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Here are a couple of thoughts regarding organic gardening:
Organic Chemical Free Gardening
Every year, thousand of chemicals are poured into the environment and millions of gallons of water are needlessly wasted. How? By growing plants. Sure, most of this is done by large agricultural producers, but some of it is still done in personal gardens. And that means that you can make a difference by changing your gardening practices. There are many agricultural producers who have done it, and you can use the same tricks to help your own garden, and the planet.
Pick appropriate plants. Not all plants are appropriate for the area you live in. While you might be able to control the temperature, humidity, and rain conditions inside your house, you can’t do it out in the garden. If you pick appropriate plants for your area, you may be able to avoid using fertilizers and saving on water too. Research, what plants are native to your surrounding areas and try planting them in your own garden. Wildflowers, are just that, they can pretty much be left alone and will thrive in most areas.
Pick natural repelling plants. You don’t need to rely on poisons to keep away garden ruining pests. Many plants produce chemicals that repel these animals naturally. By putting them in or around you garden, you can keep your garden safe with little effort and no chemicals. Plus, you can pick parts of these plants and use them to make products to keep them away from you too.
If you don’t want to plant natural repellents in your garden, you can use them to spray your plants without harming them or adding artificial chemicals to your garden. Many herbs like hot pepper, vanilla, and lavender can help repel insects from your garden.
Pull weeds. We’re all looking for a quick and easy way to safely get rid of weeds without chemicals, but the good old fashioned way is still very effective. It you take time every day to pull the weeds you can find, you’ll only take a few minutes so it doesn’t seem like a lot of work. You can even get the kids involved, just be sure to do it properly so you don’t spread the seeds around. There are even some common weeds that are edible, just make sure there are no pesticides that could have gotten on them.
Crop rotation. Farmers all over the world use crop rotation to naturally fertilize plants. The concept is to change what crop you’re putting in a certain field each year. Plants use different nutrients and put other nutrients back into the soil. If you rotate crops that replace the nutrients the other plants use, you will have to fertilize the soil less.
You can use this same concept in your garden by planting different plants every year, or just rotating where you put specific plants in the garden.
So, you’ve made all these changes and are using a low-water, chemical free garden? Well, you still haven’t done the most important thing: pass it on! One garden can make a dent, but more can make a bigger difference. Tell your friends, teach your kids, you can even visit their school and teach your kids friends! Every little bit helps make a better world.
There is nothing more quaint than the preface to an old gardening book. F.F. Rockwell’s introduction to his Home Vegetable Gardening is no exception. Even the title is lovely:
HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING
A COMPLETE AND PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE PLANTING AND CARE OF ALL VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND BERRIES WORTH GROWING FOR HOME USE
Here’s the preface:
With some, the home vegetable garden is a hobby; with others, especially in these days of high prices, a great help. There are many in both classes whose experience in gardening has been restricted within very narrow bounds, and whose present spare time for gardening
is limited. It is as “first aid” to such persons, who want to do practical, efficient gardening, and do it with the least possible fuss and loss of time, that this book is written. In his own experience the author has found that garden books, while seldom lacking in information, often do not present it in the clearest possible way. It has been his aim to make the present volume first of all practical, and in addition to that, though comprehensive, yet simple and concise. If it helps to make the way of the home gardener more clear and definite, its purpose will have been accomplished.
Update (April 2009): We are in full swing in terms of a financial crisis and saving money is the topic of the day. I couldn’t help but notice the reference in the above passage to “these days of high prices”. Wow!
As part of our excerpting old gardening books, we’re proud to start a series of posts featuring Home Vegetable Gardening: A Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use by F. F. Rockwell, 1911.
We really love reading this book and we’re sure you will too. Written in 1911, it is still relevant today while being of historical interest.
Here is the very quaint cover:
I love growing in my backyard garden zucchini or summer squash as some people call it. BTW, I seldom spell zucchini and didn’t realized it was spelled that way. I kept typing zuchinni and zuchini. Anyway, I’ve got about a dozen nice zucchini plants going in my garden vegetable bed and each one had about 6 or 8 beautiful flowers on them. I was so proud. Read the rest of this entry »