Provide Safe Food for Your Family By Growing An Organic Vegetable Garden

Organic gardens are gardens that produce plants and vegetables that are grown and handled naturally - without any chemical inputs. There are many people who are understandably concerned about the chemicals that are sprayed on commercial fruits and vegetables and the additives that are used to keep them fresh.

We all know that fruits and vegetables are healthy for our mind and bodies, but what about those chemicals and additives that are placed on commercially grown food? They sometimes cancel out the benefits they provide because they cause damage to our systems.

Growing an organic vegetable garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Organic gardening helps to ensure that we’re consuming fresh, natural foods that provide the necessary nutrients for our bodies. Organic gardening doesn’t use any chemicals or additives, so you can enjoy an all-natural diet, without polluting the environment or your body.

Many commercially grown fruits and vegetables use chemicals to keep the insects and other pests away from the food, and additives are used to keep them fresher longer from the harvesting field to a consumer’s table.

In truth, there are other ways to produce food for the population without tainting it with chemicals and additives. In fact, if you grow your own organic garden, you have the benefit of eating the produce right away, which would eliminate the need for any additives or preservatives.

There’s also no need for chemicals to rid the plants of pests. With the proper use of plants in your garden that deter harmful insects and attract beneficial ones that will rid your garden of insects that would harm the food, you can grow vegetables without the use of chemical pesticides.

Red earthworm in soil from organic garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s also no need to use artificial fertilizers to help the plants grow. You can use natural fertilizers that you can recycle over and over, keeping waste under control as well as feeding your garden. And it's easy - all you need is leaves, grass clippings and table scraps to be stored for composting!

One of the biggest advantages of having an organic garden is that because there are no chemicals used in your soil, there’s less danger to the plant life, wildlife, water supply, and humans.

Organic gardening allows you to put food on the table for your family and know exactly what you’re putting on the table instead of just taking a chance, and hoping that you’re not putting anything harmful into your family’s mouths.

Take control and make sure your family is safe with the food you prepare for them. Do you want to risk harming them with traces of sprayed chemicals - or do you want them to benefit from the nutrients an organic garden provides?

Be sure to check back next week, as we will be providing some helpful tips for growing an organic vegetable garden this month.

What You Should Know About Organic Farming

When did farming become more than just farming? Now there's farming and then there's organic farming. But what is it that makes organic farming a better form of farming than anything else? Here's what you need to know about organic farming to understand the benefits you are receiving from these crops.

1. Organic farming is a holistic approach to farming. Organic farmers use ecologically-balanced agricultural principles to control pests, tend to the soil, and manage crop rotation. Simply put, it lets nature take its course.

2. Organic farms include everything from vegetables to grains, to meat, dairy, eggs, and even cotton. To be considered organic they must remain as close to their natural state as possible without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. And when raising animals, they do not use synthetic growth hormones or antibiotics on their livestock. The animals eat only organic feed and in some cases, are allowed to roam outdoors.

A USDA map of the United States showing the number of organic farms per state in 2007. 0–100 organic farms 101–200 organic farms 201–500 organic farms 500+ organic farms. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. When organic farming began being monitored and tracked in 1994, there were 2500-3000 certified organic farms in the United States. Today there are more than 10,000 certified organic farms in the United States which provide 2% of the total food supply.

4. The basis of a good organic farm is the soil. It must begin with the right mix of soil that leads to healthy crops and animals. This reduces incidence of disease, and makes the farm more productive overall.

5. To create this productive soil, farmers need three basic things.

* Compost. This is organic materials that are decaying such as yard trimmings (wood chips, grass, and leaves), food waste (coffee grounds, tea bags and fruits and vegetables), and manure. Using compost allows beneficial bacteria and fungi to grow which creates a nutrient-rich moist soil.

* Green manures and cover crops. Cover crops are plants grown specifically to benefit the crops and are used to help protect the soils surface from water and wind, maintain soil structure, and maintain the healthy organic matter in the soil. Green manure is a cover crop that is grown and tilled in to the soil to add nutrients back into the soil. Cover crops also keep weeds at bay and to distract pests. They constitute a natural fertilizer/pesticide.

