the publisher do not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities resulting from the use of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided here, the author and the publisher cannot assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any similarities with people or facts are unintentional. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without expressed written, dated and signed permission from the publisher.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Table Of Contents Introduction ............................................................................... What Does Organic Mean? .......................................................... Why Go Organic?.................................................................. Myths About Organic Gardening ................................................. Organic Means Expensive ...................................................... Organic Food Has to be Regulated .......................................... Organic Food is Diet Food ...................................................... Organic Gardening is a Fad .................................................... Organic Gardening is Much Easier ........................................... You Can Plant Anything You Want........................................... Types of Plants to Put in Your Garden ........................................ Vegetables .......................................................................... Herbs.................................................................................. Seeds VS. Transplants ................................................................ Seeds ................................................................................. Transplants ......................................................................... The Great Seeds VS. Transplants Debate................................. Planning Your Organic Garden .................................................... Planting Tips for Your Garden..................................................... Getting to Know the Parts of the Plant .................................... Tips for Planting ................................................................... Basics for Composting For Your Organic Garden......................... Mulching Tips ............................................................................. Organic Pest and Disease Control ............................................... Pests .................................................................................. The Damage They Leave Behind ............................................. Making Your Enemies Your Friends ......................................... Disease Control ................................................................... Tips for Maintaining Your Organic Garden .................................. Watering ............................................................................. Feeding .............................................................................. Weeding .............................................................................. Making Your Organic Garden a Family Project ............................ Conclusion ..................................................................................

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5-6 6-9 8-9 10-13 10-11 11 11-12 12 12-13 13 13-21 14-18 18-21 22-31 22-26 26-30 30-31 31-34 34-37 34-35 35-37 38-40 40-42 42-48 43-44 44 45-47 48-49 49-53 49-50 51 52-53 54-58 59-62


The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Introduction Many people have some kind of garden. Some people have a garden in their backyards while others have a simple garden in a window box. Gardening has proven to be a great hobby not only to pass time, but also to give you something to do where you can reap the rewards of your hard work. Of the small amount of people who are not already gardening there is a great deal of people that want to get into it, but don’t know how to or they haven’t figured out what kind of garden they would like to get started with. There are a number of different types of gardens to get into and several types of herbs, flowers, vegetables, and fruits to plant. Deciding what you want to plant can be fun, but it can also cause many headaches. That’s because each plant needs special care not to mention some plants just some won’t grow well in certain areas. Keeping track of all this type of information may seem overwhelming at first; however, it does help you to learn more about what each plant has to offer and how to care for each type of plant. As if that wasn’t enough to make your head spin you also have to consider global warming. Eco-friendly measures have been taken and people are starting to use techniques to help keep the earth’s water, air and soil clean and healthy. The going green area has begun and will only get stronger over the passing years.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

People are more health conscious now than they were several years ago. Today people want to live healthier, longer lives then their ancestors. We are thus taking back control of the foods they consume. Living a healthy life is now a priority on the minds of many people. As we become more educated and start, taking back control over the foods we put into our bodies we are realizing that many of the aliments and diseases that are affecting us are the result of harmful chemicals used to grow the foods we consume. These harmful chemicals are causing this generation to be on a clear path of living shorter lives than their parents. It is imperative that we find a way to avoid the harmful chemicals that are threatening our lives. Although commercial farming may provide us with the necessary fruits and vegetables that our bodies need, farmers have to use pesticides, fungicides and other harmful treatments in order to deliver these foods to the grocery store. Those treatments keep the bugs and diseases away, however, these chemicals can actually absorb into the very produce they’re supposed to be protecting. This problem has spawned a new type of gardening, organic gardening. Organic gardening was born to help us not only save our environment, but also give us healthier fruits and vegetables.

What does Organic Mean? Organic Gardening is working its way into our agricultural systems. Grocery stores are stocking their shelves with new items all the time. You’ve probably seen everything from low-fat items to cholesterol free food. More and more food choices pop up all the time. Health is an important part of lives and that includes the food choices we make.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Nowadays, we see food items labeled with “natural”, “eco-friendly” and “organic”. Each one of these food labels speak to those who are health conscious or looking to rid themselves of any chances of contracting diseases and other types of ailments from the affects of harmful chemicals. Organic simply means “natural”. It’s a way to naturally grow items without using too many manmade materials that result in unwanted harmful effects such as toxins. Organic isn’t necessarily safe, but it is much safer than other types of gardening. While most gardeners use residential types of pesticides and herbicides to keep their produce from developing disease and becoming insect infested; organic gardeners use natural means to provide the same things without harming our food supply, pets or even the soil itself. Organic is not a special hybrid operation that creates new produce. Rather, it simply a natural way of doing something that we are already doing. It’s just done using chemical-free techniques to produce the same types of items that other gardeners are gardening. Organic gardening also doesn’t use any type of genetically modified items. Again, everything is natural incorporating something genetically modified would defeat the purpose and values that organic gardening has brought upon itself. The genetically modified produce does tend to naturally repel insects, but it’s still not a natural way of gardening. Just like you recycle some of your home’s products, organic gardening using the same kind of recycling; only you’re recycling things like vegetable scraps, wood chips and sawdust. Utilizing the things that are already available to you in your home that doesn’t bring any harm to anything in nature is what organic gardening is really all about.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Why Go Organic? Now that you’ve become more aware of what organic gardening is; you’re probably wondering why people are abandoning their regular gardening routines and turning to this kind of gardening instead. Organic gardening has many benefits that other gardening doesn’t have including:  Can be less inexpensive- Eliminating the costs that the chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides etc. presents. More natural techniques are being used by using items we may already have in our homes.  No harmful chemicals- by using normal, safe products we eliminate the chemicals that have brought harm to us in the past.  Safe for the environment  Attracts pleasant sights, like butterflies, birds, and small mammals  More pleasant tasting produce- no artificial additives  Enhances the soil using natural means By going organic, you can reduce erosion and conserve your water resources. This will help eliminate some mistakes that other gardeners have made that brought them less than satisfactory results in their gardening efforts. You have a higher sense of pride knowing that you not only grew your own vegetables and fruits, but you also produced items practically from scratch. You use homemade compost, mulch, plant food, pesticides, and fungicides.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

You promote a healthier lifestyle by eating foods that aren’t laden with any unnatural products like you get at the store. You continue to promote a healthier lifestyle and save money, because these items will be encouraged to grow repeatedly when they seed. This eliminates the need for buying more and more seeds or seedlings every year and your soil is never contaminated with anything it doesn’t need. By using organic techniques, you can help your environment by eliminating some of your waste products and putting them into your soil instead of adding them to landfills. Not everything should go into the soil, but some of your waste works good to bring the necessary nutrients to the soil and ultimately your produce. Mothers can grow their own vegetables and chop up the produce to make their own baby food. This helps them to save money by not having to buy the expensive store brand baby food. It also gives their baby healthier food to eat, because it’s grown without any harmful chemicals and they won’t have to use any food additives or food dyes to keep them fresh and increase shelf life. People also like going organic, because they can have access to their own vegetables whenever they want them and they’re staying healthy at the same time. Homegrown vegetables make for crisper and fresher flavor to your favorite dishes too.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Myths about Organic Gardening If you’re serious about organic gardening; you’ll find yourself sifting through lots of information. The problem is, with all that information, you not only find facts but myths as well. It’s hard to know what’s true and what’s myth. Of course, no one wants to waste a great deal of time reading information if they’re not going to get the best information for their time and essentially their money. While some myths are false, others hold some truth to them. Let’s explore some of the more common myths and get to the bottom of what truth lies behind them, if any.

