Stay Healthy By Having Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden
July 11, 2008 on 5:37 am | In Gardening |Organic vegetable gardening is making a comeback. This is because people are more health conscious about the food they eat and in some places, there is already a food shortage so some have decided to plant and grow these on their own. To help you get started, here is some organic vegetable gardening information.
Organic vegetable gardening does not use fertilizers and chemicals which can be harmful to humans. It also does not use genetic engineering or irradiation. Instead, it uses simple farming techniques like tilling the land, giving it enough water and sufficient exposure from the sun.
Organic vegetable gardening makes use of crop rotation that helps keep the soil fertile. This means that after the harvesting process is completed, something new is planted on the same soil. You can grow your own organic vegetable garden in your backyard, even a small empty plot of land will suffice. The fist thing to do is to decide what kind of vegetables you want to grow. Besides that you have to know how large these vegetables can grow up to as you want to have ample space when they grow up and ready to be harvested.
The next step would be to determine the condition of the soil. There are soil fertility kits that you can purchase from any hardware or gardening store to determine this. Once you have determined that the soil is good and fertile enough you have to clear it of rocks and weeds. By adding some compost and greensand to the soil you can supply it with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. If you need to adjust the soil’s pH level you can add some lime or sulphur. Do this only if you really have to.
When using organic matter, it is recommended that you till or dig in the fertilizers. Ensure that you have at least an inch of sharp sand if the soil you use is made of clay before you rake the soil into rows or beds. For best results, you should leave the soil for a month before planting.
Remember to use organic mulch to blanket the garden. To do this you can use ground bark since it will decompose over a season or two. An alternative, would be to use a compost file made of recycled leaves, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste as they serve as a good fertilizer.
An organic vegetable garden will come under constant threat from weeds and insects. However, you do not need to fret as you can use other animals and insects to combat this problem. Once you have set an ideal condition these insects will come naturally.
As for the weeds, you can get rid of them by pulling them out or spraying home made vinegar as this stops them growing. If you plant thickly enough, you will be able to discourage weeds from growing in between the plants.
Having your own organic vegetable garden not only provides you with fresh vegetables but also vegetables that are free of chemicals and pesticides. This is vital, if health is your main concern. However, bear in mind that it’s not going to be easy and you have to sacrifice some time and effort to reap the benefits of your own home grown organic vegetable garden.
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