Organic Vegetable Gardening

This guide to organic vegetable gardening can be followed step-by-step by following the link at the bottom of each page. Alternatively, please feel free to jump straight to specific topics by using the links in the overview.

Have you ever seriously thought about the food you eat? I began to think seriously about the food that I was putting into my body a few years ago. Stories in the media about bowel cancer particularly bothered me because from childhood I had experienced stomach problems; pain, bloating, nausea etc.

Being a bit of a worrier I convinced myself that I was a prime candidate for that disease. That classic saying - we are what we eat - took on real meaning for me, and other media stories relating to conventional food and the nasty chemicals in them from toxic pesticides and fertilizers, rang loud alarm bells.

I then began looking into organic food. Learning exactly how our conventional, intensively farmed food is produced was frightening. It was also a wake up call and I immediately ‘went organic’.

The taste of my first fully organic meal was incredible. It reminded me of discovering new tastes (the nice ones) when I was a child. It was like having new taste buds. What made eating organic food even more enjoyable was the fact that I wasn’t poisoning myself and I was even contributing to improving the health of the environment.

I recommend you try it. It will be one of the most rewarding steps you ever take.

Benefits of organic vegetable gardening

Unlike today, organically produced food was fairly hard to find when I made the switch. What was available was usually very pricey. I then decided to try my hand at organic vegetable gardening.

Organic gardening and farming ensure that crops are grown free from artificial means e.g., synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Natural methods are used instead. This not only produces healthier and more nutritious foods but also helps the whole environment around the growing area e.g. soil, rivers, animal and plant life.

This guide shows you how to grow your own organic garden and produce vegetables that will enhance your life and that of your environment, as well as saving you money.

Overview

The first thing you need to do in organic vegetable gardening is to get to know your soil. Identifying the type of soil you will be working with will tell you what crops can be grown best in it. You will also need to test it for acidity and alkalinity. I will explain how to go about this.

Some people decide on raised beds for their organic growing. You can buy or build a raised bed. In this way you can start off with really healthy soil, and will not have the task of weeding and turning over existing land that may not even come up to quality. I'll show you how to do this as well as using existing soil/land.

We will also look at fertilizers and soil additives. In order to ensure that your soil is composed of the right balance of nutrients – especially the main ones; Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, you need to choose the right fertilizer types for your soil type.

Without the right balance your plants will not grow, or will not grow to their full potential. Fertilizer and soil additives, including two of the more environmentally popular ones - compost fertilizer and worms (miracle helpers) - are covered in our guide.

One of the main principles of organic gardening and farming is sustainability. In other words the ability to use land continuously for growing whilst improving it, rather than rendering land infertile and moving on to plant somewhere else.

Crop rotation is a fundamental way of maintaining sustainability, and it is also effective against disease and pest control

A great method of crop rotation is square foot gardening. I will show you how to set up this system as well as how to use it in deciding which vegetables to plant and when to plant them.

Right then, ready to do some organic vegetable gardening? Roll your sleeves up and we’ll get started by looking at soil

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