Organic Gardening Tips
2008-08-20

                                                                                                                                                                              Organic Gardening Organic gardening means growing in harmony with the environment without resorting to chemical fertilizers and pest controls. Enthusiasm for organic growing has rapidly increased in recent times and more of us want to know exactly how the food we are eating has been treated during its growing process. Even if you don’t go completely organic, it’s helpful to try and introduce some organic principles into your gardening. Yates has a range of products that are based on natural, low toxic and organic ingredients. If you are looking for ways to produce healthy fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other plants, organic gardening may be just the thing for you. There are several different organic gardening methods, each of which utilizes plant-derived materials to control unwanted pests and help keep your garden in full production. The concept of organic gardening was first introduced in 1940, which theorized that adding chemicals to the soil was destructive to the environment. It wasn't until 1962, however, that organic gardening was put into practice by farmers and local gardeners. Today, between 15 and 20 million home gardeners use organic growing methods in the United States. While organic produce used to be found solely in health food stores, it now makes up a large portion of what is available in commercial grocery stores.

Organic gardening techniques and philosophy Organic gardening often is thought of as simply gardening without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers -- but it is so much more than that. Under the umbrella of organic gardening, you'll find several types of natural and eco-friendly gardening. Each type offers slightly different techniques and philosophies. Here's a look at three of them. Sustainable gardening contributes to, rather than takes away from, the planet. This type of gardening conserves water, doesn't use chemicals and doesn't add to pollution. As with all of these forms of organic gardening, the foods grown via sustainable gardening -- whether they're vegetables, herbs or fruits -- are much healthier to eat. So it can have a positive effect on our health as well as the environment. To be a sustainable gardener, maintain soil health by using increasing amounts of compost. Use only natural fertilizers such as seaweed and kelp, which encourage plants to grow at a natural rate and help prevent pest problems. Choose hardy plants that are well-adjusted to your climate and will feed birds and attract other types of wildlife. Permaculture gardening is an integrated approach; plants, animals, land, people, buildings and nature work together to support a multidimensional ecosystem. In other words, you're working with, not against, nature. To be a permaculture gardener, repurpose an area of your lawn to create a food-producing garden that includes fruit trees and vegetables. Or just grow meadow mixes and other flowers that are beneficial to wildlife. Biointensive gardening, which is rooted in ancient Chinese agricultural practices, combines Eastern and Western techniques to yield a large amount of crops in a small space while requiring little annual maintenance and no use of power tools. To be a biointensive gardener, grow cover crops -- which include alfalfa, oats, clover and other grains -- during the time that your garden is not planted with vegetables. Cover crops feed and replenish the soil. This style of planting maximizes the amount of vegetation in your garden, eliminates weeds and decreases the amount of water needed.

Create an Organic Garden 1. Start by improving your soil by mixing in plenty of compost and other bulky organic matter 2. Feed plants with naturally-derived fertilisers such as Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food or Nature’s Way Fish Emulsion. 3. Create no-dig garden beds by building layers of hay, compost or other bulky material above the natural soil level. 4. Enrich your garden with sprinklings of animal manure or Yates Blood & Bone before planting. 5. Use organically grown seed in the vegetable patch such as Yates Organic Seed Range. 6. Use a natural growth stimulant on your seedlings such as Dynamic Lifter Seaweed Tonic. 7. Plant bird-attracting shrubs to encourage natural insect-eaters into the garden. Hand removes pests as soon as they appear. 8. Hand removes pests as soon as they appear, before numbers reach damaging proportions. 9. Choose natural pest controls such as Yates Success of Lime Sulphur.