Organic Means Expensive Tending an organic garden doesn’t have to mean it is expensive to maintain. It would depend on the type of garden you choose to grow, what materials you choose to use and what you choose to plant within it. Overall, an organic garden will not cost you too much more than going with a regular garden. In fact it could cost much less, if you choose to grow for yourself; pick inexpensive items to plant and use more natural means of pesticides and fertilizers. Just because you choose to grow an organic garden, doesn’t mean that everything you buy for it has to be expensive. There’s also no special process to use unless you go commercial; so cost can be minimized.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

This myth may come from the fact that food seen in grocery stores that are labeled “organic” are sometimes priced higher than those that aren’t labeled that way. It’s important to note that the foods you see in these stores that are labeled “organic” are grown commercially.

Organic Gardening Has to be Regulated This is some truth to this one. If you’re going to grow your garden commercially and want to sell the items in stores for consumer consumption then yes, this would be true. In order for your products to be labeled as “organic” to sell in stores, they would have to have gone through certain processes and would have to meet certain criteria. If you selling your organically grown garden on the commercial market then yes, the government is going to regulate your products. However, if you’re looking to grow your own products from your own organic garden for your own use; it wouldn’t be necessary. The government does not have to regulate your own home garden if you’re the one that is going to consume the food. Therefore, as long as your products are for yourself or your family and neighbors; then you have no need to worry about getting the government involved.

Organic Food is Diet Food By simply growing organic food, you’re not going to guarantee yourself that you will lose weight. Organic food is just like the food from the grocery stores, except without the chemicals, additives, etc. that the store offers. Fruits and vegetables are healthy food items to consume and eating more of them will encourage some weight loss, but it will take more than just that to see a significant amount of weight loss.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Organic food only refers to the process taken to grow the produce. While it can certainly help aid in your weight loss plan, don’t count on it to be the number one thing in your diet plan. You will still need to have a proper diet and good exercise routines in order to see any significant weight loss.

Organic Gardening is a Fad Organic gardening is no fad. Since going green and becoming health conscious are getting stronger in our lives, organic gardening will always be at the top of the list to help make those things happen. In addition, since there are no harmful effects from organic gardening, there is no reason for it to fade away and become outdated. Fads come and go. People go gung ho on one idea and when something else comes along, they tend to forget that one idea and focus their attention on the new thing that came along. However, since organic gardening is based on healthy, natural processes it’s hard to imagine that there would be any other way to come up with that could surpass what nature already gives us for our organic gardening efforts.

Organic Gardening is Much Easier Organic gardening is not easier than normal gardening techniques. If anything, you may be working a little harder. In organic gardening, you create, mix, and apply your own mulching, compost and even pesticides and fungicides. You may not have to run to the store to buy the commercial based items, but you have to create the products yourself, so compared to other types of gardening the work is relatively equal.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Applying your own treatments could be more work then simply taking a chemical based product and spraying or sprinkling it in the garden. So, with the planting, maintaining, and harvesting organic gardening could hardly be considered easier to do then regular gardening.

You Can Plant Anything You Want Not really. You can plant what you want, but not all plants will work in all areas. Some plants won’t thrive in cold climate areas and others won’t thrive in weather that’s too hot and humid. You have many options to choose from, but you’re still limited to what will work in your area. In addition, you have to be thinking about the time of year that you want to plant an item. It’s not going to do you any good to try and plant something in mid-summer when they thrive best in early spring. Each plant has a certain time frame that they should be planted, so if you want to start a garden in mid-summer, then you’re limited to what’s available and what can thrive in that kind of weather.

Types of Plants to Put in Your Garden If you are willing to put in the effort needed to plant an organic garden then it can be lots of fun to grow your organic garden. As a beginner to organic gardening or even gardening in general, there are some plants you can choose that are easier to manage. Whether you choose to grow your own vegetables, grow your own herbs or even dabble a little in both; you can still have a sense of pride that your first try didn’t end up a failure.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

The best way to ensure success is to plant the items that don’t require too much time or money to make them grow. There are several plants you can choose from that can easily and cheaply be grown organically. Let’s take a look at some of the vegetables, and herbs that can make your first garden a great success.

Vegetables Cucumbers Cucumbers are a great way to start your organic garden. They require little maintenance to grow and the cost to plant them in your garden is minimal. Once planted all cucumbers require to grow is some watering every now and then. Of course, this will depend on the area you live in, but cucumbers work best in humid areas where they can get at least 8 hours of sun approximately every day. Cucumbers generally take around two months to grow before they can be picked and eaten. Since there are several different varieties of cucumbers available, it’s best to see what types will work best in your climate and area. Since they grow from a vine that runs along the ground, you may want to consider taking control of where the vine grows by strategically placing sticks to keep them growing where you would like. You can plant your cucumbers either by using seeds or by transplanting an existing plant. When they start to mature, you will want to start picking them as often as possible, and don’t allow them to completely mature. They’re at their best when they’re not quite ripened.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Spinach Spinach is another great vegetable for your first organic garden. While they do require some partial shade and excellent soil preparations, they’re still a low-maintenance vegetable. The key to making them a success in your garden lies mostly with your composting, we will discuss composting in further details in a subsequent chapter. Spinach often works best if they’re planted a few weeks after the last expected frost and they can grow pretty much on their own after that. There’s still some maintenance that will have to be performed, but nothing that will take too much of your time. Pruning the leaves every so often after they’ve grown to be about 4 inches in height will help them become a successful crop for you. In most areas, Spinach only takes a couple of months to mature to where you can start picking it and enjoying it with your meals. Green Beans Green beans can either be grown in bush or pole types. The bush types are probably the easiest way to grow them, but the pole types can be done as well if you want to spend some time controlling where they grow. They tend to grow best in warmer soil, so it’s recommended not to plant them too early in the season. The warmer the soils the better off you are with your green bean crop. Green beans come in numerous varieties, so do your research and choose which ones will thrive best in your particular area. The prime planting soil will be loose and moist to help the seedlings grow and they should be harvested when the beans are nice and firm, but not too hard. If you wait too long to harvest them, they can become tough quickly.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Carrots Carrots are not only a tasty treat to have, but they’re also easy to grow. They will need loose rock-free soil that holds moisture well. Carrots are also great because they can tolerate the cold well, so there’s no problem with planting the carrot seeds early in the season; should you choose to. When planting the seeds, try to plant them about ½ inch deep and ½ inch apart. This will help the seedlings grow well and when they reach about 3 inches in height, you can start thinning them down to where they’re spaced about 3 inches apart. The carrots will be ready to harvest when they mature, but don’t wait too long as they can get hard and woody. Harvesting them is simple. All you have to do is loosen the soil around the carrot using something small like an old dinner fork and then pull them out root and all. They can then be cleaned and eaten right away or stored for eating later. Radishes Radishes are another popular vegetable to plant in a garden, because they’re also easy to grow. You can find several different varieties of radishes to choose from and they’re all pretty easy to maintain in a garden. They mature quite quickly, so you can enjoy some of your garden efforts not long after you start your organic garden. Radishes are also a popular choice because they can grow well in any type of garden. Window boxes, small gardens, pot gardens and even huge raised gardens will work to plant and grow radishes. In addition, radishes fare well in cold weather, so you can plant them early in the season and not have to worry about them.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

