Organic Gardening for Beginners

If you enjoyed Monday's article on growing your own food, we thought we'd continue the theme today by sharing some more tips on getting started with organic gardening. If this strikes your fancy, be sure to check out our Sustainable Gardening blog for ongoing info on this subject.

If you decide to grow herbs and vegetables in your own garden, then you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have not sprayed poisonous pesticides anywhere near them. You can eat your own home grown food without worrying about what has been done to it.

The aromatic herb garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In fact, herbs are some of the easiest things to grow, so we strongly recommend growing some herbs when you are starting out with gardening if you're a beginner. You can either put them in a sunny spot in the garden, or have them in containers outside, or even on the windowsill indoors. Most herbs are small enough for this, and you will not need to grow large quantities because you will only use a little in cooking. It is so rewarding to be able to taste your own home grown organic herbs in the delicious dishes that you prepare in your kitchen!

So what is the first thing to do when starting your own organic garden? You will need to prepare a small garden plot. You can do this by hand digging, with the use of a machine, or use the no-dig method. If the land that you are working with is overgrown and has never been used for a garden before, you will probably need to hire a machine. Otherwise, start small by digging a manageable area. Or, if you would like to try gardening without digging, try the lasagna gardening method. This is pretty easy for beginners, and you can use it in areas that have never been gardened before.

Then you can start planting. Be sure to choose correct plants for the season. Whatever time of year it is, in most areas you can find something that can be planted right now. Choose plants whose colors or fruits you will enjoy, and don't plant them too close together.

If you have just moved to a house that already has a garden, the first thing that you should do is try to identify all the plants that are there already. You can draw a plan of your garden and write down all of the names. If you have a wireless internet connection, the easiest way to identify the plants is probably to take your laptop into the garden and call up some pictures of popular garden plants and weeds. Then you can pull out anything that is obviously a weed.

(Photo credit: RaeAllen)

The first year in your new garden, you may want to wait and see what comes up. Don't start pulling leaves as soon as you see a weed, but wait until it is large enough that you can be sure what it is. If the land has been cultivated before, there may be some valuable self-seeding annuals that will surprise you!

Of course, if you simply avoid using chemical pesticides and fertilizers then technically your garden will not be organic. For that, you would need to use organic seeds too. These are available from many online suppliers. But if you can't find them, don't worry about it too much - most of what matters is what is in your soil, and what you put in the garden yourself which the plants will absorb.

Gardening is a wonderful activity that keeps you fit, makes your home more beautiful and brings an aspect of your life into harmony with nature. Gardening for beginners the organic way can be one of the most rewarding hobbies that you could imagine.

And if you're wondering about growing other foods yourself, besides vegetables and herbs in the garden, be sure to check back next week when we're going to discuss raising your own chickens!

The Simplest Way to Go Organic: Grow Your Own

Whether you’re on a budget, aren’t sure of the authenticity of local organics or both, the surest and cheapest way to get good organic food is by growing your own.  And growing your own can be as simple or as involved as you want.

If you’re a first-time gardener, the trick is not to overwhelm yourself. Keep your garden relatively small, but leave room for expansion when you’re ready. A family of 4 can start with about 200 square feet (approximately 50 square feet per person) and have a great supply of produce. But if you don’t want to start that big, don’t. Do what you’d like and what you can.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you don't have a lot of space, containers work well. Root vegetables may not be possible but some people report great success in growing potatoes in compost bags or buckets. Other traditional container fare includes tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, peppers, strawberries, blueberries and herbs.

If you are growing directly in the ground, there are a couple of things to consider.  First, is the amount of sunlight. The second is soil quality.

For sunlight, you should find a space that gets full sun. That’s about 8 hours of sun each day. Some items may need a little less sun, but 8 hours will help you grow a large variety of crops.

For soil quality, you are looking for a pH of about 5.8 – 6.8 and you can buy an inexpensive testing kit at a garden store. You can increase pH, or correct acidity, by adding limestone. To decrease pH, or to correct alkalinity, use elemental limestone. Also, ensure that you have plenty of organic material in your soil and add leaves and compost to help. (See our sustainable gardening blog for some more tips on soil pH.)

If your soil isn't quite right, you can make raised beds and surround them with bricks or stone to contain the nutrient rich and balanced soil.

Young Calabrese broccoli plants. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you’re ready to start planting, consider planting some plant starts, instead of seeds. They may be a little more difficult to find organically, but for first time growers, they’re much easier to work with.

Make sure to water your plants regularly. Seeds should be watered daily. New plants should be watered every 2-3 days. On particularly hot days, you may need to do more. You can even collect rain water for your plants by using rain barrels or creating your own from garbage pails.

Organic herbicides don't work that well. Instead, take the time to pull weeds, ensuring you grab the weeds fully by their roots or they will continue to grow. Weeding regularly will keep them from maturing and becoming problematic...plus it makes your whole job quicker and easier.

As you go through your gardening journey, keep a record. Write down dates things are planted, how they are treated and progress. Take weather and other conditions into consideration. It will allow you figure out what worked well and help you improve your gardening techniques, year after year.

You may not feel like a green thumb now, but keep at it. It’s so worth it.

Visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html for more info on growing your own organic and sustainable garden. And be sure to check out our Sustainable Gardening blog for all kinds of gardening tips, tricks, ideas, videos, and helpful resources!

Video - Creating A Home Graywater System

Here is a really excellent and inspiring video on one home graywater system which is specifically engineered to use graywater to feed a garden, using a branched drain system as described in Art Ludwig's book, "Create an Oasis with Greywater". This is a more extensive and carefully constructed system that has been designed to serve as an example of a "code-legal" graywater processing system in California. For many homeowners, you would not need to be quite so particular. But check out this exciting method of conservation, and see how to build a full greywater system - what a great way to feed your sustainable garden!

Creating a Home Graywater System
Peak Moment 141: (same as 3/4/09 with added diagrams) Trathen Heckman takes us on a step-by-step tour of how to make a safe, ecological and legal suburban home graywater system. Follow the water as it drains from the bathroom tub (and sink and laundr...


More Greywater Resources:
   

Want to Know What's In Your Food? Grow It Yourself!

While, as we have shown, eating organically does not have to break the budget, there are times when it can get expensive, especially if you don't have access to a good local farm market or CSA. So why not grow your own? Image via WikipediaGrowing some of your own food is not only helpful for the environment, but it also provides many other great benefits, such as healthy and delicious produce for the dinner table, an increased sense of connection to the environment and your impact upon it, and the fulfillment and satisfaction of knowing you are providing for yourself and your family. Heck, it's even a great form of exercise!

We cover this topic in detail on our sister Sustainable Gardening blog, but it is also very relevant here. One of the best ways to know what is in your food is to grow it yourself. Whether or not you choose to grow organically (and we hope that you do!!), you will know what inputs were used in growing the food, how fresh it is, and of course, where it came from! You won't have to wonder if the labels are telling the truth, or what chemicals your organically grown food may have been exposed to during transport and delivery. You will not only save money on groceries, but also save on fuel costs and reduce the toxic load of the planet as a whole, by eating food that has not been transported for hundreds (or even thousands) of miles before it reaches your table. In fact, the only transport involved will be done by your two legs!

Why not try growing a garden this year, and see how rewarding (and healthy) it can be? For articles, tips and resources on starting your own garden, including choosing and preparing a garden spot, gardening in small spaces, making your own compost (organic fertilizer!) and much more, visit our Sustainable Gardening blog at http://nhlsustainablegardening.blogspot.com/.