Organic Gardening For Beginners – Everything You Need To Know
Eating organic is amazing. It helps to decrease the amount of pesticides you consume and it’s also great for the environment. However, it’s a very expensive lifestyle. Especially, if you’re buying everything from the grocery store. This can easily discourage you to eat better. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can easily grow your own organic produce, or at least some of it, at home. While it may seem scary, you really don’t need to be a professional to start your own garden. And in some cases you don’t even need a garden. A lot of produce can also be grown in containers. So, whether you are new to gardening or you just want a new approach, you have come to the right place. Organic gardening can be super fun, you just need to know some specifics before you get started. So, let’s learn some basics.
Organic gardening can be super fun
You can easily grow your own organic produce
In this article
Organic Gardening 101
Organic gardening is all about staying true to nature. This means no pesticides, no GMOs, and no synthetic fertilizers. But even without those things your plants can still grow strong and healthy. There are plenty of things you can do to boost their strength and keep pests away. You just need to be motivated and patient. It’s best to start small and work your way up. This way you won’t get overwhelmed, and the results will be better.
Organic gardening is all about staying true to nature
No pesticides, no GMOs, and no synthetic fertilizers
#Pick a spot
Before you start buying supplies and planting anything, you first need to step back and think about where you will be growing the garden. Take a good look at your property. Where is the sunniest spot? Will that spot be easy to water? Then, think about if you want to sow the seeds straight in the ground or do you want raised beds? If you grow them in containers, how deep do they have to be? All of these things need to be thought out before you start.
Where you will be growing the garden?
#Prepare the soil
Once you’ve thought about where your garden will be, it’s time to pay attention to the soil. Poor soil conditions will stress your plants and make them vulnerable to pests and diseases. If you are not getting raised beds or containers, it’s best to get a soil test to figure out if you need to balance out the soil’s pH level and nutrients. In general, you want to prepare whatever soil you are using. Healthy soil helps grow good plants, so make sure you don’t skip this. If needed, enrich the soil with compost, leaves, manure, and other organic materials.
Poor soil conditions will stress your plants
#Make your own compost
Speaking of compost, you can easily make your own. All gardens benefit from this. Plus, it’s super easy to make, basically free, you don’t wonder what to do with your waste, and it supercharges your soil! You may be considered it will stink up your garden. However, properly maintained compost piles shouldn’t smell, so you have nothing to worry about. You check out our guide on how to easily make compost at home.
Speaking of compost, you can easily make your own
#Choose your plants
This is very, very important. You need to select plants that will thrive in your zone and micro-conditions. Otherwise, you will just be making it way harder for yourself and you won’t get the results you would like. Pick out plants that fit with the conditions your garden offers. The happier your plants are and the more their needs are met, the more resistant they will be to diseases and pests, so this is important. Also make sure you always read the seed instructions on the packet. See when the perfect sowing time is, what they require, etc.
You need to select plants that will thrive in your zone and micro-conditions
#Water them
Gardener’s recommend watering your plants early in the morning. Since it is a cooler time and less windy, the chance of water lost to evaporation is reduced significantly. Nightly watering isn’t the best as your plants will stay damp overnight which makes them more susceptible to fungal and bacterial damage. It’s also better to target watering the roots and not the greenery. Make sure to check what type of watering schedule your individual plants would prefer.
Gardener’s recommend watering your plants early in the morning
#Get rid of weeds
Ugh, weeds are a pain. Mainly because they are pretty much inevitable. It seems no matter what you do, one always somehow finds its way into your garden. But don’t panic. There are plenty of ways to exterminate these pesky plants without harming your own or using pesticides and other non-organic substances. You can check out our whole guide on how to remove weeds naturally for help.
Weeds will always find a way back into your garden
#Keep pests away
You may be worried about pests. How will you protect your plants if you can’t use any pesticides. Don’t worry! There are a ton of organic pest control alternatives to help you deal with any annoying guests in the garden. Plus, if your plants are getting enough light, moisture, and nutrients, they should be able to fend pretty well for themselves. But it’s always a good idea to encourage natural predators in your garden like birds, frogs, toads, etc. You can also add plants that the pests dislike.
It’s a good idea to encourage natural predators in your garden
This was everything you needed to know about organic gardening. We hope you found this article useful. Now you can start planning and working on your beautiful organic garden!
This was everything you needed to know about organic gardening
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