Planting a vegetable garden can be difficult but once you know the basics, growing a vegetable garden can be enjoyable and rewarding. By growing a vegetable garden, you can eat fresher and more nutritious vegetables. You can save a lot of money from buying vegetable produce in the market, which can contain harmful chemicals. In addition, you can save space in your refrigerator because you do not have to fill it with vegetables from the supermarket.

     There are important things you need to consider in planting a vegetable garden. You have to know how to arrange your vegetable garden, the ways to propagate the new plants and how to take care of the plants.

     Extended seasons and earlier harvests can give gardeners more options. You can get great benefits through planting your own vegetable transplants inside the house because of the growth conditions of the climate. Transplants give you the chance to plan for the supply of what you need and when you need it. It is necessary to know the best time to transplant your seeds to the garden.

      Many vegetables need special care especially in the early stages of development to be able to survive and you need to keep that in mind when planting a vegetable garden. Make sure to know the necessary requirements such as light, moisture and temperature levels of each vegetable to keep them healthy. Some vegetable seeds can grow well directly in the garden soil so it is best to learn which vegetables develop straight from seed. It is also important to learn the required soil depth and seed spacing as well as the amount of shade, water and soil nutrients needed.

There’s nothing more rewarding than watching a whole garden flourish and knowing that you grew all of the plants without the help of synthetic fertilizers and insecticides. The joy of organic gardening lies in successfully working with nature instead of working against it. Below are organic gardening tips for beginners are attempting this gardening method.

Always know your plants well

Before planning to include any plants in your garden design, make sure that you know all about its needs to grow well. Does it need a lot of moisture or a lot of sun? Is it compatible with the plants you’ve assigned to “rotate” it with? If you’re placing it beside a bigger plant, make sure that it’s not competing with soil nutrients and sunlight. Make sure that you’re basing your garden design on scientific facts, not merely on aesthetics.

Start your own compost

Starting your own compost by collecting dried brown matter is one of the best organic gardening tips and a great way to save up on fertilizers. Organic fertilizers tend to be more expensive than synthetic fertilizers, so when you depend too much on store-bought materials, you might run short of funds. Be practical and take your organic gardening to the next level: collect your own mulch.

Keep a good eye on delicate plants

In your garden design, put all the plants that need more tending near your kitchen. If you bunch them all together in one soil patch, it’s easier to maintain your garden. This will also leave you less tired when you’re trying to manually pluck all the weeds.

Practice is necessary to create an organic vegetable garden successfully. Organic gardening is known to be the oldest method of gardening and it is best for your family. In addition, organic vegetable gardening can be a rewarding lifestyle and hobby.

Your organic garden can cover only a few square feet or acres of land. People living in the city can have organic vegetable gardens on their balcony gardens or rooftops in raised beds, which can be fun, beautiful and viable.

The first thing you need to do in starting an organic vegetable garden is to find organic seeds. You can purchase organic seeds in the local nurseries and department stores. Organic gardening is more sustainable because by avoiding the use of herbicides and pesticides can help keep healthy soil for many years. In addition, you do not have to remove living things from your garden because these creatures can help in making your garden healthier.

An organic garden is not only good for your space but also for your family. It is a fact that non-organic vegetables in the market contain poisonous substances and carcinogens that are bad for the health. With your own organic vegetable garden, you can be sure that you are eating healthy foods everyday.

Vegetables from your organic garden are free from synthetic chemicals. Common problems in gardening such as pests, diseases and soil problems can be naturally fixed by using natural solution, which are cheaper, easier and safer compared to the commercial products.

Though organic vegetables in the market is more expensive in the market, growing organic garden is actually cheap because it only requires local items and natural occurring, which are easier and cheaper to have compared to synthetic chemicals.

Whether you’re into conventional or organic gardening, you need to know the basics of planting seeds at the right time. Essentially, different places would have different plants that are akin to their seasons, soil conditions, and climate. It would, therefore, be foolish to want to grow a tulip in the middle of the summer in some country, say, in the middle of the tropics. You need to be in Holland if your plan to reap any promise from those plants.

