Organic gardeners grow healthy, high-quality food and flowers, without using any chemicals. The organic method is healthier, better for the environment and wildlife, and cheaper because you don't have to buy chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Also, one way to avoid chemical residues, such as glyphosate, on your own crops is to not use these chemical products in your garden. All of this can be achieved by working with nature, not against it. The best news is that you can become an organic gardener even if you only have a few square meters of sunlit gardens. If done right, organic gardens can be easily maintained.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Choosing a Garden Area
Step 1. Start early
You can start an organic garden project at any time by choosing a location, buying containers/pots for the container garden, plant seeds, making beds for the garden, and making compost.
Step 2. Choose a small plot of land for an organic garden
Think small, especially in the beginning. Look for an area in the garden that gets at least 6 hours of sun each day. A well-maintained 1.5x1.5 meter garden can produce enough fresh vegetables for one person to eat.
In fact, a window box or a few pots can be a beginner gardener
Step 3. Consider using the yard as a garden
Caring for a natural lawn requires hard work and a plentiful supply of fertilizer and water to keep it green (depending on the climate in your area). In addition, lawns are a difficult monoculture to maintain. At the very least, consider letting clover and other plants grow, and don't panic if you see some weeds in the grass. Consider growing plants other than grass or reducing the size of the lawn, especially in dry climates.
Step 4. Consider creating a container garden
You can grow plants in pots, boxes, or buckets on the patio. Even growing herbs in a south-facing window can be a fun activity. The result can be used to decorate your favorite dish or soup.
- Don't be discouraged if you don't have a sunny backyard or patio as you can grow parsley, mint, garlic/greens, leeks, or even small tomatoes with this method.
- A 20 liter bucket can easily be turned into a container garden by adding a layer of gravel at the bottom and making 3-4 13mm holes in the bottom of the bucket for drainage.
Part 2 of 3: Making Organic Soil
Step 1. Make a compost pile
Compost is the main ingredient for making rich organic soil. You can use almost any type of organic matter to make compost that will enrich the soil, but it's best to use what's in your garden:
- Falling leaves
- Weeds (preferably before seed production)
- grass clipping
- Old fruit and leftover vegetable pieces
- Do not use anything containing oil, fat, meat, feces, milk, or wood chips.
Step 2. Test the soil pH
For this purpose, you can purchase a pH test strip at a gardening store. Stir a handful of soil with warm distilled water until it forms a milkshake consistency, then dip a pH test strip. Soak for 20-30 seconds, then compare the results with the key on the test kit.
- Soil pH test results (acid versus alkaline) must be in the range of 5.5 to 7.0 for plants to thrive.
- If the soil is too acidic (pH below 5.5), buy dolomite or quicklime to add to the soil, then retest.
- If the soil is too alkaline (pH above 7.0), add more organic matter, such as peat moss or compost, then retest the soil.
Step 3. Make sure the soil has good drainage
Dig a hole in the garden or a 30x30 cm container. Fill the hole with water and wait 24 hours. Then, fill the hole with water again and measure how quickly the water level drops with a tape measure. The ideal speed is 5 cm per hour.
- Adding a few cups of compost or peat moss will help the soil absorb water too quickly or too slowly.
- If you want to do a less scientific test, moisten the soil and then take a handful. The soil should stick together, but crumble right away if you poke it with your finger. If the soil sticks together, but crumbles without finger pricking, add more organic matter, such as compost or peat moss, to improve drainage.
Step 4. Add organic soil from the compost pile
The key to successful organic farming is good soil. Add as much organic matter as possible to the soil. If possible, use compost. Soil that has been treated with added organic matter is perfect for gardens for many reasons:
- The soil will nourish the plants without chemical fertilizers.
- It's easier to set a shovel (and weed out) in loose soil than hard soil.
- Softer soil conditions allow plant roots to penetrate more easily and deeper.
- Allows water and air to make contact with the roots for the right amount of time. Clay can be heavy and will stay wet for a long time. Sandy soil can absorb water too quickly. Compost can overcome both conditions.
Part 3 of 3: Planting and Maintaining a Garden
Step 1. Choose plants for an organic garden
Think about your favorite plants and how often you eat them. Crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins will continue to produce throughout the year, while vegetables such as carrots and corn provide only one harvest. Buy seeds from a gardening store or farmer's market..
