Organic Gardening-An Introduction
There are many reasons to grow organically. Simply put It is much healthier to eat organic foods, which are also tastier; and it is bad for the earth and wildlife to use chemical fertilizers, and toxic pesticides and weed controls, which kill or damage more than their intended target. In addition to using organic insect controls and fertilizers, there are other things you can do to ensure a healthy and productive garden. Things such as inter planting, companion planting, composting, rotating crops and using disease resistant varieties of plants. In future posts I will go into each of these areas more in depth
Pest Control-There are many alternatives to the highly poisonous chemical pesticides that are available today. Some common pests such as aphids, can be eliminated by a soapy water spray, or a spray made from garlic, onions, and red pepper blended with water in the blender and strained. Put it in a spray bottle and add a few drops of liquid soap. You can also make a spray from tomato leaves. Planting certain plants together deters pests also(see Companion planting below). There is a mineral dust called diatomaceous earth which you can sprinkle around your plants. (this is not the same as that used for pool filters) Dishes of beer can be used to trap slugs and snails can be deterred by copper tape.
Composting and Feeding- The best organic fertilizers that I have found are sea kelp and fish emulsion, or a combination of the two; and compost/compost tea, which is simply enough, tea made from compost. Sometimes you can even get free compost from your city.
Companion Planting- Certain plants like to grow with each other while others don’t. Some plants enhance or inhibit each other’s growth, while some help protect each other by repelling certain pests For instance many plants grown too close to a black walnut tree will be poisoned by a substance called juglone that the tree gives off. Marigolds and nasturtiums help tomatoes because they repel certain pests, such as nematodes. Plant chives with roses or garlic to repel aphids from them. There are many other plant combinations that are beneficial. If you want to know more check out Louise Riotte’s books, “Carrots Love Tomatoes” and “Roses Love Garlic”. or google “companion planting”.
Interplanting– Interplanting involves planting plants together that have complimentary root systems or maturity rates. For example: Plant radishes between your lettuce plants, since the radishes grow quickly they will mature before your lettuce needs the room. Or plant carrots between other plants such as tomatoes since their downward root growth will not interfere with the room the tomato plants need to grow. You can plant more in a smaller space this way, and you can combine this with companion planting for double benefits.
Rotating Crops– Rotating crops is important for two reasons:
Getting the optimum nutrients: As far as plants go there are plants that are heavy feeders, that take a lot of nutrients from the soil, light feeders, and then there are plants which actually add to the soil such as peas, which fix nitrogen the soil. So rotating these insures you get the most out of your soil.
Combatting pests and diseases: Most pests and diseases have particular plants that they feed on, so when a particular pest establishes itself, if you move the crop to a different spot the next year, you will be less likely to have the same problem. This is especially important with soil diseases and you should discard or burn diseased plant material at the end of the season.
Buying Disease Resistant Varieties– You can buy vegetable and plant varieties that are bred to be resistant to certain diseases and pests, so if a particular type of disease is always prevalent in your area, consider buying a resistant variety of the plant it affects.
Rodale’s website, organicgardening.com has a lot of information on this subject if you’re interested in learning more. They are THE authority on the subject.
