What is Organic Gardening? Prelude to Workshop

Tomato seedlings for a home organic garden

Preparations are in full swing for our first Home Grown Organics Workshop to be held  in 4 days time.   As the excitement builds I thought it will be useful to discuss what Organic Gardening is and what it isn't.

Organic gardening is not:-

• Using Roundup to get rid of the grass in the garden bed, then buying seeds or seedlings from your neighborhood agricultural shop and just planting them. 
• Having a random fruit or vegetable plant grow effortlessly in your yard.  If you don't know where it originated you can't really say it is organic.  It might have come from GMO see.  Genetic modification is used in large-scale farming to have crops develop particular desired traits, produce insecticides in their tissues or to be immune to particular herbicides.  While this may sound like a great idea, the real concern for those against GMOs is that the process of gene splicing introduces to one species genes from an entirely different species, something that would never happen in nature as their reproductive organs don't match.
• Spraying synthetic pesticides or fertilizer only when the plants are young and treating them as though they are organic afterwards.  

Nutrient-dense, organic soil

Organic gardening is:-

• Growing plants for human and/or animal consumption using natural, organic fertilisers, and natural means of controlling weeds and pests.
• Using organic or heirloom seeds to start seedlings fore the garden.
• Ensuring the soil you cultivate has not had synthetic chemicals applied to it for at least 7 years; in the US this time frame has been reduced to 3 years.  This includes avoiding sewerage sludge, irradiation (read more) and conserving wetlands,woodlands and wildlife.

Challenges

Care must also be taken to ensure that neighbouring yards do not use the chemicals and seeds that you avoid; imagine that you are downwind from a garden to which synthetic chemicals are being applied and understand that the your plants and soil will be affected by this.  GMO seeds can also reach your garden by travelling on the wind.

The Home Grown Organic Garden

For the organic home gardener the emphasis is on developing practices that nurture the ecosystem which in turn sustains and nourishes the plants, microbes and beneficial insects.

It all begins with improving the soil by adding organic matter.  This is done by mixing compost into the soil to increase its water and nutrient retention. This introduces microbes into the soil that are essential for healthy plant growth.  Compost can be made from grass clippings, leaves, organic yard debris and kitchen scraps.  

Pest control is achieved by such means as companion planting or natural concoctions such as cayenne or garlic spray.  Click here are a couple of tips to try out.

To learn actual Organic Gardening methods, register for our workshop to be held in St. Joseph, Sunday November 20, 2016.  Find out more.