Organic Vegetable Gardening
All about Organic Vegetable Gardening
Organic vegetable gardening is finding more and more of a following across the United States. The definition of organic gardening varies from state to state, where regulations are established to define what is really organic vegetable gardening and what is not. Overall, it is generally defined by the fact that in organic products, neither pesticides nor synthetic fertilizers are used.
Because of the lack of chemicals used in producing vegetables, organic vegetables are considered to be of higher quality than non-organic foods. Because organic vegetables tend to be more locally grown, they often taste better than those grown under other conditions. Generally speaking, more and more people are aware of and afraid of pesticide residues that may remain on or in the plant after harvesting. Organic vegetable gardening guarantees that no such residues will exist. Organic gardening improves soil quality instead of depleting it, because most often compost and manure are the substances used for fertilization.
One of the major difficulties of organic vegetable gardening is the ability to control pests and diseases without the use of harmful chemicals. Many times organic farmers must put up with some damage because organic measures are not always one-hundred percent successful. Some vegetables may simply not attract pests because of their properties or odors. Among these, you might find onions, garlic, radishes, beets or carrots. With other vegetables, organic production means you are going to have to select the most pest and disease resistant varieties you can find.
Many organic farmers prefer to grow heirloom varieties of vegetables. Those are types of vegetables that have been around for many years, sometimes hundreds of years, and seeds are saved each year to plant the next year’s crop. While these vegetables tend to have reliability--they will produce quality harvests each year--and you can save money on seeds, they often are not the most disease or pest resistant varieties.
In fact, hybrids are more apt to produce greater quantities of vegetables without being as bothered by pests and diseases. They also tend to bring increased production and earlier harvests. Hybrids often combine the best qualities of both parents. In addition to starting out with the best quality seeds and seedlings you can find, successful organic gardening is dependent on crop rotation, the spacing of plants and rows, the amount and kind of organic matter used, and the planting of cover crops, such as wheat or alfalfa.
The chances are that if you get involved with organic vegetable gardening, you will always have a good market for what you produce, whether it be for yourself or for sales at stores and farmers’ markets. The price of organic vegetables is usually much higher than their non-organic counterparts. That’s because of the costs involved in growing organically and the fact that a certain amount of organic produce is always going to be lost to insects and diseases. Still, many people are more than happy to pay a higher price to guarantee that they and their families are not exposed to the toxic chemicals used on many commercial vegetable farms.