Organic Gardening And You - Lets Get Started!

Organic Gardening And You - Lets Get Started!

Gardening is not only a relaxing hobby, it is a way to ensure that the produce your family consumes is safe. With all the pesticides and bacterial outbreaks lately, growing your own vegetables and fruits is a more appetizing bet. Savory herbs and fragrant flowers can round out your garden.

Plant crops compatible with each other in order to add even more efficiency to your garden. Plant crops that take longer to mature next to faster growing varieties. You can also get ahead of the season by planting cooler climate crops in the shade of larger summer crops. Greens such as lettuce do great in the shade of a large tomato plant.

You can use items in your fridge for a safe and organic way to adjust the pH of your water. You can use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to lower your pH (a few drops at a time) or use baking soda to raise your pH (a pinch at a time checking after each adjustment).

Pick garden vegetables often and early. While immature, many types of vegetables are very tasty in their young phase. Snap peas, little summer squash, cucumbers, and budding broccoli can be picked to keep the plants in a state of reproduction for a longer period of time. This will also increase yields with a second harvest off of the same plants.

Plant your garden in stages. Put in a new vegetable every week, or plant vegetables with different maturation speeds when you do your planting. This helps prevent you from having a large harvest all at once, and will better allow you to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of your labors.

Exercise

To avoid injuring yourself while gardening, be sure to do some warm-up stretches before starting your project. Most people may not think of gardening as exercise, but injuries like pulled muscles frequently occur in the garden. You should also be sure to move around and not stay in one position for a long period of time.

Growing your own vegetable garden, whether large or small, offers many benefits. You will eat better! Fresh vegetables offer more vitamins than those which have been processed. Planting and doing upkeep on your garden will also help provide exercise which leads to better fitness. It will also save you a significant amount of money at the grocery store!

Nutrition

When youre picking vegetables from your garden, choose to harvest them when they are at the peak of ripeness for the best flavor and the most nutrition. It is best to pick vegetables and fruits in the early morning, because they are still full of moisture and nutrients. With only a few exceptions, anything that youre not going to use right away can then be preserved by chilling in the refrigerator.

To give your plant great nutrition without spending a lot of money, use leaves! Leaves are one of the best plant foods available. Try covering any exposed soil in your garden with small, shredded leaves. This will enrich the soil and will allow it to provide better nutrition to your plants.

Remember to mulch before the first freeze. Spread compost or shredded leaves around the garden, mulching under shrubs, hedges, roses, and on top of the crown of any tender perennials. A layer of compost spread on bare ground will help to protect any bulbs, corms or plant roots. By springtime, this compost will have been taken into the ground by worms, and your soil will be full of nutrition, ready for new planting.

Relax and enjoy the outdoors, while cultivating a delicious, beautiful and aromatic garden. You will love making a salad out of the vegetables you have nourished. You can also have fresh flowers everyday. Use herbs from your own garden to spice up all your favorite recipes. Plus, you wont need to worry about any chemicals being used on your food.