You can harvest your radishes when the pod starts to poke up from the ground and the exposed area of the radish appears to be approximately 1 inch across. Loosen the soil around the radish and simply pull them from the ground. Zucchini Zucchini is another super easy vegetable to grow. They are much like the cucumbers in the way that you pretty much plant them and let them grow on their own. They require little maintenance other then controlling where you want them to grow as they can quickly take over any garden if they’re left completely on their own. You will have to do some pruning to ensure good control, but other than that they are maintenance free. They can take about a month and a half to two months to grow to be mature enough to pick, so you’ll need to keep an eye on them and be sure to pick them often. They’re great summer garden vegetables, so you’ll need to wait until a little later in the planting season to plant them, but they will thrive well in summer heat. Beets These vegetables are reportedly easy to grow in almost any climate, but they seem to thrive better when it’s not too hot or too cold. If the weather is too hot, they can become too hard quickly and if the weather is too cold, they can go to seed long before they ever develop any roots.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

If you want a continuous supply of beets during your garden season, you can plant separate crops approximately 3 weeks apart. The seeds should be planted in the ground at about 4 inches deep and around 33 ½ inches wide. They will mature at around 3-4 months and should be harvested by twisting the tops off and then plucking them out. Try not to cut the tops off.

Herbs Herbs are a great way to start an organic garden at home. These can grow outside in gardens, in pots outside or in window boxes inside your home. The easiest herbs to start with are: Basil This is one of the most common herbs found in an organic garden. It’s easy to use and it is used in a large variety of different dishes. Basil is planted by seed and tends to thrive best in some kind of container whether it is pots or a window box. Basil loves the sunshine and does well in warm areas especially in warmth from the sun. Placing them in your south windows will ensure a good crop of basil depending on the area where you live. Since they need moisture to thrive you should mulch them after the seedlings have shot up. Basil is harvested when they have several pairs of leaves. You should continue harvesting the leaves as often as possible, because this will encourage new growth and keep fresh basil coming your way for a long time.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Parsley Parsley is a popular herb because it can be used as a spice, as a decoration on your plate or for plant edging. It can also be an easy herb to grow. Parsley is an herb that loves sun. Make sure it gets a lot of sun when planting it outdoors or find the window in your home that brings in the most sunlight during the day. This herb does have a slow germination rate, so typically people choose to plant the seeds in an indoor pot and then transfer them to the outdoor garden about 6 weeks later. They are also low-maintenance. You can get by with simply sprinkling the seeds on top of your soil and spraying a mist of water on top. They do not have to be sunk into the soil in order to grow. Once the leaves start to curl then you should start harvesting them. They taste the best when they’re used right after harvesting and cleaning. It’s also recommended that you harvest this herb early in the morning hours when the herb’s plant oils are the strongest. Oregano Oregano is a great Italian herb. It needs a lot of sunlight, but could grow in partial shade if need be. This herb requires a well-drained soil in order to grow. Oregano works great either by growing from seed or from a transplant. If you choose to grow from seeds then the seeds should be planted about ¼ inch deep in the soil and should be about 12 inches apart. If you choose to plant with transplant seedlings, then you would need to plant them about 18 inches apart.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

This herb is ready to harvest right before the flowers start to open. Then all you need to do is to cut off about 6 inches of the stem and remove the leaves. You can then clean and chop the leaves to add spice to your dishes. Thyme Most organic gardens use Thyme because of its decorative value as well as its flavor. Thyme is often used as an edging plant to gardens because of the tiny flowers that bloom within it. They offer not only a great view to look at, but also a sweet minty smell as well. Thyme works best when you plant the seeds in early spring in a well sunlit area. Planting it in a light sandy soil is all that’s necessary to grow this herb. Thyme can be mulched with grass clippings and straw to help keep the weed population down. It also doesn’t need a ton of water to thrive. Avoid overwatering this herb and mist it with water instead just until the seedlings get moist. You can harvest this herb just before it flowers by snipping some of the stems as needed. Mid-summer is usually when the harvesting of thyme begins. Sage Sage, like other herbs, needs a full amount of sunshine to grow. The seeds need only a small amount of soil covering to grow healthly herb seedlings. This herb grows the best in a hot and dry environment, so it doesn’t need a lot of water. In fact, a good once a week watering would be enough for this herb.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Sage is also easy to transplant, so you could start growing them indoors and transfer them to the outside garden later on. It’s ready to harvest just before the flowers bloom. All you have to do is trim about half of the leaves. Leave some of the leaf on the stems in order to encourage more leaf growth down the road. Sage leaves can keep well in airtight baggies to dry them and use later. If you let the sage, plants grow, and the flowers bloom; it will slow its own seeds. This way you keep growing fresh sage each year and you will save time and money. Growing sage holds many different benefits. Not only can you use it for seasonings in your dishes, but also for herbal teas, which can promote good dental health as well as help alleviate some of your minor ailments. Rosemary If you want to grow herbs for fresh seasonings, then your garden should not be without this one herb. It’s used in most of the popular dishes that top chefs prepare in their own restaurants. This herb can be grown from seeds, but generally works best with a transplant seedling. Rosemary is more often seen in indoor gardens because it doesn’t grow well in the colder climate areas. A nice sunlit area or an area that gets a small amount of shade will work best. By growing rosemary indoors, you can continuously harvest them anytime you need some. It can also be dried and frozen to use later on.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Seeds VS. Transplants When planning your organic garden you will have to make a choice whether you want to use seeds or transplants seedlings. Both of these have their pros and cons, so which should you use for your garden? Here are the pros and cons of both:

Seeds Just about any vegetable, flower, or herb can be planted using seeds. You can also find many different varieties of each one as well. Seeds have many benefits. Some of them include:  Inexpensive  Some can be easier to use  Sense of accomplishment of growing something almost from scratch  Less mess when planting As you can see, seeds have great benefits, but not everyone chooses them. The reasons why some people choose not to use them are:  Takes more time to plant then seedlings  People fear their seeds won’t sprout; thus wasting their time  Take longer to grow  Spend more time weeding  Hard to keep track of after planting When starting an organic garden you will be faced with deciding whether to use seeds or not. You need to decide what you want out of your gardening experience.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Some questions to ask yourself include: I.

Do I have the time to devote to the planting as well as the maintenance?

II.

Does starting or making something practically from scratch appeal to you?

III.

Do you have the patience to do what it takes to make your garden successful?

IV.

What items do you have in mind to plant?

