Answers to Your Organic Gardening Questions

Whether you've just made the decision to garden organically or you've been at it a little while, you no doubt have questions. Organic gardening does require a little more effort, but the end results will be worth it. The following are popular questions often asked by new organic gardeners, and their answers:

1. What is organic gardening?

There are many definitions, depending on who you ask, but boiled down it means growing plants without the help of synthetics - synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers.

2. Why should I plant a cover crop?

Cover crops are also thought of as green manure; that's because when they're finished, they can be tilled into the soil, like compost, and will enrich the soil with nitrogen.

Planting a cover crop may be better than leaving a garden plot empty not just because of the green manure outcome, but also because a cover crop helps keep the topsoil from blowing away in the wind. In addition, you can eat some of the products of these crops, think peas or beans, and also the roots help break up hard-packed soil.

3. What are the greens and browns I need in my compost bin?

 (Photo credit: Joi)

Greens and browns are not really referring to the color of the waste you put in your compost bin. Greens refer to nitrogens and include items such as grass clippings, vegetable peelings, manure. Browns are higher in carbon and mulch, leaves and small twigs are classified as browns.

One way you can tell the difference is to think about whether the item will start to stink after a few days sitting by itself. If so, it's a green.

4. How do I get rid of aphids on my tomato plants?

Make up a spray, either Tomato Leaf spray or Oil and Soap spray, and apply it to both sides of the affected leaves. You can find recipes for these sprays by doing an Internet search. You'll notice they use common household ingredients. Otherwise, you can buy commercial products that have organic ingredients.

5. Can I get rid of weeds organically?

Yes you can. The most obvious method is pulling the weeds out by the roots. If that option does not appeal to you, then try household vinegar in a spray bottle, being careful not to get it on your plants or grass. Additional applications may be necessary. Other options are to pour boiling water on the weeds or burn them with a wand made for that purpose.

6. So why are worms a good thing to have in my soil?

Worms produce castings that are sometimes called "black gold". To capitalize on these little wigglers, you can set them up in worm bins and feed them your organic waste. What comes out the other end is a nutrient-rich addition that will build up your soil.

No doubt, starting an organic garden will mean you have questions. Finding ways to assist Mother Nature naturally can give you the greatest reward - a healthy garden with beautiful plants and good-for-you vegetables!

Garden Planning: Crop Rotation for Vegetables

When growing vegetables in the garden most people tend to grow the same crops year after year. This is not surprising really, as we grow the crops that we prefer to eat and we also tend to repeat the plants that we have the most success growing.

One thing that most gardeners seem to do is grow the same vegetables in the very same place in the garden each year.

You will tend to have a spot for your tomatoes and a spot for your pumpkins and so on.

Crop rotation on a small scale at The Ecological Garden at Odder.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The problem with planting the same crops in the same place each year is the effect it has on the nutrients in the soil - not to mention buildup of pests and diseases.

Plants will extract the nutrients that they need from the soil for their specific requirements each season. By planting the same crops in the same places you can get nutrient deficiencies.

This is where crop rotation can enhance the value of your soil. By rotating where you plant your vegetables each season you will be giving the soil the opportunity to produce better results as there won't be the same demands on the nutrients in the soil when there is a different plant growing their from last season.

To improve the soil quality even more, you should dig in the remains of the crops once the season has finished allowing some of those nutrients to be put back into the soil. In the off-season you can also grow cover crops in the garden. These are crops that are grown specifically to add nitrogen to the soil. These crops have high nitrogen value in their roots and when they are ready, you dig them into the soil. (We'll cover these crops soon in a future post.)

In doing this you can expect a better harvest each year as the new planting of vegetables will have more nutrients to feed them. You will also control soil-borne disease causing organisms, and reduce pests naturally, since the pests won't be able to find the plants they like in the same spot every year.

Plotting out your rotation of crops for the coming season is an important part of the garden planning process each year. You can do this in a notebook, or on the computer, and there are even garden planners and software you can purchase to help with this task. Check out the helpful resources below for more info on crop rotation.


Helpful Crop Rotation Resources: