Organic Gardening

Organic gardeners focus their energy into increasing the natural health of their soil, choosing appropriate plant varieties, and working with nature to produce a healthy and productive garden. When crops are deprived of basic nutrients they languish. Healthy plants grow more vigorously, taste better, store longer, and better resist insect attacks. They also have a greater resistance to cold, heat, drought, and disease. Successful soil building addresses the soil’s long-term needs by remedying deficiencies organically.

Organic gardening relies heavily on the natural breakdown of organic matter. It uses techniques such as green manure and composting to replace nutrients taken from the soil by previous plants. This biological process, driven by microorganisms, allows the natural production of nutrients in the soil throughout the growing season, and is often referred to as "feeding the soil to feed the plant."

Organic soil-building should include the addition of the following organic nutrients:

• Humus is organic matter in various stages of decay, such as oakleaf mold, peat moss, and rotted sawdust. Humus increases water-holding capacity, modifies soil structure, stimulates plant growth, permits root penetration, and helps to correct soil imbalances. Some forms of humus are found in compost and animal manures.
• Nitrogen contains proteins and is a food source for compost piles (grass clippings, green vegetable matter), and it stimulates green growth in plants. Sources are blood meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, fishmeal, and fish emulsion.
• Phosphorus stimulates root growth and promotes fruit and seed maturation. Good sources are soft rock phosphate or bone meal. Deficiencies are indicated by purple leaves, brittle roots, skinny stems and late fruit set and maturity.
• Potassium promotes plant vitality and disease resistance. Sources are Greensand, also known as Glauconite, sulfate of potash, wood ashes, or Sul Po Mag. Deficiencies are indicated by an irregular yellowing of lower leaves, and poor root growth.
• Calcium is important for plant cell wall integrity, root development and leaf growth. Low levels show up as deformed new leaves and branches, weak stems and roots. A good source for calcium is gypsum, which can also lower the alkalinity of the soil.
• Magnesium is essential for chlorophyll and green leaf development. Pale green leaves with green veins are a sign of deficiency. Adding dolomite lime to raise the pH in an acid soil often corrects this deficiency. In an alkaline soil you can add Magnesium Sulfate.
• Sulphur is used to lower pH in alkaline soil, and it is a stimulant for soil microbial life. Use sparingly. A good source is soil sulphur, or calcium sulfate – Gypsum.
• Trace minerals are found in compost, kelp meal, algae meal, and seaweed meal. These can provide boron, copper, iron, sulphur and zinc.
• Oxygen is one of the most important fertility components in the soil as it stimulates microbial activity and allows free root growth. Humus, peat moss, compost, and aged manure tilled into the soil help to increase the air spaces in the soil enabling plants to utilize the available nutrients. Soil should be loose and never walked on, which only compacts it. Tilling wet soil too early in the season can also destroy soil structure by compacting it, and squeezing out the pockets for air.
• Vermicomposting uses earthworms to make compost. Worms can eat their body weight daily in organic matter and convert it into dark, soil enriching castings full of live micro organisms, growth hormones, and nutrients, humic acids which condition the soil, and a neutral pH.

Pest Control

Beneficial insects and wildlife are your best friends when it comes to controlling pests in your garden. Including annuals amongst your plants, herbs and vegetables, will attract a wealth of beneficial insects to feed on unwanted pests. Planting a few native shrubs and herbaceous perennials or creating a pond in your garden will keep enough wildlife in your garden to eat thousands of pests and their eggs.

Beneficial insects are also attracted by cover crops; alfalfa can attract parasitic wasps, lady beetles, damsel bugs, big-eyed bugs and assassin bugs. White clover can attract Tachnid flies, ground beetles and parasitic wasps that prey on aphids, scales, caterpillars and whiteflies. Most grains will attract lady beetles. Clovers and vetches can attract minute pirate bugs. Fava beans and buckwheat can attract predatory and parasitic wasps, syrphid flies and bumblebees.

Choose The Right Plants

Plants adapted to your climate and conditions are better able to grow without a lot of attention or input. On the other hand, when you try to grow a plant that is not right for your organic garden, you will probably have to boost its natural defenses to keep it healthy and productive. Crop rotation in larger gardens also helps to prevent soil deficiencies. By using different plants in different beds, you can avoid depletion of nutrients because each plant has different needs.

Cover crops or "green manure" are grown for the sole purpose of being tilled into the soil to add organic matter. It helps keep moisture from evaporating and regulates the soil temperature, keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. By providing an insulating blanket, microbes and earthworms will thrive. The more worms in your garden, the more they can break up, fertilize, and aerate the soil.

Providing Good Water Drainage

Good water drainage is essential to healthy soil. Too little drainage makes soil soggy and prevents root growth, nutrient absorption, and compacts the soil. A perk test is an easy way to determine the rate at which water drains through your soil. If it takes more than 8 hours for the water to drain, you have a slow drainage problem. Some solutions for slow water drainage include adding sand, gypsum, chopped straw, vermiculite or perlite to increase the drainage.

You can also do a water test to determine if the soil drains too quickly, leaching nutrients and causing plants to be watered more frequently. This test takes a couple of days to complete. If you determine that soil drains too quickly to promote good plant growth you can add peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, composted manure and mulch well to prevent evaporation.

Sustainable Gardening

One of the most important things about organic gardening is that the process can become sustainable over time. Sustainable soil building begins after the initial soil testing and the addition of organic fertilizers and conditioners, and continues by organically maintaining and improving the soil over time. Sustaining the soil means being able to replenish nutrients with what you have at hand – organic compost, beneficial microbes, enzymes, and earthworms. Ideally, once the garden is established it can be sustained with garden compost alone, using the microbes in your soil to inoculate your compost, which will in turn feed your soil.

Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the best things a gardener can do. It's easy and costs very little in time or effort. It will also help to reduce pollution and waste. Your plants will grow healthier, look better and produce more with the use of organic compost.