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Planning Your Organic Garden

Take a look at your backyard and decide where and how you will prepare and grow an organic garden.

You need to have a good water supply, preferably a slight slope to the south.

You need the sunshine, and good drainage.

I prefer a raised type arrangement that allows access from both sides without too much walking and compaction on the actual garden. This way you can keep the soil friable and easy to work.

How many blocks of garden you need is up to you. I started with one block and added more.

potato plants in a vegetable garden

The best way is to have a plan, and try to follow it and you will soon learn how to arrange companion plants, small fruit, rhubarb, and herbs. You can easily plant cut flowers in their own raised bed.

Organic Gardening Supplies

When you start your garden you will need some basic tools of the trade.

If you already have a vegetable garden then you already have the tools. In any case you don't really need much. Start with the basic shovel or spade, a fork or grape, a rake and a dutch hoe for those pesky weeds. Yes! You will have weeds. It seems like weeds will literally grow anywhere. Up through the pavement, if you let them.

There are reliable places to buy high quality tools. Don't bother with the cheap variety you will end up throwing them out. The land fills are full of cheap useless garden tools. At the same time good garden tools can and often do, last a lifetime.

Of course, you will need a wheel barrow, and eventually a garden shed. It's no use leaving your high quality tools out in the open, What a waste!

Caring For An Organic Vegetable Garden

Once you have decided on the vegetables you want, you need to care for them. Start with growing the vegetables you like best.

growing tomatoes

Many organic gardeners worry about pests. However, there are alternatives to using chemical fertilizers to remove harmful pests. Do your research to find out if there are predators that want to feast on the pests and whether it's safe to introduce these to your garden.

Beneficial bugs are also useful in creating a healthy vegetable garden. They serve as a type of organic pest control - chemicals not included.

Other types of organic pesticide and organic insecticide are made from substances that degrade quickly and do no lasting damage to the earth. These are a good choice for those hard-to-shift pests.

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