* Crop rotation. This is done by using different fields for different things each year. So one year a field could be used to grow pumpkins and the next field be used to graze sheep. The next year these fields would be switched. This way the nutrients are not depleted in one field, and it also minimizes the buildup of pests and diseases common to a specific crop.

Pig farming, Stancombe Down. Part of Sheepdrove, a large organic farm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

6. Livestock is handled with the same level of care. They often may live in habitats similar to their natural habitat, and receive humane treatment. They don't receive hormones that promote growth and they don't receive antibiotics for any reason. They do receive vaccinations, though, as preventative care. Their diet consists of 100% organic food.

Organic farming really goes back to the roots of farming before intensive mass production was encouraged and expected from farmers in order for them to succeed. It's the way our food should be grown so we don't have to worry about pesticide poisoning or the alteration of our hormones due to the hormones that are fed to animals.

Clearly it's also becoming much more common and easier to find organic foods, even in your local supermarket. The price tag might be a bit higher for these organic foods, but it's worth it - not just for your health, but for the health of the farmers who grow the food, the planet, and future generations to come.

Book Review: Organic Manifesto

I just finished an inspiring book - Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe, by Maria Rodale. This eye-opening book describes why organic farming is so important - not only for the health of the planet, but also for our future on it. I wasn't sure if this book was going to be the same old stuff I have heard before - you should eat organic food because it's better for you, etc., but within its 187 pages it  actually contains a wealth of interesting information, facts, research, and also plenty of opinion, on the history of chemical farming, how we got where we are, and why a change is virtually imperative if we want to survive as a species.

Parts of it are shocking and horrifying, and you'll be left completely amazed at how blind we've let ourselves become to the source of our food. There are pages and pages of little-known facts we just ignore, or don't take the time to find out for ourselves.

For example: Did you know that arsenic (which you most certainly know as a poison) is routinely included in commercial chicken feed? Supposedly it "improves the pigmentation" of the meat (which, of course, if the chickens were raised on their natural diet of bugs and grass, wouldn't need any artificial pigmentation to look healthy). Supposedly in small quantities it's "safe," but as Maria says in her book, "Smaller doses of chemicals can be just as dangerous as large doses.... Doctors and researchers are finding that small doses, and cumulative small doses, can be just as toxic as large doses. There really are no safe limits."

From Cyclone B, a pesticide used to exterminate Jews in Nazi Germany, to arsenic and DDT, to literally hundreds of other dangerous chemicals, some of which are now being genetically spliced into our foods through GMOs, we've let chemicals overrun our world, and our food has now become one of our largest health hazards. Is it any wonder why we've become so unhealthy as a nation?

While some things are beyond our control, our health is not one of them. The state of our health, and the food we eat, is a choice we make many times every day. It is up to us to choose how healthy we want to be, and part of that is how healthy our food is. It is up to us to choose organic - and yes, you really can make a difference.

Take a couple of hours to read this highly informative book. You may not agree with everything in its pages, but if nothing else it will make you a lot more aware of what you're eating, and the impact your food choices make on your own health and the health of the other inhabitants of this planet.

Click Here to Check Out Organic Manifesto on Amazon.com...

   

The Risk of Chemicals - Part 2

Expanding a bit more on Tuesday's post, here is a bit more in-depth chemical info on how chemical fertilizers can rob plants of valuable nutrients. (Don't worry - we'll try to keep it pretty simple!)

Image via WikipediaTo start off, the colloidal humus particles are the convoys that transfer most of the minerals from the soil solution to the root hairs. Each humus particle is negatively charged and will, attract the positive elements, such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, boron, iron, copper and other metals. When sodium nitrate is dumped into the soil year after year, in large doses, a radical change takes place on the humus articles.

The very numerous sodium ions (atomic particles) will eventually crowd out the other ions, making them practically unavailable for plant use. The humus becomes coated with sodium, glutting the root hairs with the excess. Finally, the plant is unable to pick up the minerals that it really needs.

So, with chemical fertilizers, in short, you have short-term results, and long-term damage to the soil, ground water and to our health.

