When we stop to look at the quality of what we buy in the way of vegetables and herbs, from the big supermarkets, it’s not hard to see the benefits of organic gardening and why this type of gardening is becoming more and more popular.
In essence organic gardening is a process that promotes and enhances biodiversity, natural biological cycles and soil biological actives that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.
In normal English organic gardening is gardening that uses mother nature as an assistant. The main areas are feeding the soil through decaying organic matter which is found around the home, garden and using natural cycles and predators for disease and pest control.
This type of gardening does not happen by accident it’s a kind of natural approach to growing things. It’s about understanding soil management, pest control and the life cycles of plants.
This may sound complicated but like many things, if you learn the basics the rest will fall into place and a lot is just common sense. By using these approaches you will be able to cut down and even in some cases stop using fertilisers and pesticides that you would normally use in the garden.
By growing things organically you will actually improve the quality of your garden by increasing the number of beneficial organisms which in turn will help with better soil management.
One of the main benefits of organic gardening has to be the money that you can save. Growing your own produce will drastically reduce you grocery bill. This will obviously depend on the amount you grow but even starting off small you will be saving money.
It also has proven health benefits. The food you grow will taste better and it will be far more beneficial for you in the long run.
This is what the Organic Consumer Association has to say: Fruits and veggies grown organically show significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods, according to a new study of corn, strawberries and marion berries. The research suggests that pesticides and herbicides actually stop the production of phenolic chemicals that act as a plant’s natural defence and also happen to be good for our health. Fertilizers, however, seem to boost the levels of anti-cancer compounds.
Let me give you an example: if an aphid is eating a leaf the plant produces phenolic chemicals to defend itself. These natural safeguards decrease with the use of pesticides and herbicides. When pesticides are used the total amount of antioxidants that the plant produces are greatly reduced, these are the very same antioxidants that our body uses to assist in the fight against illness and disease.
By synthetically protecting the produce from these pests, we decrease their need to produce antioxidants.
Another benefit with organically grown vegetables and fruits is that they are rich in the minerals and vitamins that our body needs to fight infections and diseases. For a lot of people our hectic lifestyle dictates what we eat and when we eat it and this never benefits us in the long term.
The benefits of organic gardening far out way the physical aspects and the physical aspect is also a benefit as you will be burning off calories. For a great resource on how to get started in organic gardening visit http://www.organicgardeningadvice.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mik
HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS IS A GROWING EXPERIENCE
Home gardening is not just a hobby these days. The fact that the economy in most places isn’t in a great position means we need to either make more money or find ways to save money and home gardening is one way.
Take the time to learn a home gardening tips for beginners like my wife and I have done over the past few years and you can not only save money on the grocery bills but you can also start saving seeds from your vegetable garden, even if your veggie garden is a container garden like our first few were.
Tomatoes are the perfect vegetable/fruit to grow for beginner gardeners. Especially if you happen to love tomatoes as much as our family does. We eat tomatoes with everything, pretty much. Even with breakfast if I have eggs and bacon. Not so much if I have cereal but definitely with lunch and dinner.
During the summer months we have a variety of tomatoes growing that we use however we grow enough to make preserves we can use all year long.
Some of the tomatoes we enjoy eating and growing are:
BeefStake Tomatoes for the dinner plate and hamburgers.
Cherry Tomatoes go well in salads and I love cutting them in half and sprinkling them through the salads.
Romana Tomatoes are perfect for Jenny’s spaghetti sauce. We love spaghetti and eat it at least twice a week.
Those are just a few of the tomatoes we enjoy and grow. It seems that each year we are adding just one more type of tomato to our vegetable garden.
When we first started our home garden as beginners we didn’t get everything right but that’s why it’s so great to have access to the Internet and an unlimited supply of home gardeners willing to share their gardening tips with beginners, like we still are in so many ways.
The important thing to remember when vegetable gardening, whether in containers or in-ground, is to start small and slow so you don’t become overwhelmed with all the things you should know.
Home Vegetable Gardening Tips For Beginners
There are a few things about vegetable gardening you need to know and you will do a whole lot better than if you didn’t know.
1. Prepare the soil.
The soil needs to be prepared to grow vegetables whether you’re going to start with container gardening or right in your backyard.
This means you want soil that is healthy, something that wasn’t in our yard. We had to add some compost but good top soil will work fine. We even added some peatmoss to loosen the clay type soil we have. Today, after a couple of years of growing and ammending the soil I can did up my vegetable garden with a table spoon. The first year our garden soil was like concrete and took all my energy to break it for a garden bed.
2. Give Your Garden Lots of Direct Sunlight
This is where I made my first mistake as a beginner gardener. I put the vegetable garden where I could see it from my home office which was great for me but not so good for the veggies. They just didn’t get enough direct sun for long enough each day to produce really well. Glad I started with a very small garden.
We moved our garden the following year, to the south and sunniest side of our yard during the summer months. Our vegetable garden the follow year was twice the garden with no more work, just lots of direct sunlight.
3. Water Your Vegetable Garden
Your home vegetable garden is going to need water. The hotter it gets that more water your veggies will want and the better they will produce.
Note: If you are starting your vegetable garden as a container garden, using big pots, you need to watch how you water them. You can actually drown your plants if you don’t have proper drainage. At the same time they can dry out really fast in pots so you may have to find a way to irrigate them if no one is home during the day.
Having a home vegetable garden is a great way for beginner gardeners to save money, gain a new hobby and even to eat healthier products, if you don’t use pesticides. So be sure you go green. You body and taste buds will thank you.
James loves gardening, even though he was in his late 40s before starting he now has a home gardening tips blog where he shares the tips he has learned which help his family feed themselves. To learn more about home gardening and vegetable gardening stop by http://backyardgardeningtips.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Mann