Photo: Sunset
Here are a five quick tips for organic vegetable gardening, and some beautiful photos to inspire you to grow organic meals.
1. Location. Plant on the south side of your property. Vegetables need a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight.
2. Create a raised bed or plant in containers so you can insure good soil. Learn more about testing and building organic garden soil, here.
3. If you’re using containers, like me, keep in mind some plants do better than others in pots. Check out Sunset’s guide to the best crops for pots, here. Sunset is a really great resource. You can learn to build a raised bed, care for you garden and find a hundred recipes for your home-grown tomatoes – all on one site.
Photo: Martha Stewart
4. Plant companion plants that deter pests and/or attract beneficial bugs. Onions, basil, chives repel pests. Nectar rich flowers (such as sunflowers) attract ladybugs, ground beetles and lacewings which eat the bugs that can destroy plants.
5. Tend your garden.
- Mulch (to prevent weeds)
- Weed (do it early and be sure to pull out the roots)
- Control pests (organically, of course)
- Water (too little is better than too much)
- Harvest (before fruit is overripe which attracts pests)
Start growing your organic vegetable garden over the long weekend and let us know how it’s going. Share your organic gardening tips or seasonal recipes, too.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! The photos of your tomatoes is outstanding! What color! It would be nice to have a list of the ones that did so well for you… One favorite that did superb for us this year was ‘Black Krim’ – big, juicy, great texture and dramatic purple/green top with a burgandy bottom to the fruit. Give it a try next year!
I love the use of your pictures, i’ve just started adding pictures to my posts and it really brightens things up. The tips are great too, i think organic pest control is something that puts people off organic vegetable gardening but with the right advice it can be alot easier than people think.
organic gardening is the thing that we do, we do not like artificial chemicals on our backyatd vegetable farm**,
Much obliged for giving us some savvy ideas on this topic. I have discovered a good variety of reliable suggestions about gardening and some poor suggestions. Do you have any more honest suggestions or places on the Web that I can find more detailed suggestions? This would be quite appreciated! So, keep up the good work!
Should the pest-deterring plants be planted on the perimeter of the garden or should you mix them in with the rest of the veggies?
On a different but similar note, we’ve always planted marigolds around the garden to deter the bunnies, but last year my neighbor told me that he had a little marigold patch by his birdbath and he found a nest of bunnies (momma and babies) right under it! LOL! Not wasting my time or money or part of my garden space with them anymore!
These are all good tips that I implement in my own organic garden. Two things I REALLY love is mulching and companion planting. Another good companion plant is Borage as it deters hornworms and attracts bees.
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