Another reason to avoid the use of chemicals and pesticides is that long term use of such chemicals can deplete the soil and leave it unable to sustain further growth. In many cases beds of perennials suddenly stop blooming for no apparent reason, and the culprit is often found to be the overuse of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

Chemicals that are applied to plants can often seep into the water supply thus contaminating it. While it’s true that our drinking water does go through a filtration process, it’s been proven many times over that this process doesn’t remove ALL of the harmful contaminants.

Image via WikipediaIt has also been proven that certain chemicals can cause diseases, birth defects, and other hazardous health problems. All one needs to do is watch the movie “Erin Brokovich” to see what chemical contamination of water can do to a body.

Consumers worry about filthy slaughterhouses, e-coli, salmonella and fecal contamination. The CDC estimates that 76 million American suffer food poisoning every year. On the other hand, at this time, there are no documented cases of organic meat, poultry or dairy products setting off a food poisoning outbreak in the United States.

Consumers are also concerned about toxic sewage used as fertilizer on conventional farms. Organic farming prohibits the use of sewage sludge.

Some also worry about untested and unlabeled genetically engineered food ingredients in common supermarket items. Genetically engineered ingredients are now found in 60 percent to 75 percent of all U.S. foods. Although polls indicate 90 percent of Americans want labels on gene-altered foods, government and industry refuse to label. Organic production forbids genetic engineering.

Eating organic eliminates, or minimizes, the risk from poisoning from heavy metals found in sewage sludge, the unknowns of genetically modified food, the ingestion of hormone residues, and the exposure to mutant bacteria strains. It also reduces the exposure to insecticide and fungicide residues.

Residues from potentially carcinogenic pesticides are left behind on some of our favorite fruits and vegetables - in 1998, the FDA found pesticide residues in over 35 percent of the food tested. Many U.S. products have tested as being more toxic than those from other countries. What's worse is that current standards for pesticides in food do not yet include specific protection for fetuses, infants, or young children despite major changes to federal pesticide laws in 1996 requiring such reforms.

It is certainly in the best interests of the human population to avoid chemicals in our food, but it’s also better for our planet as well. Chemicals can affect the soil making it less fertile. They destroy important parts of the natural eco-system. All plants and animals serve some sort of purpose – even if that purpose isn’t especially obvious. By taking these components out of the natural life cycle, we are endangering our environment in ways we can’t necessarily see outright, but that danger is there.

So it becomes obvious that growing your food naturally is the best way to go. For more on organic, natural, and sustainable gardening, just visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html, or check out the resources below.

 

Video - Can Organic Farming Feed Us?

Here is a totally awesome video that is so inspirational and hopeful! The first farm featured is also using the CSA model (which many farmers are discovering is quite a successful way to go), and also sell through farmer's markets. They DON'T sell to grocery stores at all, but they are very successful and support a huge number of people with their produce - they just sell direct to consumers who want their foods. This is a great example, as Eve says, of how you can "vote with your dollars" and choose locally grown foods which are not only better for you, but grown more sustainably to benefit the planet as a whole.

There is also a good scientific explanation for why organic foods are healthier, in case you were wondering. (And I loved the suggestion Betty gave for lawns - I have often had that same thought myself!) :-)

This is a bit longer than most of the videos we post, but it is WELL worth setting aside 30 minutes to watch. And if you like this, please share our link with others via Facebook or another method using the buttons below!

Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us (Part 1)
VVH-TV News Special Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us? Part 1 Karl Grossman Chief Investigative Reporter examines Organic Farming on Eastern Long Island. What is organic farming? Organic farming can be defined as an approach to agriculture where the ai...

 Other Resources to Learn More About Organic Farming and Food Choices:

• Organic Poultry Farms Have Lower Levels of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (nlm.nih.gov)
• Family Pursues Dream of Owning a Micro Organic Farm by Asking Everyone for a Dollar to Teach Others about Going Green (prweb.com)
• Organic Health Benefits Confirmed By Study Of Drug Resistance In Chicken Farms (huffingtonpost.com)
• New agricultural entrepreneurs deserve your support (usatoday.com)
• Eating Local: 4 First Steps to Become a Locavore (fooducate.com)

From Amazon:
    

Interesting Article from An Unconventional Harvest

Check out this truly excellent article that I found. It's a great story, and also offers hope for a sustainable future. This is from a series of articles (which hopefully will become a book - I'll let you know if and when it comes out!) by Nathan Winters, and it is definitely worth a read (as is the rest of the series). I will share more of his articles at a later date.

