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Principles of Organic Vegetable Gardening
Filed Under (gardening) by Lucille Green on 31-03-2009
Increasing numbers of farmers are growing interested in organic vegetable gardening because it is cost effective and they are able to produce almost the same yield of crops. You must become familiar with the rules of organic vegetable gardening, before you try this at dwelling. Firstly, organic vegetable gardening does not use any manmade fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides. Nature provides all that you need to do this with A couple of basic contributions, water and sunshine. While these can never be made by artificial means, you have to find the perfect place for it and provide right kind of drainage facilities.
In addition to sunlight and water, plant growth can be promoted by using natures products like compost heap made from waste food, chipped portion of barks, garden compost, moulds from fallen leaves and natural fertilizer. Mix all these things together and distribute it all over your garden area.
A lot of people are scared off by animal fertilizer but you don’t have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores. Chickens are a good idea, just let them free to walk all all over your garden. Some individuals use dead animals or meat products: you just leave them for a couple of weeks in the bin because maggots will soon come out and this is what you use to help fertilize your garden.
One other helpful creature is the earthworm because it digs deep into the ground and oxygenates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface which also provides better drainage. Earthworms are also known to leave their castings all over the garden, which are rich generators of nitrogen phosphorus and potassium, you could even buy them, if you so desire. Organic vegetable gardening is tough sometimes since you have to deal with undesirable guests - some of these pests include armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. people usually use fertilizers to destroy these, but with the organic way of doing things, you merely deploy a toad who eats nearly everything. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because these are not in the toad’s diet.
It is not required that you go to the pet store to buy the toads or birds, they would become regular visitors to your garden, provided you keep the surroundings perfect for them to come. You can put up a bird house or a small pond and within days, you will have some new residents protecting your garden. Two of natures insect killers are the preying mantis and lady beetles both of who clearly demarcate their individual territories and any invasion by a foreign body soon gets destroyed.
Plants can also be used to safeguard your vegetables. For example, butterflies become history with rosemary sage or thyme and nematode worms never appear where there is a marigold plant. But despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil productive when you have an organic vegetable garden.
If you have grown one kind of vegetable this season, change it to another kind the next season, and following this, go back to the original vegetable that you started with. Come to think of it, rules of organic gardening are rather easy. Practice can, in time, make you perfect.


