Organic Vegetable Garden Basics

February 20th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

It doesn?t take a rocket scientist to plant vegetables. But if you want to do this the old fashioned way which has been proven to be very effective, you should know the organic vegetable gardening basics.

The first thing you have to know is what is organic vegetable gardening? It is simply a way of farming that does not use any synthetic products which includes fertilizers and pesticides. In short, you work with nature to get what you want.

When choosing the right vegetable to plant is knowing which of these are suitable to the soil and the climate. If you live in an area that experiences droughts, buy those that do not consume that much water.

Before you drop seeds into the soil, make sure the land is ready by tilling the land so it is clear both of rocks and weeds.

The next step will be to add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If the pH level of the soil is too high, add lime or sulphur to adjust it.

One more thing you have to do before planting the seeds is putting in organic fertilizer. You can use recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste which should be applied a month before planting begins.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Organic Gardening, keep reading.

Then it is time to plant the seeds. Each seed must be spaced by a certain distance the roots do not fight for water. In between each of the vegetables, you can plant other things as well because the tighter the space, the lesser the chances that weeds will grow.

Pests are the biggest threat to your organic garden. To fight them, you can use birds, frogs or other insects. You don?t have these creatures to fend off other insects. You simply have to create the ideal environment by putting a bird house or a small pond. Once they are in place, they will do the rest by patrolling your garden and eating those who seek to eat your crops.

Putting up a few barriers can also help. Row covers are known to prevent moths from landing and laying eggs. You can also use sticky traps and foil collars to stop pests and borers.

There are also organic pesticides around but some of them can only kill one or two kinds of pests. So before you buy them, make sure you know what you are dealing with.

Crop rotation is the best way to preserve the fertility of the soil. This is done after you harvest the vegetables so it is ready for planting once again. For this to work, you have to plant in the same area a different vegetable.

Anyone can learn organic vegetable gardening basics and soon have their own little farm in their backyard. It is fresh and you can pick this anytime you want which is very convenient as these are only a few feet from your home.

Should everyone get into organic vegetable gardening? Perhaps because there is a food shortage right now and most of the vegetables imported do not use this technique. The government for its part has given incentives to farmers here to shift to this method but its going to take more effort to persuade countries that do business with the US to do the same thing.

Knowing enough about Organic Gardening to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you’ve just learned about Organic Gardening, you should have nothing to worry about.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his soon to be top ranked Perpetual20 training site: Perpetual 20


The Main Antagonist of Your Organic Gardening Venture

February 13th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

When you’re learning about something new, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

Yes, you are helping nature by doing organic gardening. But nature has a bigger scope than soil, plants, sunlight, water and air. There may be good insects that will be beneficial for your organic garden. But there are certain pests that you have to be vigilant about in order to get rid of them while you still can.

If you are only starting on this hobby or business, however you’d like to put it, you may be wondering about the pests. How are you going to be able to get rid of them without turning to synthetic pesticides. The short and quick answer is that you buy an organic one. There are actually many brands that are available commercially. You just have to ask around what are the types that will work best in your location and with the kinds of greens that you are growing on your garden.

But before you start choosing the right pesticide, you must be fully aware what the problem really is. To do this, you must inspect your garden thoroughly. Take down notes. You can also take pictures if you are not so sure about the kind of pests that are pooling on your garden.

Then you can go to the store and detail to an expert the problems that you are having. This way, you will be given a brand that will best fit and solve the problems that you have on your garden.

The other way that you can do so that you won’t have to turn to pesticides, even the organic type, is to do things manually. Yes, this is harder. But just consider this as a challenge that you need to overcome to help yourself become an expert.

If you find yourself confused by what you’ve read to this point, don’t despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.

If the plants are infested by unnecessary pests, what could be the problem? One root of the problem could be the plants themselves. They may be depressed or stressed. What have you done to them? This type of gardening means that you are to take things personally. You are being one with nature. So this succeed on this, you’ve got to take things seriously.

What makes a plant depressed? You may not be spending enough time with it. It may sound weird, but talking to your plants or singing to them may help you with the whole process. Throughout your gardening trek, you should be able to familiarize yourself with all the plants in your garden. You have to know how to make your plants healthy, happy and productive.

