How To Grow An Organic Garden As A Part Of A Healthy Lifestyle

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One of the smartest things you can do for you and your diet is to start an organic garden. Consider your garden an investment of your time and hard work. This may make you wonder how you can begin to grow your personal organic garden.

Create a space perfect for any perennial garden with this easy method. All you need to do is use a garden spade to slice under the turf, flip it over, then spread wood chips over the area about three to four inches deep. Give the area a couple of weeks, then dig into it and plant your new perennials.

After your seeds begin to sprout, it is not as important to keep them warm. After growth begins, you can remove plants from any excessive heat sources. You must also take away plastic films from your containers in order to keep the warmth and humidity out. Check on your seeds often so you catch them when they are ready.

TIP! Keep your gardening tools close by to maximize gardening efficiency. You should use a large pail and wear sturdy pants that have several pockets.

Flower Beds

Use several inches of organic materials for mulch in your flower beds. By doing this, you can lock in moisture, discourage weed growth, and nourish your plants. By adding mulch, you can give your flower beds a finished appearance.

Pine needles should not be overlooked as a great source for mulch. Some garden plants have a high acidity, and prefer acidic soil. When you have plants like this, nothing is easier than to gather pine needles for your beds. Covering your plant beds with a layer of pine needles will allow the pine needles to disperse their acidic nutrients into the soil for your plants.

TIP! You need to avoid chores in your organic garden stacking up. No matter what your schedule is like, you should be able to fit in small things that will help you avoid having an overwhelming amount of work all at once.

Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds can benefit many types of soil. Plants can use the nitrogenous nutrients found in coffee grounds. The coffee grounds act as a powerful nitrogen source that will help your plants bloom much quicker.

Killing weeds the natural way? A good thick layer of newspaper can be laid down to control weeds. Weeds require sunlight to grow. By covering them with a layer of newspaper, you are essentially suffocating the weeds due to a lack of light. Newspapers easily break down over a period of time, and eventually become a portion of the compost. To improve the appearance of newspaper, simply spread a bit of mulch over it.

TIP! When it is time to gather your produce, you should use an older laundry basket. The laundry basket will function as a makeshift strainer for the fruits and vegetables.

A great tip when running your own organic garden, is to lightly ruffle your seedlings with your hand or cardboard, around once or twice per day. This may sound strange, but research has proven that doing this will help your plants grow bigger than if they were not petted at all.

Try using a beer trap to naturally eradicate slugs from your organic garden. Start by burying a wide-mouth jar in the soil, ensuring that the rim of the jar is just at the soil’s surface. Fill the jar with beer about an inch lower than the top. Slugs are attracted to the beer and become trapped in the container.

Treated Wood

TIP! In your compost, use green and dried plants in equal parts. Green plant material can include old flowers, fruit waste, grass clippings, vegetable waste, and leaves.

Brick, stone or untreated wood is great for building raised beds. If you choose to use wood, see to it that it’s untreated and that it can resist rotting. Several species of trees yield suitable wood. Locust, cypress, and cedar are among the more commonly used rot resitent woods. In order to avoid toxic substances from getting into the ground and perhaps into your vegetables, avoid using treated wood to enclose or demarcate different sections of your vegetable garden. If you have to use treated wood, you should line it with a bit of plastic to create a barrier.

Soil health can be improved by adding mulch. Protection is provided by placing the layer of mulch upon the soil. Mulch will keep the soil at an ideal temperature and protect the roots. Evaporation will be reduced and the soil will remain moist for longer when you water. This also helps all the weeds you have stay under control, relieving stress from your shoulders.

Too much water may hurt plants since extra water can keep roots from getting the nutrients they need from the soil. Before watering your plants outdoors, check to see if there is rain in the forecast. Depending on what the weather is going to be like, you might not want to water your plants for the day.

TIP! Consider solving your weed problem without the use of toxic chemicals. To control the growth of weeds, all you need is last week’s Sunday paper.

Annually rotate your garden layout or plan. When you continuously plant some plants from the same family in the same area every year, disease and fungus is encouraged in these areas. Fungus and disease may stay in the soil and then affect your plants the next growing season. Moving the plants to different areas will prevent these invaders from growing on your plants.

It’s time to plant some organic garlic. You can place garlic cloves directly into the moist, fertile soil during spring or autumn months. Plant them two inches into the soil with the ends up, and leave four inches between each clove. The green shoots can be used as they grow. Use them in place of scallions or chives. Each bulb can be harvested when the top has begun to brown. You should dry them outside in a sunny spot for a couple of days to harden the skin. You can go ahead and store them in a cooler area, and you can either keep them loose or tie them up.

Check the roots of your plants. After planting tomatoes, for example, you must closely monitor the soil for the first signs of green shoots. Don’t get attached–these hints of green are hiding an underdeveloped root system below the surface of the soil. The first start remains attached to the developing seedlings for many weeks. Until these sneaky starts fall away, the plant will not grow.

TIP! A rule of thumb for when you are planting seeds in containers is to make the hole depth around three times larger than the seed itself. It is important to note though, that not all seeds are covered to this depth, as some need direct sunlight to grow properly.

Organic gardening is not rocket science, but it does some require some forethought and planning. Research and information will help you get started. You are also aware now that dedication and consistency will go a long way toward success. If you use the advice in this article, you will soon see great results from your organic garden.