Organic gardening DOs & DON'Ts

Everyone’s going organic these days, which is very good news indeed. But there are varying degrees of ‘organic’ and if we want to achieve the results we envisage we’d better do everything we can to get it right from the start.

One aspect of the organic growing of vegetables we don’t hear enough about is soil management, and this is pivotal if we want good nutrition from the food we grow. People who instinctively know that the food they eat builds good or bad metabolisms will be sure that their soil contains as many of the trace elements and minerals which are needed for the plant to synthesize inorganic minerals in organic nutrients that our bodies can process.

So when you begin work on your allotment or just a small area of your back garden in order to grow real food*, have the soil tested for its mineral content, and if necessary, check with your nurseryman as to how to feed your soil before you begin planting.

Here are a few tips to get you going:

• Read as many articles you can find on feeding the soil first
• Make soil care a priority
• Make compost and leaf mould to feed the soil
• Make local sources your first choice
• Manage the whole garden organically - not just the fruit and vegetables
• Use organically grown seeds
• Control weeds without herbicides
• Consider the environmental implications when choosing materials for hard landscaping, fencing, soil improvement and so forth
• Say 'NO' to genetically modified varieties
• Make the garden 'wildlife friendly', encouraging natural creatures to control pests.
• Learn to distinguish pests from predators
• Collect rain water, and reduce the need for watering by improving the soil and growing appropriate plants
• Reuse and recycle, to cut down the use of finite resources and reduce disposal problems
• Play to your garden's strengths, capitalising on its particular characteristics
• Stop using slug pellets!
• Avoid the use of preservative treated wood

Keyword=v_g