If you have to pick out the pests manually, then do it. This can be done as long as there are only few that can be found on your garden. You must only resort to the pesticides once the situation becomes uncontrollable.

You can also add some insects and animals that will help you kill the pests. This way, you are still staying in touched with nature and helping in the process of food chain. For example, a lady bug would eat up an aphid banquet. Frogs and lizards can also help you sort your problems with these pests.

Above everything else, whatever problem you may encounter in organic gardening, just think about nature. How are you going to solve things that you will still be able to help nature and be one with it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his soon to be top ranked Perpetual20 training site: Perpetual 20


Watering of Your Vegetable Organic Garden

February 12th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

Ninety-five percent of the structure of the plant is composed of water. Almost all of the processes of the plant involves water, and this is why watering is one of the more important aspects of effective gardening for your vegetables’ organic garden. Together with light and carbon dioxide, water helps accelerate the necessary processes needed in effective care of your plants.

With vegetables, you cannot afford to go wrong since this will provide nourishment to both animals and humans alike. Water also acts a supplementary source aside from rainfall.

An irrigation system is necessary to provide the required amount of water in your garden. The natural sources of water, namely, precipitation and underground water systems, are not often sufficient for the plants. Most of the time, human intervention is required to ensure that the plants will reach their maximum potential. The frequency of your watering is proportional to the average amount of rainfall that falls on the area under which your garden lies.

The type of soil also affects the quality of plants’ water retention. The soils made of clay are usually lauded for its excellent ability to hold water in, but sometimes it goes overboard, so caution is required. Sandy sieves require more assistance as they tend to slide off the water being placed on it. The addition of organic matter such as a composting mix also helps improve the ability to hold water.

The more authentic information about Organic Gardening you know, the more likely people are to consider you a Organic Gardening expert. Read on for even more Organic Gardening facts that you can share.

There are also other external factors affecting the nature of watering in your garden. During cold weather, the plants can easily drown in water and wilt. On the other hand, the plants require more water when there is a surplus of sunlight or humidity levels. The factors of wind and air movement can also move the water from the plants. Also, the type of plant can affect the capacity to hold water. More mature plants may find it more difficult to retain water than the younger counterparts.

When watering the plants, make sure that you are able to soak the soil thoroughly before doing anything else. Another thing to consider is observing the plants at different times of day. Usually, plants look more wilted at night time, but this is natural and won’t usually require excessive watering. The balance is usually obtained the following day. But if you see the plant wilted during daytime, it is best to soak it with water to avoid it from wilting completely.

Often, vegetables picked from well-watered plants last longer than their less watered counterparts. Unless you are growing a cactus, water need not be used sparingly. There are various ways to water your plants: by a sprinkler that is manually controlled or automated, by hose or other means. Often, the sprinkler is the most famous form of watering tool. Proper scheduling of the frequency of your water sprinklers’ operations will also ensure that your plants will be consistently watered at different times of day.

It is also recommended that uniform distribution of water be maintained in order to ensure that all the plants in your vegetables’ organic garden are well-cared for. Despite the need for frequent watering, also bear in mind that there is also a need to conserve water, so make sure that there are no leaks whatsoever beyond what your organic garden needs.

So now you know a little bit about Organic Gardening. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author
At Madonna Concert Tickets we sell Madonna tickets and all event tickets worldwide. Use our seating maps to pinpoint where you will be. This will quickly help you decide which concert tickets fit your budget and seating preference so that you can determine the best VALUE for your ticketing dollar.
About the Author
By Madonna Concert Tickets, feel free to visit our Madonna Concert Tickets site: Madonna Concert Tickets


Helping Nature through Organic Gardening

February 12th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

When you’re learning about something new, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

If you are pondering about organic gardening, keep doing so. Not many people are like you who think of such causes for the benefit of nature. Nature may be smiling at you now. With the advent of all the problems with the world around us, specifically the global warming, such simple steps to ease the bigger problem is already a big leap to be carried out.

This will take a lot of hard work. So you better be prepared for it. Once you are already into the process, take time to familiarize yourself. Do not give up just because of a minor problem. Just think of it like nature is testing you how big your love for it is. So prove it worth your tears and fears regarding this type of gardening.

