PLANNING AN ORGANIC GARDEN

Before you grow organic crops you will need to plan ahead. What sort of soil do you have? How much space for growing crops do you have? How many crops can you grow at a time? What can you grow in your area and where should you plant it? What crops can be grown together? How will you rotate the crops? What kind of fertilizer should you use and when should you use it.

Read some organic books, alternative life style magazines > one comes to mind – EARTH GARDEN , They can help with advice on seed planting, seasons when to plant, any of the above issues. You don’t have to be a hippy to read the alternate life style books or magazines, they give handy ideas or clues.

PLANNING AN ORGANIC GARDEN

Organic crop growers, unlike commercial growers, feed their soil not their plants. Healthy soil is alive and breathing. It supports micro-organisms along with other creatures like earthworms. All these things maintain a balance that keeps the soil healthy and able to produce good crops.

We need earthworms and good bacteria to maintain the quality of the soil but many chemical fertilisers kill them. This makes the use of natural, well balanced, fertilisers essential. Two other ways to ensure healthy soil and good crops are land resting and crop rotation. If you have the space it would be ideal to mark out five sections of land as “plots” for your vegetable garden.

Land Resting

One portion of your land should be allowed to “rest” each year for at least a full year. This allows the land to recover from feeding hungry crops and renew itself ready for the next crop. Change/shift your beds, biennially.

Container Growing

If you are/will be container growing, You will need to replace the media(potting soil) at the end of the life of the plant, or say for rhubarb, change the soil every two years. Wash and rinse the container well.