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Searching for
Organic Gardening Supplies?
Does this sound
familiar?...Your at your local gardening supply store to pick up some
essentials. Perhaps your bell peppers have an aphid infestation. As you look
down the aisle of insecticides, you logically conclude "Since these products can
be sprayed on my bell peppers without killing them, surely they are safe". They
promise to kill the aphids without harming anything green. Sounds like the
perfect solution, right? The company's manufacturing these products would have
you believe it is the perfect solution, because they believe it
themselves! Well, folks, just like when cigarettes first came out and nobody
knew about cancer, many of these gardening products are turning out to be more
dangerous than we thought. Take, for instance, the common pesticides dursban and
diazinon. Not until after thirty years of widespread use did the EPA
conclude it was nigh time to ban these chemicals from home use (never mind the
fact they are still allowed to be used for agricultural purposes).
Not to
point fingers
or anything, the fact of the matter is that horticulture, or, our culture of growing things, has clearly lost touch with Mother Nature's
core principles over the years. By pointing out first where things have gotten off track, our
aim is to not only share with you what organic gardening is, but also, why it's
vitally important.
That
being said, a simple definition is in order: Organic gardening is to garden without the
use of chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and
hormone regulators. In other words, organic gardening is an earth-friendly way of growing
vegetables, fruits, flowers and essentially anything else that grows under the
Sun. Organic gardening
is for people like you and me who want to enjoy the pleasures of gardening but
without the guilt or worries of polluting the environment and putting our own
health at risk. Growing plants organically is the essence of gardening
in harmony with Mother Nature. A pathway to growing plants produce free from
pesticides and other environmentally dangerous chemicals, organic gardening is a
satisfying and holistic hobby that unquestionably unites its practitioners with
Nature.
It's All About the
Soil...
All organic
gardens begin with and are maintained by the quality of the soil. This is where all plants derive the nourishment needed to grow healthily
and resist the pests and other bugs that often prompt gardeners to resort to
effective, yet toxic chemical use that results in the pollution of our waterways
and endangers our personal health in multiple ways - much of which is yet to
even be discovered. Thriving organic gardens depend on the quality of the soil,
which in its purest state, should be composed of all sorts of biodegradable
plant material, including everything from vegetable scraps and moldy bread to
egg shells and grass clippings. Decaying natural material such as this make up
the foundation of compost, which is the main ingredient for helping to create a
bountiful organic garden.
Pesticides...
Anyone who is
familiar with gardening, knows that fruits and vegetables (and all plants for
that matter) are susceptible to bugs and disease which can destroy an entire
crop. Mites, mealy bugs, aphids, thrips, snails, caterpillars, scale and fungus
are just a few of the threats a home garden is faced with each day. It truly is
a shame to see gardeners starting out organically, only to take up the use of
toxic pesticides, such as Diazinon, when nothing else seems to work in the face
of a pest invasion. However, what many gardeners do not realize is there are
many types of organic home pesticide remedies, such as oil and soap water
remedies, as well as a handful of store-bought organic pesticides that are
highly effective at ridding an organic garden of disease and pests.
The best
organic gardens, however, do not even need resort to such measures, which in the
big picture, is even better for the environment. For example, most of the
predatory pests frequently found in home gardens have their own natural
predators, such as lady bugs, wasps and lizards. Every organism has its place in
Nature - yes, even the one's that like to feed on your bell peppers. If enough
of one insect is wiped out, that means the bugs and insects which primarily feed
on it are at jeopardy of being wiped out as well, which is a snowball effect
that can be catastrophic to the natural order of things. Mother Nature gives us
everything we need - even when it comes to curtailing an insect infestation. The
idea behind organic gardening is to do everything on Mother Nature's terms - not
our own. For example, rather than spraying down your garden with manmade
pesticides to destroy an infestation of aphids, get your hands on some lady bugs
(which are natural predators of aphids) to release in the garden. You can even
plant certain ornamental flowers in your garden that will help to attract
predatory insects like wasps and bees, which brings up a whole other issue.
Remember
that snowball effect I just mentioned? We are already beginning to see this take
place with pollinators like birds and honey bees. The USDA is now saying we are
facing an impending pollination crisis, considering the decimation of honeybee
colonies. In the Spring of 2007 alone, over 300,000 honeybee colonies were wiped
out by parasitic mites and beetle looms. Pesticides have also played a major
role in doing this. Besides killing honeybees outright, pesticides often impair
the ability for bees to reproduce and feed. The
importance of pollinators like honeybees cannot be understated. It takes nearly
1 million honeybees to pollinate almond crops in California. No pollinators
means no almonds. And it's not just almonds we're talking about. Over 75% of the
world's staple crops depend on pollination by insects and/or animals. Enough
said.