Know the plants that are native to your home

As tempting as it is to grow plants that are rare, it’s not easy to form miracles that defy the basic laws of nature. If you experiment in an indoor greenhouse by setting up artificial sunlight even if the temperature outside reads well below zero, you’ll be wasting a lot of money and energy on a plant that could have easily been grown halfway across the country.

The point of organic gardening is to make use of what nature has initially in store for you. Look at your home’s natural set up: the intensity of sunlight, the frequency of precipitation, the soil conditions, even the wind. There’s always bound to be one plant or another that fits healthily into your habitat. If you’re in a desert, think about growing healthy cactuses. Don’t attempt to disrupt the chain of nature by introducing an odd species that’s not bound to live long under the conditions anyway. It’s cruel to attempt to “give birth” to a sapling by planting seeds that have very little chances of survival. Remember, once you plant it from the seed, it’s now your responsibility to take care of it until it grows into an adult.

When growing tomatoes, make sure to plant deep. You need to bury the stem of the tomato plant to allow it to grow tall and sturdy quickly. Tomatoes are ideally planted early in the season when the soil is cool. A trench of four to five inches deep is best to set the tomato transplant. Put the transplant into the trench and bury the stem up until the top leaves of the tomato.

Bury the tomato in a deep and straight hole if you are going to transplant later in the season when the soil is warm. Remember that moister and cooler soil that is below six inches deep can help the tomatoes to survive the dry and hot summers.

Most gardeners make the mistake of overfeeding when growing tomatoes. Make sure that your soil is rich in humus that can nourish the roots and potassium to keep the stems strong. Do not add too much nitrogen if you do not want your tomatoes to be big and lush but little fruit. Usually, gardeners use homemade compost for phosphorus supply of the tomatoes. If your soil lacks phosphorus, you are encouraged to add rock phosphate to your garden.

Tomato plants tend to grow slowly in chilly temperatures of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and below while tomato flowers drop off in hot temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit and above. You can control the temperature by plastic teepees that have individual tubes with water.

Most organic gardeners use plastic mulch to maintain the soil warm during spring to avoid weeds from growing. Though plastic mulch are useful, you can also use all-natural mulches to help your tomatoes grow healthy. Use layer of leaves, straws, pine needles or dried grass clippings around your plants, which can keep the roots cool and prevent the weeds from growing.
Growing tomatoes isn’t that difficult, just pay a little attention to your crops and you’ll enjoy tasty tomatoes for the whole season.

If you do not have space in your backyard, container vegetable gardening is a perfect solution to add versatility to your garden. You can use container gardening to add dimension or accent to the landscape by planting flowers and vegetables. It is possible to make the same results with vegetables as with flowers. All you have to do is arrange the containers or the pots in the way you would arrange the flowers. You can choose from a wide variety of sizes and colors of vegetables just like there is in flowers.

There are endless vegetables you can use for container vegetable gardening. Any vegetable that is strong enough to hold the soil can be used for container gardening. Remember to put holes in the bottom of the container to let water to drain. The most common kinds of pots used for container gardening are made of ceramic, plastic, wood or clay, which can be purchased at local garden centers.

Soil must be lightweight mix for container gardening. Soilless potting mix is ideal for container gardening due to its ability to retain moisture and ventilate well. Soilless potting mix is a common blend of perlite, peat and vermiculite.

Planting of seeds or plants in pots is done just as the same as you plant in the garden. You just have to follow the instructions included in the packet of the seed or plants that you bought. In addition, it is necessary to consider the location of the container garden because some plants need partial sun, even shade of full sunlight.

You need to water your container plants everyday. Pots do not hold the amount of moisture unlike in the garden soil. Most of the time, containers must be watered everyday or at least every other day so that the plants in your container vegetable garden do not dry out.