Organic Gardening 101 – Getting Started

Have you been thinking about starting a garden to grow your own food? In this article on organic gardening 101 I want to help you get off the couch and get your hands dirty. As you are thinking about getting started let me suggest that you get started right a go organic from the beginning.

There are many reasons to grow your food organically. The biggest reason is the health of your family. That alone should be reason enough. Would you pour chemicals on your cereal in the morning? Of course not! Then why would you want to put chemicals in the form of fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides on your green beans?

So, the question is how do you get started with organic gardening? There are a lot of things to consider. First, and maybe the most important, is the size of garden space you have to work with. Then, consider the location and how you are going to build your soil fertility.

What size is your garden?

It really does not matter how much area you have. I have known of people who garden in an apartment window. So, you have not excuse, just pick your area and let’s get going.

For our purpose here we will say you have some space in your yard that you can put a small garden. I recommend you start out small and grow as your garden does. Gardening is a learning process just like anything else.

Where will you locate your garden?

A garden has to have sun. The amount of sun that reaches your plot throughout the will determine how well your garden grows. You can grow vegetables in varying amounts of light, but results will vary too. So, try to pick an area that has full sun for best results.

It is best to stay out of low areas where water will collect. If plants constantly have their feet wet they do not do well. We can work with a location like this, but it is a little more difficult, and not near as much fun.

Building soil fertility

Since we are not using a bag of chemical fertilizer we need to find an alternative. If your goal is the same as mine, to raise the best tasting, most healthy food, then I suggest you go totally with compost as your veggie food.

Using compost means you must maintain a compost pile. That is really not as difficult as it may sound. In fact, building a compost pile can be a project of its own.

You make compost out of stuff you normally want to get rid of, so making compost can actually save you money. A compost pile should be made from a combination of green stuff and dry stuff.

The green stuff can be grass clippings, weeds from the garden, house hold scraps, etc. The dry stuff can be leaves from your, or the neighbors, trees, a bale of straw, etc. Compost is everywhere. Once you get started you will be amazed at what you can compost, newspaper, cardboard, and even tree limbs will compost over time.

If you follow the advice in organic gardening 101 you will soon be dining on your own very tasty, and more importantly, healthy vegetables that you grew with your own hands. So, get out there, pick your spot, lay out your very own garden area and build that compost pile.

To help you easily raise your own organic vegetables for your table you can get free gardening tips by clicking here. For more information check out http://solutionsfororganicgardening.com.