Suit the Plants to
the Climate
Another
very important component of organic gardening is to choose plants suited to
one's growing zone. Certain plants grow better in certain climate zones. When
organic gardening, it is always best to choose plants which are known to thrive
at their best in a corresponding climate zone. Plants which are faced with more
stress and increased struggle due to the climate will inevitably be more susceptible to pests and
disease.
Herbicides...
Herbicides are used to prevent the growing of
weeds in a garden. While prevention is the key to keeping weeds down to a
minimum, an excellent alternative to herbicides in an organic garden is
mulch. A thick layer of mulch on the surface of the earth will keep sunlight
from reaching potential weed-germinating seeds that could otherwise pop up
overnight and overrun a garden by stealing vital nutrients from other wanted
plants. Straw, grass clippings (great for heavy feeders) wood chips and leaves
(great for light feeders) all make terrific types
of mulch for serving this purpose. Top cover crops also serve much in the same
way that mulch does. A top cover crop is a living mulch that not only smothers
germinating weeds, they also help to improve the quality of the soil by
enriching it with Nitrogen and humus. Cover crops include oats, barley, wheat,
clover and field peas. Depending on your growing zone, one crop cover will work
better than others. The idea is to plant cool weather plants near the end of the
Summer and early Fall. Not only will the spent cover crop make for great compost
in the garden, the old roots will keep the soil aerated and healthy.
There are other organic ways to prevent weeds
from popping up in a garden as well, such as keeping tilling to a minimum, drip
irrigation, solarization, the use of corn
gluten meal and of course, the good old-fashioned act of physically rooting them
up by hand. By keeping soling tilling to a minimum, dormant herbs will not be
awakened to new life. Leave space in your garden to walk around and you won't
need to till anyways. Drip irrigation is not only an excellent way to keep weeds
from sprouting up, it is twice as efficient at watering your garden. By
positioning irrigation heads where they are needed the most, there are less
areas in your garden for weeds to thrive. Solarization begins by hoeing out any existing weeds, watering the
soil, and covering the entire garden with clear plastic for six weeks during the
summer months. When all is said and done, the sun will have solarized any weeds
that have even thought twice about sprouting up. Using corn gluten meal is ideal in an
organic garden that will not have any seed sprouted plants. Mixing corn gluten
with soil will help to keep all seeds from germinating, yet will not have
a negative impact on seedlings or transplanted vegetables. If you must use an
herbicide in your garden, a great home remedy is full strength vinegar. Although
it won't kill the roots of a weed, repeated use will kill the vegetation of the
weed, which will ultimately cause the weed to starve and loosen its hold.
Fertilizers...
The use
of fertilizers in an organic garden is tolerable; However, it depends on the
fertilizer. Alfalfa and soybean meal are ideal. Many organic gardeners use
alfalfa meal, soybean meal, cotton seed meal, bone meal, blood meal, manure and
fish oil to aid in providing extra nutrients to plants. However, vegan organic
gardeners will be quick to point out that bone meal, blood meal and cow manure
can be carriers of Mad Cow Disease, as well as the dangerous bacteria, E. coli.
Indeed, a recent case at the time of writing this article involved a recall of
spinach that was contaminated with E. coli.
Two
things are certain when it comes to fertilizers and organic gardening.
Industrially produced plant nutrients are not be permitted in the realm of
organic gardening. Industrial chemicals (primarily Nitrogen) only serve to
artificially increase the speed and amount of growth in plants, which does
nothing for their nutritional value and overall taste. In fact, it actually
impedes taste and nutrients, which need more time to develop in Nature (It has
been shown in scientific tests that organic produce provides less Nitrates and more
anti-oxidants). The
second certainty regarding fertilizer is that making use of a nutrient rich
compost is all that one really needs to fertilize an organic garden. Organically grown
produce may not look as big and shiny as chemically fed produce, however, it
will taste better and is better for you.
Just ask
any organic gardener and they will tell you that organic gardening truly is a
more satisfying and therapeutic way of growing one's own produce and communing
with Mother Nature.
To dig
deeper about organic gardening, please read our
Organic Gardening Tips
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