Make sure you buy seedlings that haven't flowered and ask if they use chemicals. To create a 100% organic garden, the plants must be free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides
Step 2. Plant the seedlings in a place with full sun
Plant the seedlings in compost-rich organic soil and place them in an area that will receive full sun: at least 6 hours a day.
Plant the seeds tightly to prevent weed growth. Companion plants can fill gaps in your vegetable garden and help you make the most of your small plot of land. Land that is planted tightly will prevent the growth of weeds between plants
Step 3. Cover the area around the plant with 5 cm thick mulch
Organic mulch, including bark, wood chips, and grass clippings, will break down over time and enrich the soil.
Meanwhile, mulch controls weeds, helps lower soil temperatures, and slows evaporation so you can reduce the frequency of watering
Step 4. Water the garden in the morning
The temperature in the morning is still cool and the evaporation rate is small, which prevents the plant from drying out.
Watering the plant in the afternoon is not recommended as it keeps the plant wet overnight thereby encouraging mold growth. As an alternative, it is better to do watering in the middle of the day
Step 5. Weed the garden every few weeks
Regularly removing weed leaves will deprive the plant of the nutrients it needs to grow. Weeds are any plant that you don't want to have in your garden and may include ornamental or productive plants that are invasive, such as ivy and min.
- Use a hoe and keep it sharp. In addition to a conventional hoe, you can try a Dutch hoe or a scuffle hoe. Dig up each area frequently to prevent weed growth.
- Weed manually to remove hard weed roots that grow back. Don't forget to manually weed around established plants, reducing the chances of uprooting the plants you want.
- Try using heat to carefully control weeds growing in crevices in the form of steam, a heat gun, boiling water, or even a small welding torch.
Step 6. Invite useful animals to come by adding seeds, compost, or flowers
Many animals can help the garden. Set conditions in the garden to attract these animals by:
- Putting seeds to attract birds
- Adding compost to the soil to attract worms
- Plant alyssum, sunflower, lemon balm, and parsley to attract beneficial insects
Tips
- You don't need a compost bin or tumbler, just pile up the organic matter and wait for it to rot. If you want to speed up the process, turn the pile back and forth occasionally to mix and introduce air.
- Organic gardening is different from conventional gardening because it doesn't rely on synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. In contrast, organic gardens rely on healthy soil, careful selection of varieties, and physical barriers (such as mulching and manual insect removal).
- Make the plant beds small enough that you can reach all the plants without stepping on them.
- Aphids (small, soft-bodied creeping insects that breed several times a year) can be removed from plants with a strong spray of water.
- You can also add leaves and grass clippings directly to the garden as mulch which prevents weed growth and can enrich the soil.
- If insects attack plants, the best way to control them is to get rid of them manually. Perform crop rotation, permaculture methods and companion crops. This system is effective at reducing pests and in some cases eradicating them completely.
- The key to controlling pests and weeds is to act quickly and prevent them from becoming a problem.
- You can use almost any organic material to make compasses that will enrich the soil, but try to avoid materials that have been treated with chemicals, such as grass clippings that have been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides.
- Use the gardening method per square meter! You can plant more with less land, you don't have to worry too much about the soil and this method also reduces weed problems.
- Try IPM or Integrated Pest Management. This is an effective way to control pests.
Warning
- Never use bark mulch. While they may look good, bark can rob the soil of nitrogen during the decay process and make it difficult for any plant to grow properly. In addition, the bark also attracts termites.
- Do not use the following materials to make compost, even if they are organic:
- Any meat, bones or fat.
- Oil or fat.
- Avoid large amounts of juicy fruits or vegetables such as tomatoes, oranges, cucumbers, melons, processed foods, and so on. If you want to use it, it's a good idea to drain or squeeze it first to get the excess water out.
- Do not use the feces of animals that eat meat, especially dogs or cats (or humans).
- If you use lead-containing paint for your home, there is a chance that lead will contaminate the soil. Lead is released by paint over the years and settles in the soil. never ever plant fruit, vegetables, herbs or fruit trees near your home if you know (or suspect) your house paint contains lead.
