Organic Vegetable Gardening Tips

How big will your organic vegetable garden spot be?

I don't know if organic vegetable gardening in your own backyard can save you money, but I do know it can improve your family's health. It will also provide you some solitude away from the hustle and bustle of the rat race at your job and getting to and from that job.

Organic vegetable gardening is great exercise and will burn off some of those pounds that we put on during the winter months. Why join a fitness club when you have one in your backyard?

It's a good idea to start with selecting the spot for your vegetable garden. Is there enough sun light? Most vegetables require a minimum of six hours of sunlight per day and some need eight. Check this out, if there is not enough sunlight your organic vegetable gardening results will be poor and you will have wasted a lot of time. If you have just moved to a new location and it is winter it is hard to determine the amount of sun that will be on a location in your yard.

How big will your organic vegetable gardening spot be? This will determine how many vegetables you can plant at one time. With follow up planting you will be amazed how much can be harvested from a small garden. I recommend starting small and growing the size of your vegetable gardening if you have never gardened before. An organic garden can be over powering the first year. Organic vegetable gardening is not some kind of mystery, but it does require work. Consider how much time and energy you can commit to gardening.

Again, if you are new to organic vegetable gardening be very selective when choosing the vegetables that you want to plant. That rare vegetable that you ate at the local restaurant may not be one you need to try. Stay with standards, maybe three tomatoes, some radishes, a few onions, lettuce, yellow squash and zucchini. All of these are fantastic fresh out of the garden.

Broccoli and cabbage are the best fresh from the garden, but unless you have the time and patients to fight the cabbage worms forget about them the first year. I am not trying to discourage you, but I have been organic vegetable gardening for many years and I still reduce the size of my garden when I feel that I won't have the time that year.

As you garden more and get the experience you will learn to plant quick sprouting fast maturing vegetables with the slow to sprout late maturing varieties. The mixing of the slow and faster growing vegetables makes full use of your available area.

When organic vegetable gardening, the preparation of the soil is the first big hurtle. This will require digging or tilling, adding lime, compost or other organic matter and if needed maybe a little top soil to mix with hard compacted clay. So much of the soil is clay, but it can be changed into a wonderful soil with enough organic matter and time.

Now you have your organic garden planted, that was not to bad. The spring rains are providing adequate water, the plants are growing, you have eaten a few onions and radishes, the tomatoes are blooming, the squash are growing, this organic vegetable gardening is really easy.

No wait, the plants are all wilting. Could it be that it hasn't rained for about two weeks? You will have to be prepared to water your garden in the dry periods. Vegetables need about and inch of water per week. I even save the water from the kitchen sink; it's not a lot but better than nothing.

The bad insects can really be a problem, but not all insects are bad. Just because you see bugs in your garden this doesn't mean you have a problem. You need to learn the difference between the good bugs and the bad bugs, because the good bugs are a blessing when you are organic vegetable gardening. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you will be able to stop the bad guys. Please don't run to the store and get a pesticide, there are ways to control pests organically, but that is in another article.

Just remember, all of the work, when organic vegetable gardening, is worth it to help yourself and the environment. Take all of the things you can't or don't eat from your vegetables put them into your compost pile and you will be on your way to that perfect organic garden next year.

Have a wonderful organic vegetable gardening year!