If seeds are what you want for your garden; there are ways to get the most use out of them as well as giving yourself a wider edge in making your gardening a success. Let’s take a look at the reasons why people choose to not use seeds again. Each one of these hurdles can be overcome if you think about it. Takes more time to plant then seedlings Obviously, they do take a little more time to plant than most seedlings. However, they don’t really have to take that much more time. It’s best to have your organic garden planned out ahead of time with what you want to plant, when it needs to be planted and where in the garden it would grow the best. Once you know all that, then you can organize a plan and decide how you will accomplish each step. This will help you save some time and will allow you to use your gardening time more wisely.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

People fear their seeds won’t sprout; thus wasting their time Usually the reason the seeds don’t end up sprouting is because people don’t follow the seed instructions. Sometimes, there are more things to do to prepare for planting then just sticking the seed in the ground. Be sure to check the seed packages before actually planting them. Some seeds require you to soak the seeds for a specified amount of time before you plant. Other seed packages require you to pre-treat the seeds in some other way. There’s a reason for these preparation steps, so make sure you actually follow them like it instructs you to. Following the directions for your seeds will give a much higher chance of getting them to sprout which would eliminate your fears of them not making it. Take longer to grow For an organic garden, there’s not a whole lot you can do to make the seeds grow faster. Growing a plant from a seed is much like a baby growing into an adult. The seed will take time to grow and develop into a mature plant to harvest or enjoy. In some cases, the seeds won’t take all that long to grow. Most can take a couple of months while a few could take only a couple of weeks. Be sure you take care of the seeds you plant and spend time weeding them, watering them. This can help them grow a little bit faster, but keep in mind that a seed doesn’t grow overnight. Don’t assume it will be a full fledged plant right away. The more you prepare yourself for how it will all go down, the easier it will be on you.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Spend more time weeding When using seeds, you’ll see more weeds growing around each seedling. The longer it takes for the seed to grow into a plant, the longer period of time you will have to spend weeding your plants. No one wants to spend a endless hours weeding their gardens. The thing is, there are a few ways around this that can reduce your weeding time. For instance, using organic mulch will help you keep weeds down to a minimum. It doesn’t take too much time or effort to lay down the necessary mulch to make this happen. There may be some weeding that will have to be done, but not nearly as much as there would be without the mulch. Hard to keep track of after planting This is understandable since the seeds are usually buried under the soil. Once their under the soil it’s hard to remember exactly where you planted them, which makes them more difficult to water if you can’t find them. You could also make the mistake of overwatering your seeds if you just throw down lots of water just to make sure you cover all your bases and get all the seeds. Overall, it’s not all that necessary to remember where each and every seed is planted. When you plan your garden, you’ll know where that particular plant is at in the garden. In addition, if you follow the directions of the seed packets there will be instructions that say how far apart each seed should be planted.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

For example, the packet may say that each seed should be planted 12 inches apart. If you tag the first seed with a label of what’s planted there; you will know that every 12 inches or so, there will be another seed. There’s another type of seed you can purchase to use in your garden. Many seed sellers are now offering organic seeds. These seeds are not treated by any harmful ingredients, nor are they genetically modified in any way. These seeds are certified to be organic and help you control the naturalness of your garden. They usually cost a little more than the regular seed packets you might normally buy, but for an organic garden, they can certainly give you that edge in keeping your products environmentally safe and more natural for your consumption.

Transplants Transplants are where the seeds have already grown into seedling plants. You would take these plants and transplant them from their purchased containers into your organic garden. These seedlings have their pros and cons just like the seeds. Now its time to explore the world of transplant seedlings. The benefits of using transplant seedlings are:  Can be easier to use  Easier to control  Quicker time to harvest  Less weeding time to worry about  Already grown into seedlings so no worrying about them not sprouting

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

These great benefits are what make most gardeners turn to the transplant seedlings to get their garden started. However, like anything else there are also cons to these pros. Some of these include:  Cost more than seeds do  More back breaking work  Because they’re grown elsewhere, they are more than likely treated with some kind of chemicals  Roots could be injured when taking out of the container to transplant  Seedlings could be diseased when you purchase them If you choose to go with transplant seedlings, there’s no reason to let the cons bring you down. There are ways of getting around them. Let’s take a look at them again and see what could be done to ensure a more successful organic garden. Cost more than seeds do Well, they do cost more than seeds do. However, you need to consider, there is a lot of work that has already been done for you. The seeds were planted for you, watered and the seeds developed into the planting stage already. You have just saved yourself time there, not to mention the weeding you would have had to do if you had chosen the seed route. Therefore, the cost of the transplants shouldn’t seem like too much since a lot of the work you would normally have done yourself is done for you.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Moreover, you also need to realize that you are guaranteed seedlings already. You will not have to worry about the fact that some seeds may not sprout after you go through all the trouble of trying to get them to grow. More back breaking work This is one of the biggest reasons some people don’t like to use transplant seedlings. There is a lot of work involved when getting them transplanted into your garden. You have to dig holes at the proper depth, take the seedlings out of the containers and place them into the holes, fill the holes back up, pack the dirt down and then water them. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you take into account the bending and kneeling you have to do to get them done, it doesn’t seem like much fun anymore. If you don’t like the bending and kneeling; you may want to consider using a raised garden box for your plants. This way there would be no kneeling and less bending for you to get them transplanted. Otherwise, you should make sure you have your knees padded and wear gloves for added comfort. If you can, get the garden ready before you actually bring the transplant seedlings to it. Having the holes dug ahead of time will help since the only work you have ahead of you at that time will be to plant them and then water them. This gives you less time on your knees and less time spent bending and stretching to get the job done.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Because they’re grown elsewhere, they are more than likely treated with some kind of chemicals Transplants that are grown elsewhere probably have gone through some kind of treatment. You may be picking up chemically treated transplant seedlings, which defeats the purpose of having an organic garden. Not all is lost though. Just make sure that the transplant seedlings you end up picking up are from someone who has used organic processes to grow them. There are nurseries that specialize in organic seedlings, so this will help you keep the tone of your organic garden. Roots could be injured when taking out of the container to transplant Injuring the roots to your transplant seedlings could cause the transplant not to grow. While some root systems are strong, others are not, so injury can happen at times. You will want to be careful when extracting them out of the containers they are purchased in. You should also plant them immediately after taking them out of the container to eliminate any further chances of injuring the roots. In addition, some plant seedlings can be planted with a segment of the container they come in. You would simply break off a segment containing one of the plants and plant the whole thing in the ground.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Seedlings could be diseased when you purchase them It’s pretty much a given that when you put a lot of plants into the ground some will ultimately not make it. That’s a way of life. However, when you purchase your transplant seedlings, the last thing you want to do is to buy some that are already diseased or well on their way. Most of the seedlings you purchase at nurseries have gone through some kind of processes or treatments to help prevent bug infestations and diseases. Still, some will fall prey to these ailments no matter what steps are done to prevent the disease and infestations. When you’re browsing through the seedlings, it’s important to thoroughly check out the ones you want to buy. Look for anything unusual like brown spots, insect holes etc. If one of the seedlings contains unusual markings, like that, it could be diseased and the plants in the container with it could be susceptible to it as well.