What makes this hard? Unlike the ordinary kind of gardening, going organic will remove from you the freedom to use just about anything that is commercially available as long as it will help you with your venture. No way. You cannot use synthetic materials on this one. Everything must be organic. It must come from nature itself. You must have done it using elements that can be found on the ground. Or you can also buy those available in the market as long as they claim to be organic.

By going organic, you’ll be able to help nature replenish its resources. Yes, you get from it all the materials that you will be needing for this task. You will get the dried leaves, the sawdust, some vegetable peels and other materials from the ground. This is also your way of cleaning your surroundings. But such materials can be used as elements in compost.

The best time to learn about Organic Gardening is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Organic Gardening experience while it’s still free.

You can actually do your own compost by going over some books on how this can be done. You can also turn to someone who is successful with this type of gardening and ask that person for tips and tricks. You can use the result of that compost as fertilizers on your garden.

Finding a guru may serve a lot of purpose as you go along in this type of gardening. It doesn’t matter if you will just be doing so as a hobby or you will turn it into a business. So start asking around and look for that person who can further mentor you in the trade of doing the stuff that surrounds such method of gardening.

By having the aid of an expert, especially if you are only beginning on this task, you will be better at helping nature. You will know what type of plants you can grow in what type of soil. You will have a clearer view as to how the elements of the ground can contribute to the success of your project. You will know what to do in cases of trouble with regards to the growth of your plants or the emergence of pests on your garden.

Nature will really love you for the way you will only utilize organic materials for the purpose of growing green things on your garden. And you will benefit a lot in the process of organic gardening. You will be able to become a guru of this type of task. You will be able to produce organic sources of food.

And you can also turn this into a business venture once you have mastered the art and you are already harvesting more than enough.

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you’ll be glad you took the time to learn more about Organic Gardening.

About the Author
At Madonna Concert Tickets we sell Madonna tickets and all event tickets worldwide. Use our seating maps to pinpoint where you will be. This will quickly help you decide which concert tickets fit your budget and seating preference so that you can determine the best VALUE for your ticketing dollar.
About the Author
By Madonna Concert Tickets, feel free to visit our Madonna Concert Tickets site: Madonna Concert Tickets


Tips for Organic Vegetable Gardening

February 1st, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.

Organic vegetable gardening is easy. But to help you, here are some tips you should know.

The most important thing to do is to decide what you want to grow. There are so many vegetables to choose from but keep in mind that certain vegetables cannot be grown because of the climate so take that into consideration as well.

So you want have a hard time taking care of it, choose those that are well adapted to the soil, temperature, sun and shade exposure.

If you live in an area where droughts are frequent, make sure you are planting drought resistant vegetables since it does not eat up that much water and can withstand dry weather.

You should determine how much space you have. This will make it easy for you to plot on a sheet of paper the layout of how you want your vegetables to grow.

You should mulch your vegetables with organic material. This can be made from food waste, dead leaves or grass and manure. This helps conserve water, adds humus and nutrients as well as discourage weeds from growing.

The best part is that you don?t have to dig deep to put these in because 85% of the vegetable?s roots are found in the top 6 inches of soil.

So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Organic Gardening. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.

Aside from compost, you can also use natural fertilizers and organic material to help the vegetables grow. They also encourage native earthworms that are nature?s tillers and soil conditioners.

The biggest threat that could destroy your vegetables are pests. To get rid of them, you should use other insects, birds, frogs. If your crops though have been infected, spray infected stems and leaves with dilute soapy water and then clear water that is very effective.

If you decide to buy vegetables that are grown instead of using seedlings, most of these come in plastic containers. Be careful when you remove them so you avoid tearing the outside roots especially if these have grown solidly inside the container.

When planting vegetables, don?t stick with just one but plant many different kinds because this invites insects to take up resident in your yard.

Believe it or not, only 2 percent of the insects in the world are harmful. This means the rest are beneficial. Some examples of these include ladybugs, fireflies, green lacewings, praying mantis, spiders and wasps since they eat insects that try to eat your vegetables. Another thing they do is pollinate the plants and decompose organic matter.

