YOUR OWN ORGANIC GARDEN: PLANNING TIPS

Posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 8:23 am

1) Location— ideally, you should try to have the garden near enough to the house so that it is almost like a “fresh food cupboard”. That way you can get fresh produce any time you need it and put off harvesting vegetables for a meal until the last minute, keeping all their nutrients and flavor intact.

Having your garden close to the house also promotes better care by you and your family. You’ll know what’s going on in the garden nearly all the time and be able to avert many problems before they become serious.

2) Soil— most gardeners aren’t fortunate enough to have perfect garden soil. Instead, they have to make do with whatever soil they have. This means you must usually keep on adding organic matter to your garden because the vast majority of soils require it and plants keep using it up. But you should not get discouraged by poor soil, because you can add natural matter to improve its quality.

3) Water— adequate water is another essential thing your garden will need. It isn’t wise to depend on rain as the sole source of water for your garden— mulching will provide some hel p, but your garden should get, as a general rule, about 1 inch of rain per week.

One way to insure adequate water for your garden is to use a sprinkler system. Depending on the size of your garden, one or two strategically placed sprinklers should give it adequate coverage and water.

You can also try trench irrigation. This is done by digging trenches, about 6 inches deep, on a slight slant in a gridiron pattern between rows. This system doesn’t work especially well in sandy soil and doesn’t provide the freedom to change the pattern °f the garden on s- friort notice if such changes are needed.

4) Tools— for basic organic gardening, you will need very few tools. If you haven’t gardened before, it is a good idea to try getting along with just the essentials to begin. Here are the basic tools you’ll need for starting your organic garden: a spade; a fork; a trowel; a knife; a 3-pronged, hand-held cultivator (can be a short-handle for small gardens or on the end of a long handle for larger gardens); a rake; a hoe; and a file to keep the edges of your tools sharp and effective.

Planting Tips

1) All perennial crops, such as strawberries, asparagus and rhubarb, should be located at one side of the garden.

2) To avoid shading, tall-growing crops, such as corn, must not be planted near small crops like carrots or beets.

3) Space for spring crops which are harvested early may be used again for later crops. For example, tomatoes after radishes, and cucumbers after spinach.

4) Crops, such as lettuce, radishes, onions, early cabbage, etc., which are planted early, fast-growing and quick to mature, should all be grouped together.

5) In hilly areas, rows should follow across the slope.

6) If possible, rows should run north and south to keep plants from shading one another.

7) Spacing between rows should be designed for the method of cultivation you plan to use— hand or mechanical.