Starting your own organic vegetable garden isn’t as hard as it seems. All you need is the right tools and the knowledge of organic gardening. The rewards for this are healthy foods for a healthier body.
Organic gardening is simply gardening that does not use any synthetic products such as fertilizers and pesticides. Basically, you work with nature to get what you want.
Choose The Right Organic Vegetables
When choosing to start an organic vegetable garden, you will need to know what type of vegetables are ideal for your location. This all depends on your climate, region and the season. Some vegetables such as potatoes might not grow well in the tropic region, but will do well in the temperate region. On the other hand, leafy green vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce grow well in the tropic region and not temperate region.
Seasons also play a factor as well. Organic vegetables take longer to grow before they can be harvested and this is why it’s important to know the region and season you’ll be growing them in. When purchasing vegetable seeds, there should be information on the package detailing the best season and region for growing them.
Prepare Your Area
After you’ve picked out the vegetables to grow, the next step is to prepare the area for planting. Of course, since you will be growing organic vegetables, the soil will need to be free of pesticides and other fertilizers. If your soils have these contaminants in them, it’s best to dig out about a foot of soil. Then you’ll want to replace the area with clean organic soil. Another great idea is to add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If the pH level of the soil is too high, add lime or sulfur to adjust it.
The next thing is to add organic fertilizers to the soils. You can use recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste. This will give the vegetables the needed nutrients to grow big and healthy. If you don’t have any of the above items, you can always purchase them from your local nursery garden or hardware stores.
After you have prepared the area with the correct soil and fertilizers, it’s time to start planting the seeds. Most vegetables are easy to plant. On the package for each vegetable seed there should be planting instructions on how deep to plant the seeds and the spacings required.
