Traditional Gardening Vs. Organic Gardening

With more and more news articles popping up about the problems with pesticides contaminating our fruits and vegetables, more people are turning to organic gardening to provide them with safe food for their families. But what is the difference between organic gardening and traditional gardening and does it make a difference? What do you need to do to proudly declare your produce to be organic and know that it is safe to eat? Read on for a comparison between organic gardening and traditional gardening and see which technique you want to use this spring in your home garden!

The first major difference you will find between organic gardening and traditional gardening is the use of fertilizer, a must for either garden. Fertilizer provides needed nutrients and vitamins for your plants and must be provided in either case - but obviously if you want a truly organic garden you cannot use the bagged chemicals from your local store! Instead consider creating a compost pile for yourself in one corner of the yard, recycling your own fruit and vegetable remains (but NO meat!) in a special compost shed that will need to be maintained regularly - but it will provide a robust and healthy addition to your organic gardening. Many gardening stores and websites offer cheap and effective compost sheds that will teach you how to fill it with organic leftovers from your own kitchen and to maintain it to the point of producing a rich and healthy fertilizer for your garden without any added cost, other than the initial setup of the compost heap!

If you do not want to go through the trouble of creating and maintaining a compost heap on your own, there are special bagged fertilizers on the market that classify themselves as being organic and able to provide the best and healthiest material for your plants to prosper. Another possible source for your fertilizer may be manure obtained from a local source - many small zoos pride themselves on bagging and selling the product left over from their animals, using it to generate a profit for their operation. While this option may be less than kind on the nose and eyes it will be a great source of vitamins and nutrients for your organic gardening venture; much more than you would get using traditional gardening methods of grabbing a bag of chemicals and dumping it on your garden!

Another cheap option, if not free, is to venture over to your local coffee shop and see what they are doing with their used coffee grounds. Many big chains are now offering their used coffee grounds and filters (usually from recycled paper) for free to customers who wish to use them either in a compost heap or as direct application to their organic gardening areas. Again, a much better and wholesome way to nourish your plants than the traditional gardening way and probably a whole lot cheaper!

But how do you deal with the inevitable bugs and pests that are going to attack your garden? After all, in traditional gardening the method is simple - deluge your plants with pesticide that will kill off the tomato bugs and other varmints that will mar and disfigure your crop. What can organic gardening offer that will do the job and get the same results?

It may seem strange to the novice, but organic gardening doesn't set out to kill the pests and bugs that are going to be attracted to your crop. Instead organic gardening uses a variety of techniques to help cut down on the damage or even try to divert the hungry little critters elsewhere. This means, however, that you will have fruits and vegetables that will not be as clean and shiny as those produced by traditional gardening - but they will be healthier and more robust due to the lack of pesticides!

Organic gardening accepts that some crops will be lost to the bugs but also takes the initiative in fighting back not through pesticides like traditional gardening but through planting companion crops that will either be a diversion for the particular bug heading for your prized plant or discourage them through a particular scent or otherwise making your garden less of a target. Planting unique flowers or plants that attract the enemies of the bugs that would destroy your crops is also an option, creating a negative experience for any pests heading for your garden.

True, these are not easy solutions and someone familiar with traditional gardening would find it easier to just spray pesticide over the whole garden and be done with it. But the amount of time and effort put into organic gardening can not only result in a finer, healthier crop of fruits and vegetables, but also save you money in the long run by recycling your own garbage and allowing you to spend more time in the garden, increasing your health on a personal level!

Traditional gardening has really only been around for a few decades; the concept of using pesticides and fertilizer filled with chemicals a new idea that has been explored and exploited thoroughly by corporations and individuals who have now discovered problems with the results. Organic gardening, while more labor-intensive, has been proven to produce better and healthier fruits and vegetables. As well, the recycling aspect and the encouragement of local ecosystems will help to maintain a healthy environment in your area. Why not consider shifting from traditional gardening to organic gardening this year and see what a difference it makes?