Growing vegetables using organic methods is a fun and rewarding task. Vegetable growing at home helps reduce carbon emissions and will allow you to know where your food comes from. Use this guide for ideas and to learn how to grow a vegetable garden in your backyard.
“Avoid using pesticides by using techniques like companion planting,” says Candice Rollins, Manager of The Behnke Nurseries Company in Potomac, Maryland. Companion planting is growing different varieties of plants in close proximity that assist each other in pest control or nutrient uptake. For example, planting onions near carrots helps repel aphids and carrot flies. Another technique to minimize pests is crop rotation. By rotating your crops every year, you avoid a build up of specific plant loving pests and also improve soil nutrient levels. Also, “try to plant as many native varieties as you can,” says Rollins. Native fruits and vegetables are well suited to grow in their region, are more resistant to pests, and will take less energy to sustain.
In order to grow your own vegetables, you have to amend the soil with compost, explains Rollins. One way to deal with bad quality soil is to use the raised bed gardening technique. With the raised bed technique, high-quality soil is contained above ground rather than attempting to amend the clay-filled soil below, Rollins explains. To create a natural raised bed, connect four large tree branches in the shape of a rectangle on your lawn. Next, cover the ground with sand to promote good drainage. Finally, fill the remaining space with topsoil, dehydrated cow manure, and leaf grow. Gardeners using the raised bed technique will have the best soil, but less area to grow in.
Transforming your lawn into an organic garden is a great way to improve both your health and that of the environment around you. Conventional agriculture is the largest contributor of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Chesapeake Bay, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program, a division of the Environmental Protection Agency. Another major source of these nutrients is from the use of fertilizers on residential lawns. Overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus is responsible for habitat loss and poor water quality in the bay. By converting a lawn to an organic garden, you prevent harmful contaminants from entering the bay two fold.
“We are getting too disconnected from nature and gardening is a great way to get exited about the natural world around you,” says Jon Traunfeld, University of Maryland Extension Specialist for the Master Gardener program. The Master Gardener program provides horticulture training to individuals across the United States and Canada in return for volunteer work. “It’s an entry to getting a deeper understanding of the relative role of humans and plant and animal species,” says Traunfeld. The program teaches aspiring gardeners organic and sustainable techniques so that they can grow in concert with the natural world around them. The program instructs gardeners so “they’re thinking about the soil, the water, the air, and all the creatures above and below the soil surface, and not just: how do I get the biggest carnations to grow?” says Traunfeld.
For more information on how to grow vegetables, speak with employees at your local nursery to see what grows well in your area. Good luck and happy gardening.
