Organic Gardening Tips: Vegetable Gardening

I work hard to make sure I grow a completely organic garden. You can do the same. Organic gardening is a lot easier then people think. You don't need all sorts of chemicals to make your garden grow.

I always like to start my garden with a nice base of compost on top of the soil in my back yard. I compost all year round to ensure that I have enough compost to cover 1/2 inch of my garden when it is time to plant. I recommend starting a compost bin in your backyard if you have not done so already. You can buy a comp-oster online at sites such as composters.com or you can make your own composter (which I do) buy using materials you already have around your home. I use excess chicken wire and wrapped it around a few posts for a quick easy compost bin that I can easily access to turn the matter.

Once you have your compost set up it's time to get planting. Most of us are not lucky enough to be able to go outside in late april and put seeds in the ground. You may need to start the some of seeds inside. Seeds you should consider starting inside include tomato plants, pepper plants, cucumber plants, and gourds. You can wait on seeds for produce such as carrots, radishes, green beans, and turnips.I like to mix some regular potting soil in with some compost and plant my seeds around mid April. I use materials I already have around the house to plant my seeds. One of my favorites to use are recycled bottoms of water bottles or recycled bottoms of milk cartons.

For the seeds I usually use seeds from plants that I had grown the previous year. If you are just beginning you will want to look for seeds from a reputable source that have not been genetically enhanced. Two of my favorite sources for organic seeds are Seeds of Change and Organic Seeds.

I usually let my seeds sprout for at least a month before planting them in my garden. When I finally do plant the sprouts in my garden I make sure that I dig a hole for them that is twice the size of the pot I sprouted the seeds in. Of course since I am always using varing size sprouting pots this hole is always varying. I like to place a little compost in the bottom of the hole I am transplanting the sprout in.

For those plants such as carrots or green beans that can handle a shorter growing season I like to take that extra month or two while the other seeds are sprouting and give a little extra attention to the soil that they will be growing in. I go to my garden and trench out the area that I plan on growing my seeds in. I then put some compost that has not fully composted or even some fresh material that is ready for composting such as vegetable and fruit peels, egg shells, and I might even through in some newspaper. I like to rake through the compost every week until it is time to plant. I place the seeds on top of the matter and put some fresh dirt on top, about half an inch. The roots of your vegetables will love growing in the freshly created compost and produce glorious vegetables for you.

Once I have all of my sprouts in the ground I give the whole garden a good sprinkling and wait for the magic to happen.