Check this one out, and see how organic farming truly CAN be sustainable, even on a large scale.

Image via WikipediaThe Unconventional Harvest: A Large No-Till Organic Farm
Emily Stiegelmeier, with her family, owns and operates Blue Blanket Organics, an organic farm where they grow spring and winter wheat, flax, rye, barley, and buckwheat.
Publish Date: 07/21/2011 3:00
http://cookingupastory.com/the-unconventional-harvest-a-large-no-till-organic-farm

Why Organic Vegetable Gardening Is Important

Organic vegetable gardening is becoming the trend these days as more and more people are becoming conscious of what they are eating - and becoming aware that conventional farming methods involve the use of harmful chemicals which may enter our systems and cause a host of health problems and diseases.

Cover via AmazonWith organic farming, farmers don't plant crops using genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge. Instead, they rely on things like crop rotation, organic fertilizers, and the use of mulch and compost.

Crop rotation is the practice of planting a different crop in the same area another crop once occupied. This keeps the soil’s nutrients fertile so it can be used again in the following season, and helps reduce pests and diseases which tend to inflict one specific crop.

But one of the main reasons why organic vegetable gardening is so important is the fact that the crops harvested typically have 50% more nutrients and vitamins compared to that of conventional farming methods. This helps improve health immensely, and prevent a number of health problems.

You can buy organically grown vegetables from the supermarket. The sad part is the almost everywhere you go, although the packaging comes from Department of Health, Quality Assurance International, California Certified Organic Farmers or the Oregon Tilth Farm Verified Organic, many of these are only 50% to 70% organic.

This is why homeowners who want to eat 100% organic vegetables are encouraged to grow them themselves - this way you know exactly what you are getting, without having to rely on a label to tell you the truth.

You can plant your garden from seed, buy little starts (seedlings), or buy larger plants and stick them right in the ground (however, if buying plants or seedlings, these may or may not have been treated with pesticides or other chemicals already, so be wary of this). Regardless of the start method you choose, you will need to prepare the soil, use compost and mulch, and make sure that the plants are safe from threats such as insects, weeds and other animals that will eat what you have planted.

Image via WikipediaYou can fight these threats with other animals, insects, organic fertilizers, deodorant soap, or other natural methods. (For more info on these, keep an eye on this blog, and also visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html for some great resources.)

For those who don’t have a big garden, they can try growing organic vegetables in containers. These will require more water than those planted in the soil so be sure to water frequently.

There is no doubt that organic vegetables and other organic products are important to our health these days. If you value your health you will want to investigate organically grown food as well as other organic items, and growing your own garden is a great way to take control of your health and what you eat.

And for those who decide to buy organically grown vegetables, remember to wash before cooking them - even if they are organic, you still need to make sure they are clean - not to mention reducing chemical residues which may have been transferred from non-organic vegetables during storage and transport.

Organic Gardening Resources:

Organic Agriculture in Cuba: An Inspirational Story

As you probably know if you’ve been reading this blog for some time,  organic and sustainable gardening, as well as local food production, is one of my passions, which I discuss often with family and friends.

My dad recently mailed me an article he ran across in a magazine, about the re-emergence of organic agriculture in Cuba. It was a tale of struggle, pain, and sacrifice, but ultimately one of triumph. I wish I could find it online to share a link with you, but I haven’t been able to find the exact article. (It was in Christian Century Magazine, September 7, 2010, Page 11, if anyone wants to dig it up. The title of the article was “Organic By Necessity.”)

Image by hoyasmeg via FlickrHowever, there are a number of related articles, as it’s a pretty inspiring story no matter how it’s told. Below are some other articles on the topic, but here are some of the highlights from the original article.

