Organic gardening is an interesting hobby and helps you get in touch with nature. This pastime should yield amazing and healthy foods, free of pesticides and other chemicals found in store bought produce. How hard can it be, right? Review the tips in this article and you'll be on your way to creating a wonderful organic garden.
Shoveling soil that is mostly clay can be difficult because of the hardness of the soil, and because it sticks to the shovel. Simplify the process by putting a bit of wax onto the shovel. The clay won't stick then. The clay will no longer stick to the shovel, and this also helps to prevent other problems like rusting.
Turn the handles of your garden tools into measuring rulers. Tools with long handles such as hoes and rakes can double as measuring sticks. Simply lay the handles out on the floor and run a measuring tape next to them. Use a permanent marker to label distances. Next time you are working in the garden, you will have a large ruler at your fingertips!
Healthy Plants
Starting off your garden with healthy soil can be the best defense against those pesky garden bugs. If you create healthy plants, they are going to be stronger and therefore, less likely to succumb to diseases and insects. For healthy plants, start with healthy soil that is properly amended and free of chemicals in order to avoid salt accumulation.
The first thing you should do when planning a garden is test the soil. A soil analysis is inexpensive and can be used to figure out which nutrients should be added to provide a healthy garden environment. Ask about this service at a local university or the county Cooperative Extension office to improve the soil and insure fruitful crops.
Be sure to get rid of the weeds growing in your garden. Weeds steal nutrients from plants, robbing a garden of its potential harvest. To help with the removal, you can use white vinegar. White vinegar is a weed killer! A spray solution is much easier to apply than to rid your garden of weeds by hand.
Create your own garden from scratch with seeds, rather than plants. Planting seeds is the most eco-friendly way to start a new garden. The plastic used in nurseries often end up in landfills, that is why it is advised to use seeds or purchase from nurseries that make use of organic materials when packaging their plants.
Do some research to find out the best time for harvesting your vegetables. Each variety needs a slightly different amount of growing time to produce the most flavorful vegetable. Some vegetables, such as zucchini and baby peas, should be harvested when they are relatively young. Yet, in reverse, tomatoes must wait for prime-ripeness before they are subject to being picked. Simply educate yourself on what the best time is to harvest each of your garden vegetables.
When horticulture, don't use any broad-spectrum pesticides. These pesticides can also kill useful insects that eat your pests. Beneficial insects are more susceptible to strong pesticides than the insects you are actually trying to get rid of. This will lead you to end up killing off the good bugs in your garden, leaving the field wide open for the harmful ones. This can result in your using more pesticides to eradicate the problem.
Successful organic gardening incorporates quite a few elements, such as patience, knowledge and nature. This is a great hobby that uses your land to grow food. If you follow these tips and put in a great effort, there is nothing stopping you from becoming a good organic gardener.