Don?t forget to remove weeds that come out in your garden. You can pull these out by hand or spot spray it with a full strength of household vinegar. Best of all, it is safe for the environment.

Practice crop rotation. This will make sure that the soil is always fertile. When planting the new vegetable, avoid regular deep cultivation as this will damage the roots, dry out the soil, disturb healthy soil organisms and bring weeds to the surface that will soon germinate.

If you follow these tips, you will surely be able to have a successful organic vegetable garden. You can plant and harvest them all year round so you don?t have to buy these goods anymore from the supermarket. That is assuming of course you have a huge parcel of land to work with.

So now you know a little bit about Organic Gardening. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO


The Principles of Organic Vegetable Gardening

January 30th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

So what is Organic Gardening really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Organic Gardening–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

More farmers are getting into organic vegetable gardening because it is cost effective and they are able to produce almost the same yield of crops. You to can do this at home but first, you have to understand the principles of organic vegetable gardening.

First, organic vegetable gardening does not use any fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides. Nature is your partner here because you will be using two things to make it all work namely sunlight and water. We don?t produce these ourselves but you have to find the ideal area and provide adequate drainage.

Aside from sunlight and water, you can help the crops grow by using compost heap from leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure. You can mix these all together and then spread this throughout your garden.

A lot of people are grossed about by manure. You don?t have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores. If you have a dog, put on some gloves and put it there. Chickens are also great to have. Just let them roam around in the garden.

Some people use dead animals or meat products. You don?t put these in the soil but leave it for a couple of weeks in the bin because maggots will soon appear and this is what you use to help fertilize your garden.

Another helpful creature is the earthworm because it digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface which also provides better drainage. This long pink colored creature also leaves casting behind that experts say is five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. Again, this can be purchased from the gardening store.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

Organic garden is challenging since you have to deal with unwanted guests. Some of these pests include armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. Before, people used fertilizer to kill them but in an organic setting, the best weapon is the toad that is known to eat more almost every type of insect. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because this is not in the toad?s diet.

In some cases, you don?t have to buy a toad or a bird from the pet store. They may come in to your home as long as you set the ideal environment for them. You can put up a bird house or a small pond. Within days, you will have some new occupants protecting your garden.

Other insect killers which you can get to do the job include the preying mantis and the ladybug because they mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain.

Plants can also be used to protect your vegetables. For example, the rosemary, sage or thyme is an effective deterrent against butterflies. Marigolds on the other hand are effective against nematodes.

But despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile. If you planted this kind of vegetable for this season, change it with another and the return to the first after this one is harvested.

The principles behind organic gardening are very simple. You just have to be practice it so you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.

Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Organic Gardening. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, now offering the host then profit baby plan for only $1 over at Host Then Profit


Feeding the Soil ? One Vital Aspect of Organic Gardening

January 27th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

There is an important aspect of organic gardening that you can very well relate to. Imagine this. You are hungry. You haven’t been fed. You haven’t taken a bath. You haven’t pampered yourself. You’ve spent so much time working and taking care of others, but you haven’t tended yourself for your own good.

How would you feel? For a time being, you may be able to accept the fact. You may still tire yourself out without asking for anything in return. But as the days go by, you will feel the negative effects of the situation. You will no longer have the kind of energy that you used to. Your body will deteriorate until it can no longer function for the things that it used to do.

How is this related to the organic method of gardening? You can actually compare this to the state of the soil. Soil is a very important aspect in this type and all the other kinds of gardening. This is the base of everything. This will be the bed, or the house of your plants. You must choose the right one in the first place.

Depending on your location, the soils that you may acquire vary on such factor. You should base the decision in picking out the plants on the types of soils that are available in your area. Once you have picked the right kind, you are now on you way to the first steps of your gardening venture using the organic method.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

Relating to the sample above, the soil must never be left untended. It must never go hungry. Or else, what happened to the example may also happen to the soil. You have to feed the soil. You have to bathe it. And you have to take care of it just like how you tend to yourself or to the plants situated on your garden.

You may know from your grade school days that the soil needs water, sunlight and air. But you are doing everything organically now. Does it carry out any differences? Yes, a lot. Although you still have to feed your soil and the plants on it enough sunlight, water and air, you have to add something else. You’ve got to have organic matters placed on the soil.

