Organic Gardening Tips for Beginners
Organic gardening is almost a redundant phrase! If you are growing your own plants and using natural means of pest and weed control, you’re gardening organically – and this is what people have done for centuries.
If you are thinking of starting an organic garden, here are some helpful tips for those of you who are new to this concept of gardening.
Soil Preparation and Weed Control
Digging and working the soil in the early spring is an important start to gardening. One of the unfortunate side effects of preparing the soil, though, is that weeds enjoy the nice care you’re giving them and spring up almost immediately. There are various ways to deal with this problem organically (as in, not by spraying weedkiller). The weed control you use in the beginning of the season can serve you well throughout the growing season. Here are some options.
* Newspaper makes an excellent choice, and it’s not hard to find a surplus. Lay newspapers several pages thick on your newly-worked soil, wet them down, and cover them with several inches of compost. Alternatively, you can hold the newspapers down with rocks and plant seeds and plants right through the paper (punch holes or make slits in the newspaper when it’s time to plant).
* Cardboard can be used as “sheet mulch.” Beginning in late winter or very early spring, simply lay sheets of cardboard (great way to get rid of those boxes in the basement or attic!) over your garden bed to block out light. Wet down the cardboard. Then cover it with a couple of inches of compost, straw, and/or grass clippings (no weed clippings!). Dampen this with a hose. Add more layers of compost and other organic matter, watering as you go. In a few weeks, the cardboard and compost will break down into rich, weed-free soil.
* Compost and/or mulch alone is helpful, too; you just have to lay it on pretty thick, 2-4 inches.
A few weeds will inevitably poke through (or establish themselves above) the mulch, cardboard, or newspaper. Weed control through the season can be accomplished with a hoe or cultivator, or just by pulling them out. Make sure you stay on top of them! Twice-weekly weeding is not out of the question in the middle of summer.
Pest Control
As growing season begins, pests will find your bounty. To control these pesky bugs organically, you can introduce predator species or use a natural insecticide. Here are some options.
* Soap insecticide, made with a tablespoon of vegetable-based liquid soap and water, will help vanquish many pests when sprayed on and under leaves.
* Damsel bugs, which you can collect from alfalfa fields, will eat aphids.
* Braconid wasps lay their eggs inside host insects that are harmful to your garden, such as moth and beetle larvae (caterpillars).
* Blue, nocturnal ground beetles will eat slugs and snails while you sleep.
Water
If possible, use collected rain water to moisten your garden through the summer. Rain water can be collected in a rain barrel connected to your house’s downspout.