If you’re looking to keep your garden organic, we’ve got some tips for you! Your yard is filled with potential food sources and materials that are easily accessible. You can use them in your garden or learn how to turn them into other usable products. From harvesting vegetables from a backyard farm to making homemade compost out of kitchen scraps, there’s plenty you can do at home without the need for expensive store-bought products. Many people are trying to go organic/natural in their lives, but many don’t know how to start. This blog post will give you ten tips on how to keep your garden organic, and it’s easy! For more tips and ideas about gardens, visit ghclark.com.
- Add compost to your soil: Composting is a way to take waste that would typically be thrown away and turn it into something useful. There are many different types of compost bins available on the market nowadays:
- Compost as a fertilizer: Man-Made fertilizers can benefit your garden, but they can also be dangerous for the environment. They are usually made with chemicals that accumulate in the soil and possibly leach into groundwater when it rains. You should use natural fertilizers from around your home instead of manufactured ones. The most common natural fertilizer is manure. Manures are brown and smell terrible, but they do wonders for your soil. Manure is made from generations of animals, so it has many nutrients that can benefit your garden.
- Use compost natural pest repellents: You can even place them into a hole in the ground. Just make sure to keep your garden beds well-watered. The roots will break down much faster if you don’t water them too often, and it’ll help give more nutrients to your plants.
- Use mulch as compost when possible: If you use a composting bin or pile, you must turn it and mix the materials every few months. However, it helps the process along and speeds up decomposition so you can get back to soil faster. In addition, mulch protects the soil around your plants from getting too hot in the sun or too wet and helps the plants stay alive during cold winter months by retaining heat. It also keeps weeds away by blocking out sunlight that would otherwise encourage them to grow. You’ll be surprised how the right soil and care allows for proper gardening in cold places, even in extreme winters.
- Use natural, organic fertilizers: You can make your growing medium from things like coffee grounds and eggshells. It is a great way to make materials that aren’t typically used for anything else and recycle them into something useful. All you have to do is put these materials in a container or bag, add water, and let them soak for about a week. Once the materials are soaked, you can add them to your soil and give it an extra boost of nutrients. It is like feeding your plants a nutrient-rich meal, and they’ll love it!
- Eliminate chemical pesticides: Plant flowers that attract bees and other pollinators like lavender, clover, and sunflowers by using natural methods such as ladybugs or wasps instead. It will help improve your garden’s health by encouraging the growth of beneficial insects like ladybugs, wasps, and others. These insects will eat the pests that try to chow down on your veggies. You can encourage beneficial insects in the garden by planting herbs or flowers – like dill, fennel, yarrow, borage, mints, and many others – that attract them. Then, you brush the flowers off (or clip) and put them right into your salad.
- Reinstate variety: Choose a variety of organic vegetables to avoid getting bored with the same farm produce every week. Avoid planting crops near other plants with the same vulnerabilities, such as tomatoes next to potatoes. Instead, choose plants naturally resistant to pests and diseases, like lavender, to attract butterflies. It may be worth investing in your garden by purchasing gardening equipment, such as a sturdy spade. You can make your pest repellent by using peppermint and catnip around your vegetable garden.
- Use mulch and straw: Get rid of weeds by mulching them with newspaper or hay. It’s tempting to reach for the chemicals when you have a garden infested with weeds. But, if you put down a thick layer of newspaper or hay around the base of your plants, you can get rid of most of them by just mulching them right into the soil. Once your mulch, the weeds won’t be able to poke their heads up through the newspaper or hay. As soon as they die, they’ll just become one with your garden! If you don’t have newspaper or grass, you can try pulling them out of the ground. Just take a spade and get rid of as many as possible before they set seed. If you have a garden bed that doesn’t have any weeds in it, then throw down some mulch to keep new ones from growing.
- Vegetables for your kitchen: Grow vegetables in raised beds, not on the ground. It will help keep away from ground crawlers and produce infestation. Plant flowers near your vegetable gardens because insects are attracted to them. Insects are attracted to the flower scent and will stay away from your veggies. Remove spent plants at the end of the season to prevent diseases from spreading. If a plant is infected or dead, you must immediately remove it from the vicinity of other plants as infestation passes from one plant to another.
- Air circulation: Make sure your gardenandgrass has plenty of space for air circulation so nothing will rot in the heat. One of the most vital components of a garden is also one of the most overlooked: fresh air. The plants need to breathe just as much as you do, and if they don’t get enough oxygen circulation in your backyard garden, there will be a lot fewer nutrients for them to grow. If you’re using raised beds or a unique soil mixture, did you know that certain ingredients can break down into toxic gases? The best thing to do is have air circulation in your backyard garden, so these poisonous gases are let out. If you don’t have enough wind, consider getting a fan or even a vital light source such as the sun, providing warmth for the plants and extra energy.
- Create a barrier between your garden and any neighboring yards with different growing practices by erecting a fence or trellis.
With the above tips for gardening and growing your organic garden, you will be cultivating your produce for your family and kitchen. Not only are many store-bought items destructive for you, but they’re expensive as well. On the other hand, gardening is a great family activity and source of nutrition – so take some time to enjoy your family outdoors!