The Great Seed VS. Transplant Debate Now, that you have seen the pros and cons of both seeds and transplants; you’re faced with the decision of which one works for you. You will probably come across some many views on this subject and some people will have some convincing arguments about which ones will be best for your garden. What it all comes down to though, is what works best for the particular item you want to plant. In the end, you will probably use both for your garden. Some plants work best by planting seeds and others you may choose to skip a lot of the work on and go with transplants.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Neither one is any better than the other is when you look at the whole picture. Research the plants you want for your garden and find out what works best for them. Planting an organic garden should be an enjoyable experience for you. Don’t get too hung up over which way to plant your items. Focus more on what you want in your garden and what the ultimate outcome will be.

Planning Your Organic Garden Layout Before you get started planting your garden, you will need to come up with a plan for your garden’s layout. The layout will determine where you will plant your seeds or transplant seedlings so they get the most out of what they need. The things you will need to look at are: What kind of space do you have to work with? Where are you planning to have your garden? Do you have sufficient space to plant everything that you want? You will need to consider these things ahead of time, because if you don’t have enough space to work with, you will want to rethink which items you plan to plant in your garden. You have to keep in mind that seeds and seedlings will have a specific distance that they will need to be planted apart from each other.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

In order to promote good growth plants will need to be planted a specific distance apart for each other. You can figure out some approximate measurements to help you determine whether the space you want to use is going to be sufficient for everything you want to plant in your garden. What does the soil look like? You will need to see what the soil looks like in your chosen garden spot. Compost and mulching will help add what a soil might be lacking, but the soil still needs to be in good shape in order to grow plants. Some of your plants will not be able to grow in soil that is too rocky, or has a clay structure. Some plants might work best in these areas, so you may need to split your garden up into separate areas, depending on what you would like to plant. You will also need to make sure you’re not digging up soil where there are cables. Some cable lines could be buried where you want to have your garden, so you should check it out and make sure you have the all clear before doing anything. Most cables should be buried deeper than you intend to go, but it’s best to be absolutely sure and safe before you do anything. What do your plants require? When you have an idea of what plants you’re going to add to your garden, you will want to research them to see what exactly they require. Some of your plants will need a lot of sunlight and some might work best in partial shades. You will have to keep this in mind when planning where each plant will go in the garden.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

You will also need to keep in mind how large your plants will get when they get to harvest time. Some plants that need a lot of sunlight might not grow to be as big as the plants you have growing next to it. If that happens, the smaller plants may not get as much sunlight as they should. Also, if your plants need a lot of sun, then think ahead and see if the sun will be shining on that spot for a majority of the day. If the sun doesn’t shine in that area for a sufficient amount of time, then the garden spot may not be a good one. Don’t forget your herbs and flowers When planning your garden layout, don’t forget to factor in some herbs and flowers. Herbs and flowers provide you with some pleasing visuals as well as pleasant, aromatic odors. This makes the garden appealing to your eyes ad nose and could become the topic of conversation among your neighbors. In addition, the herbs and flowers act as a natural means of pesticides. They can attract the beneficial insects that will attack and take care of the plant damaging insects while leaving your garden alone. They also have the ability to repel some of the pests that you don’t want getting into your garden. Plan your garden with what you want to plant and what works best in your area. There’s no reason why you can’t have a nice looking garden, but don’t plan your garden trying to match colors or textures and make it look like some kind of exotic paradise. Plan the garden for what will thrive in that area.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Leave your visual pleasantries to the flowers and herbs that you plant around your vegetables. You can add some garden accessories like benches, birdfeeders, and decorative pot hangers. You can even make a gravel or stone walkway if you want.

Planting Tips for Your Garden Getting to know what a plant is all about might help you learn why some of these techniques are recommended for planting and maintaining your garden. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way to the top.

Getting to Know the Parts of the Plant Roots Some plants have a primary root, which is the biggest part of the root system. This root is the storage part of the plant. The root will provide the plant with the necessary water and nutrients that it will need to thrive. Branching from the primary root are smaller roots. These roots transport the soil’s fluid and disperse it through the large root. Off the smaller roots are little root hairs. These pick up the water and the necessary nutrients so that the whole root system can work together to nourish the plant. Stem The stem resides aboveground. From the larger root, the stem takes over and disperses water and nutrients from the root system to the leaves, buds, flowers, or vegetables. Once the roots have picked up the food from the soil, it moves up through the stem so the plant can grow and develop like is needed.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Leaves The leaves will absorb the sunlight and promotes the photosynthesis process. Flower/Buds/Fruit All of these will play a part in the reseeding or reproduction of the plant. Each of these parts of the plant has a job to do in order for that plant to thrive. They work together as a team to give you the plants you want for your garden. This is why it’s so important to take the time to do your gardening just right. When each part can work efficiently then the plant will grow up to be lush and healthy.

Tips for Planting After you have your garden, all planned out, you’re ready to get started with planting. Planting is important because this is what will get the seeds or seedlings to take hold and start growing into mature plants. There are a few things that you want to do to ensure they are properly planted and turn into the crops you want. Here are some tips to help you do that: Follow Directions You will need to follow the directions of what you want to plant. If the seed packets say to pre-soak, then you must perform that step. If you try to skip it, then you will reduce your chances of growing good crops. If they need to be planted in a certain time of year, then you need to do that.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

If you try to plant your seeds or seedlings when they won’t thrive, then they’re not likely to grow good crops. You would’ve wasted your time trying to get them planted. The directions are there for a reason. The techniques they recommend are tested, so use the instructions that come with the seeds. Consider soil testing before planting Soil testing will help you determine if your soil is lacking in nutrients. If you know ahead of time, then you can compensate with what you need to make the soil enriched to help make your plants grow. The Ph balance is also something to look into. Soil acidity is another way to make sure your plants grow. A Ph balance of 7.0 is generally recommended for the soil. Nevertheless, this will also depend on what you’re going to plant. Other Tips Be sure that the soil is warm- Don’t just go by the air temperature. Pick prime times to plant- For instance, during a light rain, after it has rained, late afternoon when the sun isn’t as harsh or pick a cloudy day. Start off with a clean slate and weed before planting- Make sure your soil is weed-free before you plant. You can get rid of the weeds right away and you won’t stress the plants after you plant them. Place your plants in moist soil- This makes planting easier and helps the plant or seed absorb water more easily. Keep the depth- Be sure to place the plants at the same depth in the soil as they were placed in the container.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Plant transplants ASAP- Don’t let your transplant seedlings sit around too long before placing them in the ground. They need water and nutrients from the garden’s soil. Organic Gardening Supplies - It’s not necessary to have any special supplies to use for your garden. However, if you’re looking for something to make your gardening efforts a little easier, there are some supplies you could purchase to use in your organic garden:  Organic seed packets  Organic Seedlings  Plastic containers to grow your own seedlings in  Organic potting soil  Kitchen compost bins to keep scraps in while keeping away the flies  Soil testing kits  Organic fertilizers  Rain barrels to collect rain water  Garlic clips to keep away deer and rabbits  Slug traps  Aerator shoes/tools for lawns  Beneficial insects for pest control  Liquid fertilizers Don’t feel you have to buy any of these products. However, you can see what you could get as you get more advanced in organic gardening and want something to help make your hard work a little easier.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Basics of Composting for Your Organic Garden Composting is an integral part of getting your garden ready to plant your organic items. The compost will make your soil enriched and will give your plants a zest for life by giving them what they need to survive through the tough times they may have ahead of them. You will need to have a compost bin or some type of structure to contain your own compost heap for your organic garden. Compost bins will help you contain the smell of the heap and deter any animal pests from getting in. These bins are great, but they can be costly as well as take up more space in your yard then you’re willing to give up. Compost piles should be contained in some way. This will help you have control over the heap and will keep it from spilling out into your yard. This will be a less expensive way to create your own compost for the garden. It can usually be contained with a wooden type structure. If you want to go all out and spend a good deal of money, you can get a compost tumbler. This tumbler will take your compost items and it will tumble it around; making sure that all the items the compost contains are well mixed. This works great, but again, it will cost you money to have one. Otherwise, mixing by hand using a shovel will work just fine. It will just take some extra time to get the heap mixed well.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Your compost pile should contain a 50/50 mixture of “greens” and “browns”. This means the items you put in your compost should fall under the “green” or “brown” categories. Green refers to the nitrogen that it should contain. To get this nitrogen, your compost should contain:  Grass clippings  Any of your vegetable scraps  Coffee grounds Brown refers to the carbohydrates the compost needs. To get these carbohydrates; your compost should contain:  Dry leaves  Wood Shavings  Wood chips  Shredded newspapers Mixing all these items together will help you get great compost for your garden and you’ll be using organic items to create a healthy garden. You can also add other items like:  Alfalfa  Fish meal  Feather meal  All kinds of home table scraps  Manure  Limestone  Sawdust  Straw