Have you ever heard of composting? This is the process where you culminate decaying matters like leaves, grasses, peelings of fruits or vegetables, even manures and fish heads to act as your soil’s fertilizer. This is organic remember? You cannot resort to anything synthetic. This is one proof that this process entails a lot of hard work than you can ever imagine.

Not only are you going to feed the soil, you also have to attend to it regularly. Mulching is like massaging the soil to keep its shape. This way, you will be able to get rid of the pests that your soil has gotten through the days or months, however long you have been gardening.

This will actually help you prevent acquiring bigger problems. There are many types of soils that need certain care and attention. For example, clay can hold up water better than the sandy kind. You have to know those kind of details to be able to improve on your organic gardening venture.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO


Growth Control for Efficient Gardening of Vegetables

January 26th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

Are you looking for some inside information on Organic Gardening? Here’s an up-to-date report from Organic Gardening experts who should know.

A good garden aficionado must know that cultivation or weeding is effective for growth control. Weeds are your garden’s most persistent and cloying enemy. You need to be able to know how to handle weeds in order to foster growth control for your organic garden. If you let weeds take over, they will completely obliterate your capacity to yield a rich number of vegetables.

They are the number one stealer of nutrients, sunlight and revenue for farmers, so the earlier you try to eliminate them, the better will it be for your gardening. This can eat up your time to such extremes at certain seasons, but monitoring weeds and eliminating them is definitely worth your time and effort.

Weeds are usually much harder to remove when they have matured. So it might require you a keen observing eye to really check out and inspect your garden for the earliest appearances of these culprits. Cultivating your soil regularly in the garden will help eliminate the younger weeds. Once you let those young weeds take hold and be firmly established in the garden, it will become a more herculean task to try to remove them from your garden.

Seasons also affect the appearance of weeds. Warm-season and cool-season weeds proliferate at different times of the year, and it will be your advantage to recognize which weeds are in season so you can more easily expect them in your garden and prepare your anti-weed arsenal more effectively. Some of the weed seeds may also lie in your garden, so make sure that you are able to cultivate your soil properly to remove them as well.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Organic Gardening. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

Make sure that your ground remains filled up with the good stuff. If you leave any portion idle or bare, the weeds are more likely to secure that area for their growth. If you are unable to fill the entire area with plant outgrowths, at least have a good cover to keep the weeds from invading your plant territory.

In the case where weeds have already grown when you discovered them, chopping them off from the ground is the most efficient way to remove them. Some of these weeds may cease to be removed, and will not stop even when you cut them down. But repetitive cutting down of those weeds will help eliminate them for good after some time.

The use of herbicides and pesticides is also advised, but it is not entirely necessary when you are able to do good cultivation of your land. The pesticides and herbicides, especially the commercially available ones, may prove to have other harmful effects. It may also pose as a threat to other useful organisms living in your garden. In any case, when you are presented with a huge weed problem, you may use herbicides and pesticides but only sparingly.

Mulching and composting are also good ways to help maintain the soil and ward off the weeds. Ultimately, you will not have to encounter huge problems in weed management if from the start, you are able to keep them from thriving in your garden in the first place.

If you are really consistent in digging up your space, you will have made the most out of your vegetables’ garden and have exercised true growth control against weeds that can steal, kill and destroy your organic garden.

So now you know a little bit about Organic Gardening. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO


Organic Vegetable Gardening Information

January 23rd, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

Organic vegetable gardening is making a comeback. This is because people are more health conscious about the food they eat and in some places, there is already a food shortage so some have decided to plant and grow these on their own. To help you get started, here is some organic vegetable gardening information.

Organic vegetable gardening does not use fertilizers and chemicals which can be harmful to humans. It also does not use genetic engineering or irradiation. Instead, it uses simple farming techniques like tilling the land, giving it enough water and sufficient exposure from the sun.

When harvesting is finished, something new is planted which is better known as crop rotation that helps keep the soil fertile.

Growing organic vegetables is not something that only farmers can do. This can be done by homeowners since they can plan some of these in their own backyard.

