Source: Natural News |
How to plant organic garden in 6 simple steps |
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It is time to start thinking about the spring garden.
Let your garden this year be the best you have ever planted!
The world is becoming the increasingly unsafe place to live.
Soon you might need your own sources of food and herbs planted in your garden.
Organic gardening does not support the use of chemicals for artificially achieving faster plant growth and protection from insects.
It is based on natural principles of gardening, which have been used for thousands of years.
Permaculture organic gardening goes a step further, highlighting the need for sustainable cultivation of plants, functioning according to the natural environment.
Permaculture gardening is becoming increasingly popular. More and more people accept this inexpensive and relatively easy way of growing their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.
1. Choosing a location
Observe your property at different times of day.
Consider which areas receive most sun, and which are in shade for most of the day.
Depending on where you live, if sunshine is a scarce commodity, you will want to expose plants to receive as much light as possible.
On the other hand, in desert regions you will want to plant them in places protected by a shade.
Also think about protecting your plants from strong winds if they tend to blow through your property.
Even a small property has its microclimates -- notice these and plant accordingly to give different plants either more sun or more shade according to their preference.
2. Selecting plants
Avoid disease-prone varieties of plants which require much spraying and pruning by the gardener.
Select plants which will thrive in your area rather than those which will require extra labor on your part to protect them from the environment.
As far as possible, select plants which serve multiple purposes, such as fruit trees which will put forth blossoms in one season, fruit to pick in another, and provide shade for when you want to sit and enjoy your garden's natural beauty.
Native plants are more likely to attract local pollinators such as bees and to draw butterflies, to make your garden even more beautiful.
3. Making home for your plants
Raised beds require less physical effort on the part of the gardener and also benefit plants, providing better air circulation, more protection from spring chills and improved usage of water.
Raised beds also make a small permaculture garden an option even for apartment dwellers and others with little available space, since you can rely on containers and vertical gardening principles.
4. Feeding your plants
One of the key concepts of permaculture organic gardening is to avoid waste.
Having a garden gives you means for re-using natural waste such as eggshells, apple cores, coffee grinds as well as yard waste which many people throw away.
You can either purchase or make a compost bin to turn this organic material into gardening gold, which can be used to help your plants grow.
5. Watering your plants
Modern gardeners who do not follow sustainability principles tend to rely heavily on piped-in water resources, often using hoses and sprinklers to grow plants which require abundant water grow in a desert climate.
Permaculture organic gardening tries to use natural water as much as possible, maximizing the use of groundwater and rainwater. Rain barrels allow you to collect rainfall and extend its use over longer periods of time.
6. Protecting your plants from pests
Refusing to use chemicals does not have to mean a garden full of pests. You can use companion gardening principles, growing plants which deter pests near those which attract them.
There is also a natural synergy between some plants - which means planting them near each other increases your yield. Also, just as some herbs have a medicinal effect on human health, they also offer benefits to plants which grow near them.
Do you have ideas how to plant an organic garden? Share them with us in the comments.
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