When Cuba lost its connection with the Soviet Union in the early 90′s, the nation of conventional agriculture, readily available cheap food, and modern grocery stores (sound familiar?) lost its main source of oil-based fertilizer; and it was in for a rude awakening. Or maybe that is putting it mildly. The outcome was starvation, or close to it, for many citizens. As this article put it, “It is difficult for Americans to imagine the horrors of (this period).” Farming and gardening were not familiar past times for many of Cuba’s citizens. And not only did many people not know how to grow their own food, but those in urban areas did not have the space to do so.

But in the years since then, Cuba has become “the world’s largest working model of a semisustainable agriculture.”

Without easy access to cheap chemical fertilizers and pesticides, Cuba had to start from scratch – which  meant learning to grow food the way people have grown it for thousands of years before modern civilization and the days of cheap oil. (Combined, of course, with modern research and developments which allow for the use of more advanced organic techniques and ways to utilize smaller amounts of garden space more productively.)

Currently, in Havana, organic urban gardens (or organoponicos) have become the main food source for the city (and the same is true in neighboring cities as well). Not only that, but (and I love this statistic) farmers there make approximately three times the salary of doctors! Thus the gardens are also stimulating the local economy to a great extent.

Although most Americans don’t often think of Cuba as progressive or role-model material, I think it is worth a careful look. Someday not too far in the future, we ourselves may have to take a page from Cuba’s book. As the article suggests, “One day soon oil will become too expensive to extract, making the price of oil too high to warrant using it for food production, and with that will come a collective cinching of American belts.”

Hopefully we won’t suffer through years of starvation as the Cubans did, but if we are to avoid that fate, we must start preparing now, and learn more about producing our own food and supporting local growers, before it’s too late.

Related Articles on Organic Agriculture in Cuba:

Havana harvest: Organic agriculture in Cuba’s capital | San …
On a recent visit we learned that Cuba has been raising its fruits and vegetables organically for more than 15 years, using worm and vegetable compost and integrated and natural pest management to raise crops for its people.
Publish Date: 02/27/2010 0:20
http://sfbayview.com/2010/havana-harvest-organic-agriculture-in-cuba%E2%80%99s-capital/

Cuba: An Urban Agriculture Utopia? « down the garden path
Cuba: An Urban Agriculture Utopia? Jump to Comments. Urban Agriculture in Havana. In 2009 I was lucky enough to participate in a three-week sustainable agriculture tour in Cuba organized through the University of British Columbia by a …
Publish Date: 09/02/2010 14:44
http://tgcgarden.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/cuba-an-urban-agriculture-utopia/

Organic Cuba without Fossil Fuels
Cuba’s experience has opened our eyes to agriculture without fossil fuels, a possibility rapidly turning into a necessity for mitigating climate change as world production of petroleum has also peaked. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho.
Publish Date: 01/23/2008 17:53
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OrganicCubawithoutFossilFuels.php

Cuba – An Unlikely Model for Organic Farming
Going organic is typically thought of as a choice. Farms choose to become organic; retailers decide that organic is best for their customers and their business; and consumers select the products that best fit their lifestyle. In Cuba …
Publish Date: 05/12/2010 15:01
http://blog.albertsorganics.com/?p=934

The History of Organic Vegetable Gardening

Here’s a quick history lesson for those interested in organic and sustainable gardening practices.

Read on to learn some interesting facts – I promise I won’t let it turn into a long, boring, history book!

The history of organic vegetable gardening dates back many centuries, as ancient civilizations relied on this (plus fishing or hunting) to put food on the table.

Back then, nobody used fertilizers and pesticides, but as the world increased in population, the demand for food also went up. To fill the gap, scientists discovered it was possible to introduce chemical fertilizers to cut the harvesting time, eliminate the need to let the land lie fallow to replenish itself,  grow more in a smaller amount of space, and make the vegetables bigger.

Image by cafemama via FlickrOrganic vegetable gardening made a comeback in the 1980’s, when the US department of Agriculture  encouraged small farmers by giving them incentives. This made more farmers revert to this old method of farming, both in the US and Europe.

But organic vegetable gardening is not just eliminating the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers will have to use other means to make crop grows such as compost, crop residue, crop rotation, integrated pest management and mechanical cultivation in order to preserve soil productivity and combat pests.