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Things you should avoid placing in the compost pile are:  Meat scraps  Pet feces  Any diseased or insect infested plants  Weeds with their seeds  Fats and oils that attract animal pests

Mulching Tips Mulching should be at the top of any organic gardeners list of things to do for their garden. Mulching helps keep the soil enriched and healthy and that increases your chance of having a successful crop of plants in your garden. Mulching also can help keep weeds at bay. Mulching can be done after you plant your garden or you could do it long before. Organic mulch will help you keep your garden growing as natural as possible and help you eliminate the use of those harmful chemical based treatments that other gardeners tend to use. The benefits that you are mulching could have for your organic garden:  Adds nutrients to the soil  Controls the temperature of the soil  Can slow the evaporation of the water  Encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria  Encourages the growth of beneficial fungi

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Your mulch could contain:  Leaves  Lime  Grass Clippings  Sawdust  Small wood chips  Some of your compost pile Mulching is important to your organic garden. Be sure to add this to your garden’s plan and your plants will be healthier for it. While mixed mulch is better for your organic garden, you can get by with using other items as well. Some things you may use include:  Plain Wood chips  Plain Bark chips  Shredded newspaper  Sawdust  Your compost  Grass clippings Before you place these mulching items into the mix you will want to lay down some newspaper. This will help the soil get what it needs as well as protect it from getting what it doesn’t need.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Other tips to keep in mind  When laying mulch be sure to lay it 2 inches deep  Mulch in between rows and on pathways to help eliminate weeds  Water first or wait until after a good rain before mulching  When using newspapers for mulch; be sure not to use pages with color ink as you don’t want the ink getting in the soil  Place mulch around plants, but try not to touch the stems with the mulch  Use mulch in the fall to put around your outside plants to keep them safe from the cold weather  Cover your garden in the fall and by spring your soil could be well prepared

Organic Pest and Disease Control Every garden will be faced with a pest or disease problem, whether it’s an organic garden or not. Getting these problems under control and preventing them from happening is the best way to help keep your garden thriving. In the past, people would reach for the expensive chemical based sprays and powders to control these problems. The problem is those treatments can be harmful not only to the plants, but to animals and humans as well. The idea of organic gardening is to grow your plants with the most natural process as possible. That means eliminating those nasty chemical based sprays and powders that cause more harm than good. If you don’t use them though, does that mean that you can’t control disease or pests? Are your plants then doomed?

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Not at all. There are still a lot of ways to control the problems that will allow you to have healthy garden and still go organic. Let’s explore the world of the pests that you might encounter in your garden.

Pests Bugs are everywhere. Unfortunately, they find their way into our gardens too. Pest’s reak havoc on our plants to the point where the plant dies and you’re out the fruits that the plant could’ve provided for you if it lived. Also, those pests can go from one plant to another, so when one plant no longer meets their need, they’ll jump right on to the next one and the next and so on until you no longer have a garden of vegetables, but rather a graveyard of plants. No one likes bugs especially in their gardens. But, there are actually some pests that you will want in your garden. These “good” pests will help keep the harmful pests away while they leave your precious plants alone. First, let’s take a look at the pests that you don’t want. The most common types of pests that can be harmful to your gardens are:  Aphids  Japanese Beetles  Cabbage Worms  Cut Worms  Potato Beetles  Mealybugs  Tomato Hornworm  Slugs  Spider MItes

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Not every area will have every one of these pests, but these are the more common reported.

The Damage They Leave Behind Each pest has his or her own nasty habits. Here is some of the damage they can create in their wake: Extracting juice out of the leaves and stems Damage plant roots Attract other pests like Moles Eat the plant- making it susceptible to diseases Laying eggs on the plant, where they hatch into plant eating larvae Eat stems clean off the plant Damages new seedlings, so they won’t continue to grow and the vegetables won’t be able to mature Damage the vegetables rendering it useless to you Secrete their own sticky substances, which can attract other bugs and cause damaging molds It’s completely disheartening to have all your hard work and garden dreams go down the drain simply because these pests decided to take up residence in your garden. To keep your garden healthy and take back control of these ugly pests, you will need to find ways to get rid of them- the organic way.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Making Your Enemies Your Friends The most common way to get rid of those damaging bugs is to bring in other bugs. It sounds odd to bring in more bugs when all you want to do is drive them away but the best way to control those pests are to bring in pests that will control them for you. These insects will stand guard in your garden getting rid of the damaging insects that could ruin your crops. These beneficial insects feed on the damaging bugs and won’t harm your plants. The best bug-fighting insects are: 1. Big-eyed Bugs 2. Parasitic Wasps 3. Lacewings 4. Ladybugs You’ll find these bugs to be the best of the best. There couldn’t be any better pest control then these guys. Here’s what they will do for you: Big-Eyed Bugs These are hearty eaters. They will pretty much eat any and all plant damaging insects that find their way into your garden. These bugs will feed on your pests and when they’re waiting for more bugs to show up; they will feed on pollen. They’re not interested in your plants, so they’re safe to have in your garden.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Parasitic Wasps These are hardcore garden insect guards. They don’t feed on the plant damaging insects themselves. Instead, they will lay their eggs inside of their prey. The larvae that hatches from the eggs laid will do the damage for you. They will eat the insects from the inside out. When they grow to be adults, they’ll leave the garden, so your plants are safe. Lacewings This is another insect where the larvae do more damage to your plant’s enemies than the adults do. The lacewings will lay their eggs in your garden and the larvae that hatch from those eggs will seek attack and eat the softer bodied enemies like the aphids and the spider mites. Ladybugs Since aphids are one of the biggest insect problems, gardens have; it makes sense to bring in these insects for pest control. Ladybugs love nothing more than to feast on the plant damaging aphids. If your garden has any aphids, lurking about they won’t be there for long if there are any ladybugs about. They’re also not interested in your crops; only the aphids. Bringing in the Beneficial Garden Bugs Once these bugs find refuge in your garden, pest control of the damaging insects can begin. The problem is, you have to get them there in the first place.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

