ivillage

Successful vegetable gardens are not accidental. They are the results of planning, constant care, and the will to make things grow. Among the many things a vegetable garden may offer toward a satisfying experience are fresh air, exercise, sunshine, knowledge, supplemental income, mental therapy, and fresh food, rich in vitamins and minerals, harvested at the best stage of maturity.

Organic gardening differs from "conventional" gardening mainly in the areas of fertilization and pest control. The organic gardener prefers to use natural and organic materials and methods, and avoids using practices and synthetic chemicals that may be detrimental to his health or environment.

Some Early Plans
Consider the size of your family and the amount of produce to be canned, frozen, stored or sold, as well as that used fresh. Don't underestimate the work involved in organic gardening.

Choosing a Location
Select a plot of good, well-drained soil near a water supply. It should be close to the home for convenience, but should not be shaded by tall buildings or trees. Enclosing the garden spot with a fence is usually profitable.

The Garden Design
Many gardeners find it helpful to draw out on paper the location of each row and the crop or succession of crops to be planted.

How Is the Compost Pile Made?
The compost pile is made of convenient size, usually not less that 10 feet square (100 square feet) and 3 to 5 feet high. The top should be left flat or with a slight depression in the center to catch rain or added water. Too much water eliminates air and slows the decay process.

One way suggested in building the pile is to make a layer of leaves, straw, grass clippings, and other organic materials 1 foot deep, wet down and pack. Spread a layer of manure 4 to 6 inches deep over this layer of wet material. Then spread up to 5 pounds of ground rock phosphate or 1 quart of raw bone meal per 100 square feet, and 1 pound of ground limestone.

Instead of the rock phosphate and bone meal, you could use 5 pounds of a complete organic fertilizer such as Fertrell per 100 square feet. Also, a layer of topsoil is sometimes used.

Then continue to repeat the process until the pile has reached 3 to 5 feet high.

Compost will begin to heat after 2 or 3 days. Keep it moist, but not too wet, and do not disturb for awhile.

After 3 to 4 weeks, fork it over, mixing the parts to obtain uniformity. Fatty animal wastes tend to create bad odors, draw flies and ants; so, try to avoid their use if this will be a problem.

Compost for the garden should be ready from 2 months to 1 year, depending on the time of year, type of materials added, and skill of the composter. When the compost is broken down into a homogenous mixture, and no undecomposed leaves or other material may be seen, it is ready for use.

Insect and Disease Control
During periods when infestations of various garden pests are high, control by natural means becomes very difficult. However, the following practices will help to reduce losses without use of chemical pesticides:

• Plant resistant varieties.
• Plant seed from disease-free plants.
• Select pest-free transplants.
• For cutworms, place a cardboard of tinfoil collar around plant stems at ground level.
• Spade garden early so vegetation has time to rot before planting.
• Use a mulch; vegetables touching the soil may rot.
• Clean up crop refuse early.
• Plant as early in the spring as practical.
• Keep out weeds which harbor insects and diseases.
• Summer fallowing (clean cultivation) helps control nematodes.
• Summer flooding, where soil type permits, helps control nematodes.
• Hand-pick insects.
• Water in morning so plants are not wet at night.
• Dispose of severely diseased plants before they contaminate others.
• Some insects, like cabbage worms, may be killed by spraying with natural preparations such as Bacillus thuringiensis.
• Rotate garden areas.
• Bake transplanting soil in oven at 160°F for 1 hour.
• Crotolaria spectabalis and marigolds, when planted as cover crops, tend to reduce some kinds of nematodes. The use of marigolds to repel nematodes from interplanted vegetables is not effective control.
• A good garden mulch tends to reduce damage caused by nematodes.
• Many organic gardeners approve of and use sprays and other preparations containing naturally occurring materials. Diatomaceous Earth comes from petrified sea life. Pyrethrin, rotenone, and ryania are examples of natural poisons from plant parts. These give some control to some insects under certain conditions.
• Natural predators should be encouraged wherever possible; however, predators raised in captivity, then released into the garden area are usually ineffective.
• Insecticidal soaps, made from fatty acids tend to work well for some insects under average conditions.
• Insect traps, baited with phermone lures, work well in some instances. Many of these have sticky adhesives to catch insects.
• Solar fumigation is effective in reducing some soil-borne problems such as nematodes. Refer to "Nematology Plant Protection Pointers", such as NPPP-17, for details.