Growing your own organic food in your backyard is an easy and affordable way to reduce your family’s exposure to pesticides and chemicals. It also lets you learn about where your food comes from and how it’s grown.
There are many things you can do to ensure that your garden stays healthy, including choosing the right planting location and applying a good mulch. The key is to keep your soil rich and well-drained, which will help your plants grow and thrive.
Planting
Growing your own organic food is one of the best things you can do for your family and the environment. It will save you money, improve your health, and give you a great feeling of accomplishment.
In the modern age of smog and climate change, it’s important to support locally produced foods. The transportation cost of transporting produce from the farm to the supermarket is a huge drain on gas usage and emissions.
In addition, planting organic soil amendments like compost and green manure will make your garden healthier and give you a bigger harvest. The nutrient content of organic fruits and vegetables is also higher than their chemically treated counterparts.
Soil
Soil is the natural medium that supports rooted plants in a wide range of climates and environments. It provides plants with nutrients, enables water to move freely and stores it for future use.
Soils vary greatly in their chemical and physical properties. Processes such as leaching, weathering and microbial activity create a variety of soil types.
The physical properties of a soil, which include texture, structure, density and water retention, are determined by the proportions of inorganic particles such as sand, silt or clay. Sand is the largest of these particles and feels gritty when rubbed between your fingers, while silt is smaller and has less chemical activity.
Watering
Watering is one of the most important aspects of growing organic food. Not only does it keep your plants from wilting, but it also helps to carry nutrients throughout the soil for optimal growth.
Using drip irrigation is a good way to control your garden’s watering needs. This method focuses on watering only the roots of your plants, so that they are getting the right amount of moisture.
The benefits of an organic garden are immense, from improving the environment and decreasing the chance of accelerated disease in your family to mental and physical benefits, long-term money-savings and increased vitamin and mineral content in the soil among others. It’s a great investment that will pay off in delicious, fresh food for your family and friends to enjoy.
Pruning
Pruning is the process of removing unwanted plant parts, such as leaves, branches or buds. It is important to prune your garden regularly in order to keep it healthy and thriving.
It is also necessary to remove dead limbs and overgrowth that can potentially be dangerous, such as hanging over a house or growing on power lines.
The right pruning technique can encourage flower and fruit development, create a more pleasing shape, direct branches away from obstacles and, in the case of fruit trees, make them easier to harvest.
Trees should be pruned during the late dormant season to remove dead or damaged limbs and reduce their risk of insect, disease, animal or storm damage. However, it is recommended that spring-flowering shrubs that bloom on old wood (growth from the previous year) not be pruned until after they have finished blooming to ensure that their flowers will produce next spring.
Harvesting
When you grow your own organic food in your backyard, you’re not just saving money, but also enjoying healthier produce that is richer in vitamins and minerals. Plus, growing your own organic garden also helps teach children where their food comes from and can help them learn to care for the environment.
When it’s time to harvest, a key organic garden practice is crop rotation. This means moving different plant types to different areas of the garden each year to prevent pests and diseases from building up and overwintering in the soil.
A few other important organic gardening practices include using manure or composted compost for fertilization and removing diseased leaves and stems to keep the garden healthy. Additionally, incorporating beneficial insects into your garden will limit insect damage to your crops.