Simple Organic Gardening Techniques

Following some simple techniques, you can grow organic and let Mother Nature do her thing.

Another great idea is compost tea, which is filled with millions of microbes that help plants take in nutrients. You can brew the tea using compost, molasses and water.

A few aphids are fine, but in no time at all, they'll take over and threaten your plants.

As host Rebecca Kolls' grandfather liked to say "you must always give back to the earth." So every spring and fall, amend the soil with the three magic ingredients: compost, peat moss and manure. These key ingredients enrich the soil naturally and keep it alive. If you amend the soil in the spring, in most cases you won't need to fertilize during the entire growing season. Enriching the soil gives plants a jump start on the growing season. But as the season wears on, some vegetables and plants will need additional feeding.

If you want organic food, there's plenty to choose from. Fish emulsion is great for tomatoes, berries, peppers and fruits. But be prepared — this stuff stinks. Compost is another great snack for any garden plant. Simply scratch it into the soil at the base of the plant.

By using any of these nature-made techniques, your flowers will flourish without a fuss. Of course, these nutritious snacks, which are sure to fortify your plants, will also feed your weeds. These uninvited guests steal nutrients and rob the water from your prized possessions. To keep them out, you can pull them out or you can douse them with some vinegar.

Weeds aren't the only looters. Bugs are also bad. These intruders come in odd shapes and sizes. Hungry insects and crawling critters will eventually come looking for a free meal. The key is to spot them early. Examine the tops and bottoms of your plants frequently. A sharp jet of water will knock aphids and other bugs off the plant and kill most. Look around for lady beetles, who love aphids. If you don't have any, you can buy them from a garden center.

You can spray plants with insecticide soap by mixing one gallon of water with two to three tablespoons of dishwashing liquid. Spray both the top and bottom of the leaves. Crawlers like cabbage looper and cabbage worm can be handpicked or dusted with a product that has BT in it. BT is a bacteria that kills many unwanted pests without harming the stuff you want to stay.

Here are some tips for keeping your lawn green naturally. Lawns need only one application of fertilizer a year, and it's best if done in the fall. Consider using a battery-powered lawn mower. The EPA estimates that a gas mower used for an hour produces as much pollution as some cars driven for two straight days.

Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They won't produce thatch and will actually feed the lawn naturally. As the temperatures warm, allow the grass to grow longer. It shades the soil and helps retain water. Water in the morning or evening. During the day, 40 to 60 percent of the water can evaporate before hitting the ground.

Instead of herbicide for crabgrass control, try corn gluten. Or you might want to simply lose the lawn and replace it with a groundcover that doesn't need to be mowed, fed or watered as much.

It's not as hard as you might think to go green, and as a gardener, it's fun and challenging doing this nature's way. You'll find it very rewarding, and you can never argue about what it produces.

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