The  International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements is the regulator these days that tells farmers across the globe how this should be done. Their recommendations help organic crops grow on 75 million acres of land across the globe.

Their strategy is focused on sustainable development so that the land used today can maintain a healthy ecosystem, and therefore may also be used by the next generation.

Organic vegetable gardening has proven to be as effective (or almost as effective) as conventional methods. For example, one study has pointed out that the amount of corn and soybeans produced using this method was almost the same compared to those who used chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The best part is that this was achieved without using as much energy and without the risk of leaving behind harmful chemicals to enter our bodies.

It has been estimated by one university that if developing countries also practice good organic vegetable gardening techniques, they may be able to double or triple their crops without spending scarce resources on buying pesticides and fertilizers.

Because organic vegetable gardening is so easy, almost anyone can do it.  The key to a successful harvest using organic farming is planning. You will need to make sure the land you are using has adequate sunlight and an efficient drainage system, as well as a method of irrigation.

If you are able to figure that out, the only thing you have to worry about is what to plant – which can be important, as some vegetables do not well under certain conditions, climates, or soil types. Those who know what they can and cannot plant will save themselves time and money so they can focus on what works.

The history of organic vegetable gardening has now come full circle as we are once again using methods that ancient civilizations practiced long before we were born. You can do your part by planting your own organic garden, or, if you are not able to garden, supporting your local organic farmers by purchasing your groceries at your local farmer’s market or though a CSA.

The end result is that you eat healthy without worrying so much about consuming chemicals that may be harmful to your body.

Related articles on Organic Gardening:

• Growing Organic Foods the Natural Way (rawlivingfoods.typepad.com)
• Planting a cover crop this fall will make spring gardening easier (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Why Should You Eat Organically Grown Food?

Good morning, and welcome back!

We’ve talked a lot about organic and sustainable gardening. So perhaps we should review exactly why we are doing this in first place…. This is the topic of today’s post.

If you have gone to the doctor, chances are at some point he or she has told you to watch what you eat. If you have been eating the right amount of fish, meat, fruits and vegetables then you may think you have nothing to worry about. But because some of these contain harmful chemicals, many people have started switching to organically grown vegetables and other food products.

So exactly why is this a concern? Many commercially grown products, besides being Image via Wikipedia treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, have been genetically modified. Farmers have used various techniques, chemicals and fertilizers to make fruits and vegetables grow bigger, even if this may be dangerous to your health. (Or, as is the case with GM foods, we don’t exactly know the long-term effects they may have.)

No magic or anything fancy is used to make organically grown crops. You only need fertile soil, sunlight, water and some compost to make it work.

A recent study shows that following this simple plan helps vegetables have 50% more vitamins and minerals than those grown using conventional methods. If you eat them regularly, you are able to have a healthier life.

You will probably enjoy your food more too as organically grown vegetables often taste much better! This is because although fertilizers and pesticides have their advantages, they result in stripped and over-used soil. Plants subsist on the chemicals, instead of on the essential vitamins and nutrients that used to be there, so you are not getting the required daily allowance that your body needs. In short, you may think you are eating right, but in reality, your body is missing out.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in buying food from the supermarket is that the US imports a lot of vegetables from countries that use a lot of chemicals – sometimes even worse than what are used here at home. It can be difficult to regulate “organic” standards in another country, so eating local is the best way to go, if you can.

Another benefit of eating organic vegetables and food is that you help the environment, as organic farmers generally use more sustainable practices, and replenish the soil as they use it.

This even helps the community, as land which they have worked on can be planted by the next generation because the land that has been cultivated for so long is still fertile.

When you go to the supermarket, one thing you will notice is that the price of organically grown vegetables and other items are sometimes much more expensive than those conventionally grown.

Image via WikipediaShould you always buy something just because it is cheaper? In the case of food, the answer is no because you can’t put a price on the lives of those who eat it.

As more people buy organic food and support organic growers, these farmers will be able to provide more and more to local supermarkets, and thus the price of organic items will go down. (At least in theory!)

