Organic Gardening Tips

How to garden organically


You are here: Home / Blog

If huge amounts of pesticides were used in my yard?

by

Will it every be a good place for gardening vegtables and fruit. I want to do organic gardening. How would I do this without contaiminating my crop? Small home consumpson only.

The people before me used pestisides I know because they left them in the garage. The house was built in 1952.

Please serious answers only. I know this can be done.

How do I protect new soil I import and new plants?
I did not write down what they were before I sent them to hazardous waste. I would imagine just weed killers and anything goes because they were old. It could have been things outlawed now.
Sorry about being rude about the serious answers part. I just am tired of getting rude answers. I will take answers that are suggestions.
I have been here for 5 years and have applied no chemicals. I do not need organic certification because this is for my own consumption. I just need to know it is safe.
I prefer to use marigolds to keep pests away or other natural methods.
It is nice to know the yard can recover. It is desert land, so It has not received much water, but I guess I could till it and water it and till and mix some good soil in and fertilize.

Has the garden space been not used for a long time? If so most of the pestisides have most likely all been washed away..If not you will have to till up very good and test the soil for what is in it.. they have very simple test to do at most garden stores. then add what is needed to your soil. and start it all over.. tilling and watering is the best way to build your soil back up to the best quality.
At peat moss and your compost and till in this fall and it will be ready for you new fresh garden for the following years. I don't use pestisides on my garden either.
My new garden for this year will need some work before next years planting too since it was tilled for the first time in 10 years this year.. need to get mine tilled atleast 8 to 10 inches deep this fall for better crops next year.. I will be spreading old chicken house straw on the garden this fall and tilling it in , in the spring time tilling.. I use rabbit poop for fertilizer you can use it all year long because it is one fresh poo that won't burn your plants.
do your soil test first and find out what you need for soil improvements.. then you should be fine.. You can always have fresh soil moved in..from somewhere else that is clean..







What vegetables can I grow in not so good soil?

by

I've got this spot in my vegie patch that has been neglected somewhat. It hasn't been worked as much as the rest, has less organic matter in it etc. I've put my rhubarb there, which is doing ok there. What vegetables could I grow there?

Not tomatoes. They are very heavy feeders. You would end up adding to and turning the soil more than it sounds like your willing to do. You sound like you want the easy way out so grow cucumbers there. 96% water, dont take a ton of care, just steady moisture. Or…….collard greens. You couldnt kill em if you tried.

How do you plan and grow an organic vegetable and herb garden?

by

I want to have my very own organic vegetable and herb garden for my family and my consumption. Please share with me how to do so. Thank you in advance.

To get a good organic garden going takes years of soil building. start small as a big garden will get overwhelming come the hot part of summer. I would say a garden no bigger than 10 feet by 20 feet the first growing season.

Now is the time to start garden prep by choosing where you want the garden and opening up the sod. smothering the area where you will have the garden is a good first step or you can plow the sod open and till it in next spring. plowing is a lot more effective than tilling for killing grass.

You will also need some tools. Get a couple of hoes, my favourite is the shuffle or stirrup hoe. You can find these at any box store. they are lighter and easier to use than the standard concrete hoe most people think of when they think about hoes. You will also need a wheel barrow or garden cart, a potato fork (looks somewhat like a pitch fork but fatter), a shovel, a spade, a couple of trowels.

You will need seeds. My favourite place to get seeds is Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. http://johnnysseeds.com
Start with easy things to grow and pay attention to the fact not everything grows in every season. Lettuce for example is best planted in the spring, it likes cool damp conditions. Tomatoes and peppers like it hot. A good seed catalogue will tell you such information. You will likely want to use seedlings for a lot of things such as tomatoes. Do not buy these at places like Wal-Mart. Go to a local nursery and tell them you are just starting out and you will get a lot of advice. One caveat, most nurseries (and box stores) are NOT organic and do not know much about organic growing so ignore all advice to use chemicals. But you will find healthier seedlings at most local places than box stores.

Good luck

Soil amendment question?

by

Yesterday I dug a 2 foot by 8 foot patch in my backyard that I plan to use for a small veggie/herb garden. The soil is in reasonably good condition and looks to be sandy and clayey. I plan to add some organic material from my compost heap when it produces some more hummus.

Other than that, is there anything else I need to do with the soil to ready it for planting? I don't plan to plant anything fancy, just some basil, rosemary, mint, oregano, tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries and a few other things. I'm just concerned because I've never gardened before.

The spot I've picked gets lots of sun 10-plus hours a day. I plan to start small and add on if my first fruits are successful. Any tips on knowing when the soil is ready to plant?
Someone has said my garden isn't big enough. I can make the garden as large as I like. I just have to get the mattock out of the shed and start pounding away. Unfortunately, that doesn't answer my question as to what to do with the soil.

Jeff,byren is right you will need a little more room to grow what you want.do a soil ph test .till in the compost and use a mulch to keep down the weeds and hold moisture in the soil .good luck and green side up !!

Know Your Roots — Stone Ridge Apple Orchard

by

When is a non-organic apple better than an organic one? When that non-organic apple is grown on a local farm that practices sustainable agriculture. In this video we head to Stone Ridge Orchard, located in the Hudson River Valley two hours north of New Your City, to see how they are using progressive ecological farming methods to produce apples that are good tasting, good for the land, and good for your health. We learn that sustainable farming can’t always be pesticide free, but can use natural ecosystems and pests like aphids to reduce pesticide use and promote land stewardship. And we get an introduction to Stone Ridge’s ‘Know Your Roots’ philosophy, which acknowledges that every farm is different, and that organic food is more than a label on your produce. Check out these apples’ roots. You’ll never look at a Granny Smith the same way again.

Duration : 0:5:12

[Read more…]

Meta

Connect With Us