It won’t always be easy to do and not all areas will have all these bugs, but here are some ways to encourage the beneficial bugs to take up residence in your garden: Avoid using pesticides Grow flowers in the garden to attract them Provide Mulch to attract them Besides bugs, there are other ways to control the bugs and insects. Here are some of them: If you choose not to attract the beneficial insects or you can’t get enough attracted to your garden; you can try using organic pesticides using some home items. Those include:  Garlic  Cornmeal  Apple cider Vinegar  Hot peppers  Lemon Juice  Soap  Baking soda  Ammonia  Vegetable oils  Chives

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Disease control Besides the bug and pest problem, your plants can also contract diseases. These would be:  Leaf spots  Mildew  Brown rot  Scabs  Black Leg  Fusarium Yellow  Late blight To help control these diseases and prevent them from taking over your plants, here are a few things to try:  Horseradish  Baking Soda  Soap  Vinegar  Cinnamon If you want to go with a commercially available organic fungicide to ensure your plants stay healthy; there are few of them to check out:  Physan 20  Liquid Copper Fungicide  Copper soap fungicide  Sulphur plant fungicide  Mycostop

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Your garden can still thrive, still be safe to the environment and can still be healthy if you take the time to care for them by using organic ways to control those nasty bugs and the overwhelming diseases.

Tips for Maintaining Your Organic Garden Once you get your garden planted, it will still need a lot of tender loving care to keep it healthy. Planting is important, but maintaining the garden is just as important in making your organic garden a success. Insect and disease control is imperative, but other things will also acquire your attention. The things you will have to keep in mind are:  Watering  Feeding  Weeding

Watering In order to stay healthy, your plants will need the right amount of watering to keep the roots thriving. It’s important that you water each plant according to what they require. Take caution not to spray a lot of water on all the plants, as this may not be what they require to thrive. Each plant you place in your garden will have a different water requirement. Some might need a good dousing, while others only need a misting. It’s imperative that you find out how much each plant requires and make sure it gets that amount and that amount only.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Overwatering is a common mistake that many beginners tend to make when trying to make their organic gardens a success. Overwatering only drowns the plant and the roots. They can’t take on the extra amount of water and won’t have a chance to absorb it as needed. When you give the required amount of watering, the roots can absorb what they need and can get ready to take on more when they need it. It’s also important that you don’t water too frequently. The more times you water, the more water the roots and plants have to try to take in and absorb. They need some time to absorb and use the water given before they can even try to take on anymore. Be sure to check the watering requirements of each plant and see how much they need and how often they need it. There are a couple of different ways to water. For instance, you can use a special spray head from your garden hose that will help control the amount of water each plant needs. These spray heads are great for watering the plants and helping them to avoid damaging the seedlings by having a heavy stream of water weighing it down. You can also use special water bottle feeders. These are especially made to stick into the ground next to the plants in your garden. Water is placed in the bottled end and water then water is absorbed into the soil. The plants and their roots will absorb the water from the soil as they need it. These water feeders are great for controlling the amount of water that the soil takes on. They can be used for the plants that don’t require that much water too often.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Rainwater is actually the best water to use. Of course, rainy days will provide that for your plants, but sometimes you will go through some dry times. In order to prepare for this you can set aside barrels that can collect some of the rainwater. You can then use the reserve of rainwater on the days you need to water due to lack of rain.

Feeding The next part of maintaining your garden is to keep the plants feed. Like humans, your plants will need certain nutrients to stay healthy and to prevent one of the many debilitating diseases that could show up. It’s therefore, essential to feed your plants to maintain their health and help them to continue to grow. Some of the nutrients that your plants could need are: Potassium Nitrogen Phosphorous Zinc Magnesium Calcium Copper Sulpher Maganese Iron Boron To help your plants get these nutrients, you will need to make sure:  You have enriched soil to plant them in  You provide them with enough sunlight  Use organic plant food

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Weeding The next part of maintaining your garden is to make sure you keep your garden weeded the best you can. Weeds can be detrimental to your organic plants. They can take over all the necessary nutrients, water, and sunlight as well as attract the plant damaging pests. Once you plant your items, you will need to get to work on making sure the weeds are kept under control. You will be weeding from the time you plant your seeds until the time they grow to a sufficient enough size to where they themselves will discourage the growth of the weeds. It will be important that you know where your seeds are planted, and what the seedlings will look like when they start to grow. This will help you avoid picking the plants along with the annoying weeds. Once the seedlings start to get bigger, you will have an easier time telling the two apart. Mulching is a good way to help prevent most of the weeds from growing and taking over your garden. Some will still get through the mulch, but there will only be a few compared to if you had not mulched the soil. Another thing that’s important to remember is to harvest only when the plant has met its maturity.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

The following guide will help you see how much time some popular vegetables will take to reach a mature enough age to harvest: Beets - Beets can take anywhere from 40-70 days. Cabbage - Cabbage can take around 4-5 months. Carrots - Carrots will take about 90 days to mature. Cauliflower - Cauliflower can take around 4-5 months before their mature enough to harvest. Sweet Corn - Sweet corn can take 2-3 months. Cucumbers - These can take 2-3 months. Onions - These can take 50 days. Peas - Peas can take about 60 days to mature. Peppers - Peppers can take about 4-5 months. Potatoes - Potatoes can take around 90-100 days and sometimes even more. Radishes - These can take about 30 days to mature. Squash - Squash can take around 4-5 months. Tomatoes - Tomatoes can take around 4-5 months to mature for harvest. Please note that these time frames are approximate. It all depends on the weather, the watering techniques, the climate, the soil, and many other factors. The periods could be shorter or longer, but this will give you a good basis to look for when planting them.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Making Your Organic Garden a Family Project We live in a hectic world. We all have a ton of things that need to be done in one day and there doesn’t seem to be enough time to do it all. Many times, family time is one of things that gets pushed aside to be had another day, but that day never seems to come. Now, with all you have to do, you’re thinking about adding something else to your already full plate. What happens to that much-needed family time? Should you give it up? Should you give up your dream of an organic garden in order to make room for that family time? You don’t have to give up either if you want to make them both work. Organic gardening is a great way to incorporate family time into your lives if you make it a family project instead of just something you do on your own. How do you get this to happen? First, you’ll need to start with a plan. Here is how you can turn your organic garden into a family activity and still keep your sanity! Family meeting To kick off your family gardening project, you need to get everyone together to discuss the idea. Not everyone is going to jump at what you’re proposing right away. It’s great if they do, but not likely. Don’t let that back you down to what you want. Be prepared to tell them not only what your idea is, but also get ready for a presentation. One that will explain what organic gardening is what the benefits are, and how enjoyable it could be if they all pitched in.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Don’t discuss the work involved, at least not yet. You want them on board with the idea or close to getting on board before you bring up the word “work”. Mentioning the hard labor that could be involved could turn them off quickly and they may not be willing to hear any of your arguments for the garden project. Plan Your Garden Once they’ve started to warm up to what you’re proposing, then you can start planning a layout for your organic garden. Get everyone’s input on what he or she would like to plant, and where in the garden they should plant it. Be flexible. Some of the family may not want to plant any vegetables, but they may be interested in planting herbs or flowers instead. Giving each person a chance of taking care of his or her own plants could help get the project moving much quicker. If they aren’t willing to participate at all, maybe they would be willing to at least be the official photographer or videographer of the event instead. You may have some family members that aren’t interested in taking on their own plants. That’s okay too. They might choose to take on some of the other tasks like helping another member of the family with their plants or maybe they would be willing to weed the garden. Let them come up with their own ideas on how they will get involved. Going for the Items Needed At some point, you will need to go and get all the items you will need for your organic gardening day.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

