GUIDE TO CREATING YOUR OWN ORGANIC GARDEN 2

Have you secretly questioned the source of your food particularly fruits and veggies? Have you ever dreamed about tending your very own little veggie garden complete with wholesome food? In this article, I will share with you simple introduction to the practice. I will show you how to get started even if you don't have a vast wealth of gardening knowledge or a large expanse of land. As a matter of fact and from practical experience, I will share with you how you can start growing your own organic garden with or without land.

Why Garden Organically

There are good reasons why you should consider growing your own food. Knowing exactly where your food has come from is comforting, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you and your family are not ingesting pesticides in your vegetables. Buying vegetables grown without any chemical input can be expensive, especially when shopping for a family. By growing them yourself you not only reduce your food bill, but you also contribute to the well-being of the environment and tap into the great tradition of cultivating nourishing food from the earth. You can see the article “Growing Your Own Foods” http://organicplanetng.blogspot.com/2016/09/why-grow-your-own-foods.html for more information on the subject. Growing your own vegetables and herbs to use in the kitchen also gives you a great sense of achievement. From watching over your little plants to harvesting fresh and healthful vegetables at harvest time is both exciting and amazing. From personal experience, nothing is more peaceful than working with nature.

YOUR GUIDE TO CREATING AN ORGANIC GARDEN

1. Decide What You Want From Your Garden

The first thing to do when planning an organic garden is to decide what you want from it. Consider the vegetables that you include most in your diet. Aim to source these from your garden in future. This plan will help avoid you planting a vast variety of veggies that you never eat. Stop reading this article now, get up, take a sheet of paper and write down the names of the vegetables that you include most in your diet. Perhaps there are some vegetables that your mother or grandmother used to prepare when you were younger which you like but find difficult to get now, include them in your list. You can get in touch with me to see if I can help you source for them.

2. Choose a Site for Your Garden
Observe the area or spot that you intend to use for a few days. Check the amount of sunlight it gets on a daily basis. Most vegetables require full sunlight, they need at least 5-6 hours of sunlight during the day. Check whether there are high winds in that part of the garden. High wind increases evapotranspiration, which is the loss of water by evaporation. If the rate at which crops lose water is much lower than the rate at which they get it, they become desiccated. However, light wind is good for crops because it increases the supply of carbon dioxide to them resulting in greater rate of photosynthesis. In choosing a site therefore, consider the wind speed. Also check if the soil drains well there. Soils that remain wet after rain is not ideal because damp soil lacks aeration and the root of vegetables need oxygen. The ideal soil is deep sandy loam. Lastly, in choosing a site for your garden, check if it is not an area that is composed of “fill dirt.” Such a place usually consists of rocks and debris, avoid it. On the other hand, if you do not have a site that has soil, I mean if what you have is a concrete floor or balcony, do not worry, I will get into the concept of “Container Gardening” in subsequent article.
Let me also suggest that you do a soil test to help you determine the quality of your soil. To begin, you will need good soil. If the soil you have is a poor one like the one I had at the beginning of my journey of Growing Your Own Food, you can whip it into shape before planting. I will share with you in another article tips on how to make your soil fertile and how to maintain it afterwards.

3. Prepare your Bed

Vegetable beds come in all shapes and sizes. Depending on the space available you can choose to plant directly into the earth in a designated space, create a raised bed or plant in containers or sacks if you do not have soil or of you have a concrete flooring in your compound.
If you are planting directly into the ground, then check your soil quality first. 

As a general rule of thumb, when moist the soil should hold its shape when you squeeze it in your fist, but should crumble when you poke it. If it doesn't crumble then it is too wet, or if it doesn't hold its shape at all then it is too dry. Dry soil can be enhanced with organic soil or compost but soil that is too wet highlights a drainage problem. In this case, try the soil in a different part of the garden. 

Measure out the bed to be at least 1.3 meters (4 feet) wide, by any convenient length depending on the space that you have. Put pegs round the four corners that you have measured. Then measure 0.65 meters (2 feet) from any of the pegs and erect another peg. This space is called furrow, which will serve as the walk way between your beds. Dig the soil in the furrow onto the bed on all side to a height of about 10 inches. Do not dig the bed directly to avoid disturbing the microorganisms in the soil and more importantly to avoid exposing weed seeds that may be present in the soil to sunlight, which will help them to germinate. Break up the large clumps of soil and remove any weeds, thorns or large stones. Let the edges of the bed be a little higher than the center in order to hold water during and after watering. Watch the bed after you have planted your seeds and pull out new weeds as they emerge, making sure to get the roots too. 

Watch out for the concluding part