The first thing that you have to do is choose what kind of vegetables you want to grow. You also have to understand how big these can grow so it will be easy to plot how many can be placed per row.

The next step is to check the condition of the soil. There are kits you can buy from the store to check its fertility. If the soil is good, then you can start by clearing it of rocks and weeds by mowing, pulling or digging them out.

You should then add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. You can also add lime or sulphur to adjust the soil?s pH level only if you have to.

The information about Organic Gardening presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Organic Gardening or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

It will also be a good idea to till or dig in fertilizers using organic matter. This must at least be an inch of sharp sand if the soil you have is made of clay and then you rake the soil into beds and rows. You should leave it be for at least a month before you start planting.

Don?t forget to use organic mulch to blanket the garden. You can use ground bark for that since it will decompose over a season or two.

You can also use a compost file made out of recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste since these serve as a good fertilizer.

The organic vegetable garden will grow but it will be always under threat from weeds and insects. For that, you have to use other animals and insects to fight these pests. You don?t have to buy them because setting the ideal conditions will invite them in to your home.

As for the weeds, you can get rid of them by pulling them out or spraying home made vinegar as this stops them growing. If you plant thickly enough, you will be able to discourage weeds from growing in between the plants.

Planting your own organic vegetable garden isn?t that bad given that the only ones who will be consuming what is planted are those that live in the household. But it?s going to be a bed of roses from the time you till the land to the time that they will be harvested.

The advantage of working on a small spaced is that you can easily inspect the whole area so nothing is left behind.

About the Author
Feel free to visit this top ranked affiliate site: credit with


Sustainable Organic Vegetable Gardening With Organic Matter

January 9th, 2012 by Anders Eriksson

Sustainable organic vegetable gardening can only happen if people know how to use and prepare organic matter.

This is because it improves the soil and prevents it from compacting and crusting. It increases the water?s holding ability so earthworms and other microorganisms can aerate the soil and it slows down erosion and in later stages of decay so that organic matter is able to release nitrogen and other nutrients which help the crops grow.

Such a technique is old but is now making a come back because the conventional method of using synthetic materials like fertilizer and pesticides have ruined the soil and depleted it or organic matter so this cannot be used for replanting.

So where do we get this organic matter? Believe it or not, the best form of organic matter comes from animal manure. The fresher the better because you can apply this directly to the soil but this should only be done in the fall and plowed down to give it adequate time for sufficient breakdown and ammonia to release before the planting season begins.

If you don?t have access to fresh animal manure, you can use the dried version that is being sold in nurseries and garden stores.

For those who don?t to use manure, you can use compost instead. This can be made from lawn clippings, leaves, food waste and other plant materials. It is cheap but its nutrient content is very low.

There is another kind of manure better known as green manure You don?t use any waste by animals here but rather growing a cover crop in your garden and then plowing it under so you are adding organic matter to the soil. The best way to maximize this is for you not to use the garden for one season.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

You can also seed the green manure in the fall and then turn it under with a plow or a large tiller in the early spring. That way, you can use your garden normally while at the same time building up the soil.

Annual ryegrass is a good example for green manuring and covering. THIs should be seeded 1 to 2 feet per 1,000 square feet. If this is not available, you can use seed rye or wheat and place it 3 to 4 feet per 1,000 square feet. This helps prevent weeds from growing and in order for this to be effective, wait at least 2 weeks before you start planting.

Sewage sludge is also a good source of organic matter. There are two types namely digested sludge and dried activated sludge.

The first is relatively low quality. It contains from 1 to 3 percent of nitrogen and should only be applied during the fall. But you should be careful when you use it because it sometimes contain metal ions that are not good to use on vegetable gardens.

The second which is the dried activated sludge has been separated from coarse solids, inoculated with microorganisms and aerated. This is better than the other one because it is filtered, dried in kilns and screened. It contains 5 to 6 percent of nitrogen and 5 to 7 pounds can cover an area of 100 square feet.

Take note that these two types are different from raw sewage. That being said, never use that to garden any soil.

Sustainable organic vegetable gardening can only happen with organic matter. Now that you know this, choose from manure, compost or sludge.

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you’ll be glad you took the time to learn more about Organic Gardening.