Every day, more and more people are learning the benefits of organic gardens. The aim of this article is to help the would-be organic gardener get off to a great start. Continue reading to uncover a number of effective tips for growing an organic garden you can be proud of.
If you have an organic garden and children, plant some everbearing strawberries for them. Your children will enjoy being able to pick strawberries and will be ready to help you if they can get something sweet to eat.
Aspirin water will strengthen your plants against diseases. You will need 2 gallons of water and one and one half aspirin mixed together for a wonderful add-on to your plants. Spray the plants with the aspirin water to assist plants in battling disease. Spraying should be one time every three weeks.
If you’re growing plants indoors, keep your thermostat around 65 or 75 degrees daily. They need this type of warm temperature in order to grow. If there are times during the year when you would prefer not to have the temperature that high, another solution you can utilize is to purchase heat lamps for your organic plants.
To make the most of your time in the garden, you should store all of your tools and implements in a close, accessible location. Carry your tools in a bucket, or keep them in the pockets of a pair of rugged pants. Keep gloves, small pruning shears, a trowel and any other tools handy in order to increase the quickness of the work that goes into your garden.
You can cover your muddied gardening footware easily by keeping plastic bags around. This way, you won’t break momentum by fussing with your shoes, and you’ll be quickly back in the garden to finish your work.
Pine Needles
Don’t underestimate pine as a great mulch. Certain plants are acidic, and thrive in acidic soil. There is no better, or easier, way to make your acid-loving plants happy then to use pine needles you already have on your beds. Covering your plant beds with a layer of pine needles will allow the pine needles to disperse their acidic nutrients into the soil for your plants.
Coffee grounds are good for your soil. Coffee grounds have nitrogen that plants will utilize. The more nitrogen you have in the soil, the greater the growth of your plants will be, so adding grounds or compost will ensure your plants grow large very quickly.
When you want to harvest the produce in your organic garden, always have an old laundry basket to hand. Laundry baskets which have holes in them act as giant strainers for your home grown produce. If you hose off your produce in the laundry basket, the water will leave the basket through the holes in the sides.
In your compost, use green and dried plants in equal parts. Green plant material includes grass clippings, spent flowers, vegetable and fruit waste, weeds and leaves. Dry materials, like sawdust, cut up wood pieces, cardboard, straw and shredded paper are good for your compost pile. However, stay away from meats, manure from carnivores, charcoal and other potentially harmful substances.
When maintaining your organic garden, try lightly petting your seedlings — either with the palm of your hand or something like a sheet of cardboard — once or twice each day. It may sound a little odd to do this, but there is actually proven research that shows this helps the plants grow.
Treated Wood
If you are building a raised bed utilize stone, brick or wood that is untreated. If you choose wood, ensure that it has not been treated with a sealant or other chemicals. The most popular options for this type of project are cypress, locust and cedar woods. Treated wood can leach chemicals into any soil it rests against, so don’t use it in a garden with vegetables. If you have some space treated wood, you can still use it, however, be sure to line it with some type of barrier like plastic sheeting.
It just takes some time and patience to be able to grow a good organic garden. Use the tips you found here, mixed with some of your own ideas, to have a productive, environmentally friendly garden. No matter what you decide to grow, by using the above tricks you are sure to succeed.