The items that could be on your list are:  Seeds  Transplant seedlings  Gardening Tools  Batteries or film for your cameras  Sprinklers for watering  Pads for your knees  Gardening gloves and aprons if you choose to use them You could plan a day for everyone to go and pick out these items. That could also be a fun day as well if you choose to do it on a different day then the planting day. Getting the Young Children Involved Too You may have young children or babies that aren’t as able to perform some of the gardening tasks like the older children or adults. There’s no reason why they couldn’t be involved in some way. Give them their own special garden where they can pretend to plant things. Let them play in some dirt to help not only their development but also to help gain an interest in gardening when they get old enough to work alongside the rest of the family. You can also try putting them in charge of filling in dirt or covering seeds. They don’t have to do the whole thing, but giving them a small section just to make them feel like they belong in the family event. If you have babies, they can get involved too. They may just sit and watch or they may take a safe toy shovel and whack it into the ground for you. Just let them do whatever they’re capable of doing safely.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Call in Reinforcements Make it a large gathering. Besides your family, you can get grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, and even family friends involved too. Not everyone has to be involved in the planting process other tasks could be done too. Someone could be watching the young children, running after supplies needed, getting the pizza or whatever food will be served, or maybe they could be in charge of keeping the fun conversation going. Choosing The Day to get Started Once you have the garden planned out, you will want to choose a day to get started. Do some research on the items that everyone wants to plant in the garden? Some may need to be planted right away, while others may need to wait a few weeks. Based on your research, pick a day to get the garden tilled and prepared for your organic gardening experience. Stick to the day that you choose as much as possible. It’s important that you don’t push the date aside, because you may never get started at all. Write on the family calendar to show everyone what day it’s planned for and help them remember not to plan anything else on that day. You should also choose what days each item will be planted if you’re not going to do it all in one day.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Plan a Day of it You should plan a whole day of it or at least most of a day, even if you only prepare the garden on your start day. Plan a big breakfast to eat beforehand and maybe decide on a restaurant or other fun thing to do after you’re all done and cleaned up. You could go to the park for a picnic, to the movies and out to eat or go to a special event like a circus or entertainment park. Sometimes, the fun you have afterwards is enough incentive to get the family involved. Make Memories Finding the time to get your family together is hard enough these days. The few times you do, should be remembered and kept close to your heart, because someday, those days won’t be as readily available. Make the most of it, and plan to take pictures or videos. Start a scrapbook and display your organic gardening photos. Place the date on the cover of the album or scrapbook. This way, years from now, at a special family event those books can be brought out and the whole gang can look back on those fun days you had together. Who knows, maybe some of your children will be inspired to do the same traditions in their own families. Organic gardening is one of the best ways to bring a family together. Get the whole family involved if you can, because the rewards of planting their own garden can bring everyone closer. This will also help make the experience a more pleasant one. Gardening should never been seen as a chore.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Conclusion Although this book touches more on vegetable gardening, keep in mind that there’s a lot more to organic gardening then just vegetables. You have a whole world of options to branch into and still enjoy the naturalness that organic gardening brings to you. You can also grow fruits in an organic fashion, but most fruits will take years before you actually get a good edible crop. Although, it still can be done using organic gardening means. Nature itself has given you the techniques to grow and enjoy vegetables as well as fruits without causing any harm to you or to any other animals. What if you want an organic garden, but don’t want plant vegetables or even fruit. You can still plant an organic ornamental garden that’s just for your pleasure. These kinds of gardens allow you to safely grow visually pleasing flowers that still does not harm your environment in any way. The care of these ornamental type plants is much like what you do in vegetable gardening. The difference is that you’re growing these plants for ornamental purpose and not for consumption. By following the recommendations for planting these ornamental plants, you can have yourself a relaxing botanical space in your backyard. They will need pretty much the same care as the vegetables, because they can be easily destroyed with diseases and insects. Mix a variety of species for these plants that will work together so you can confuse pests and use the natural pesticides and fungicides to ensure good health for your ornamental plants.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Should your plants start to get diseased areas, simply trim away the affected areas to prevent the spread of that disease. Give these plants a lot of tender loving care and they will respond in kind. Keep their roots growing strong and avoid walking through your flowerbeds, as this will cause the soil to become compacted, which can damage those roots. You want your botanical space to be around a long time, with time and patience, and you will have yourself a nice organic ornamental garden experience. Your lawn can also benefit from organic techniques. Everyone is looking to have a healthy lawn that’s free from those harmful chemicals. Chemicals from pesticides and herbicides have a way of leaking into the ground and getting into the water that humans as well as pets drink. Insects and disease can destroy a lawn and it will cost you more to fix the areas that are dying out. Sometimes the chemicals themselves can add to the problem too. Rest assured you could still have a green lawn without sacrificing its health or breaking the bank for a long time to come. Organic gardening gives you that solution. You can use natural means to repel the nasty pests and disease and achieve a healthy, green grass lawn. The key is to getting the lawn’s soil up to snuff. This could take a few years to accomplish, but it will be worth it in the end.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

Organic gardening gives you techniques such as:  Learning to mow your grass to the proper length to avoid being too short  Mow your lawn at specific intervals to avoid getting too long where there will be an abundance of grass clippings  Watering techniques that allow for a good soaking, but done less often  Creating natural grass fertilizer by using only a small amount of grass clippings spread evenly  Aerating techniques that bring nutrients and allows for good organic soil breakdown You can also get into habitat gardening, which is one that attracts nature’s friends. These would be butterflies, bees, and even birds. Organic gardening gives you that by eliminating the chemicals that succeed in driving them away. Bring in plants that attract those friends. Be careful not to plant ones that bring in damaging pests though. If you do, you will need plants that will help keep those pests away. Some of them include:  Marigold  Basil  Catnip  Rosemary  Citronella Grass These are only a few of the ones that can repel bugs, but encourage nature’s friends to come and share your space. Organic gardening helps you do that by eliminating those chemicals and using some techniques that nature already has to give you.

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The Gardner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

You also don’t have to be limited to large garden spaces. You can still use organic gardening techniques in smaller spaces. Some people have pot gardens in their home and small box gardens they have on their decks or hanging outside their windows. Granted, you won’t be able to plant anything you want, because of the limited space, but you can choose a few things to plant and still enjoy the organic gardening experience. Take control of your surroundings. Enjoy what nature has to offer and make the environment a nicer place to live in while keeping you in a healthier state.

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