However, large-scale organic farms often don’t operate as sustainably as they should, so if at all possible, it is best to buy from local farmers, whose farms you are familiar with. Buying through a local farmer’s market or CSA is a great way to go.

Or, you can grow your own! (See previous posts, or click the link to visit our main website, for more info on how to do this.)

With a little help and encouragement, hopefully the majority of people will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of organically grown vegetables and fruits.

Keep your eye out for next week’s post, and ’til then – happy gardening!
Rose.

8 Reasons to Garden Organically

I know there’s been a lot of fuss about organic gardening lately…. Have you ever wondered, what’s it all about? What makes it so special, and isn’t organic gardening difficult? So why should you garden organically?

We will explore this a bit today….

Image via WikipediaMagnificent gardens don’t have to be pumped up by means of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to look great or give you great produce.  Think about taking your garden to the next level – organic and sustainable. Organic gardening means growing vegetables and fruits through the use of things only found in nature.

So why would one want to indulge in organic and natural gardening?

1. The first, and most important motivation to garden organically, is a health issue.  Organically produced veggies aren’t passing along chemical residues that can build up within your body.  We aren’t sure of the future effects of many chemicals, but why risk it when there’s an organic and natural alternative?

2. Organic vegetables grown in organic soil may have a larger percentage of vitamins and nutrients. Reports have shown that there is elevated vitamin C in leafy greens, potatoes, and oranges that are raised organically.

3. Gardening organically means you work with the entire cycle.  You plant the seeds, harvest the vegetables or flowers, collect the seeds, compost the rest, and begin again.  You are providing the soil with nutrients and feeding people, birds, and insects, which gives you a more intimate and fulfilling relationship with the environment around you, and humanity as a whole.

4. You can cultivate your produce to full ripeness for ample flavor.  You can find dozens of seed catalogs with organic seeds that produce superb tasting produce.  You don’t need a tomato grown  to have a tough skin designed for transport across the country.  You’re looking for a tomato that tastes good!

5. Gardening organically can entail a smaller amount of effort in the long run.  If your soil is organic and healthy, it can produce strong plants which are more resistant to diseases and pests.  Hardier plants will grow larger and cast shade over their roots which means not as much watering.  Excellent soil will retain water better which also means less watering.  More vigorous plants may even help to stifle out the weeds so you do not have to spend your valuable time weeding.

6. Organic and sustainable farming brings about less damage to the environment. Chemical fertilizers, insect killers, and weed killers can seep into our ground water supply or run off into our rivers and streams.

But we can recycle garbage through the utilization of our own compost from food and garden scraps and other wastes including straw and leaves.

Reusing these items keeps them from being burned or added to a landfill where they don’t have a possible opportunity to decay and add useful nutrients back into the soil. (See my previous post on composting for a lot more detail on this!)

Image via WikipediaAdditionally, organic farming practices help stop the loss of topsoil due to erosion. The Soil Conservation Service states that an estimated 30 – 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands each year.

7. Gardening organically can even save you money! One does not need to pay money for high priced chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. A lot of natural recipes for the control of pests and disease come right from the kitchen cupboard. Also at times other beneficial plants can be grown as companions for the main crop. One example of this is the marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables.

8. Your cooking undertakings can get extra innovative and fun! For example, some flowers are suitable for eating when you raise them organically.  Add a unique touch to a salad presentation by adding nasturtiums or even brightly colored pansies.  Your prepared dish will look like it came from a gourmet restaurant! (To find other cool cooking ideas, just check out the cooking page on our website at: http://www.newholisticliving.com/cookingfromscratch.html.)

In sum, gardening without the usage of chemicals can give you more vigorous crops and save you wasted time.  More vigorous plants can mean tastier and healthier veggies that thrive with a smaller amount of water and also have fewer pest problems.  So give organic and natural gardening a try for tastier vegetables and feel great about helping yourself as well as the world!

Questions? Comments? Feel free to post below!
Rose.

Related articles on Gardening Organically:

• What Is An Organic Garden? (hbb2obm.com)
• 5 Quick and Easy Organic Garden Tips for Beginner Gardeners (hbb2obm.com)