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Organic gardening is a great way to appreciate nature, without destroying it. You will use compost to build healthy soil and will try techniques like companion planting and ladybug cultivation, rather than using chemicals on your food. As someone who truly appreciates the earth, you feel very strongly about making the world a better place through your gardening experience. The most ardent natural gardeners will even use only manual gardening tools to till and cultivate.

Advocates for growing food organically argue that this method is better for several main reasons. First, gardening organically reduces your exposure to pesticides, which have been linked to everything from skin rashes, eye irritations and neurotoxicity to cancer, birth defects and hormone disruption. Secondly, organic food contains a higher concentration of nutrients like chromium, selenium, calcium, boron, lithium, magnesium, vitamin C, carotene and vitamin B. Thirdly, organic gardeners work with manual garden supplies and tools, so they avoid gasoline-powered machines that leave emissions. At the same time, the organic gardener is getting a great workout in! Lastly, this method for growing plants prevents chemicals and contaminants from leaching into the soil and down to our water table, so this style of gardening is much better for the planet overall.

Soil health is one of the most important focuses of organic gardening. Even though organic matter (made of partially decomposed organisms and vegetation) only makes up 5-10% of the soil, it is absolutely essential in maintaining soil health. A gardening expert will tell you that organic matter is what binds together soil particles to allow the passage of air and water. Humus holds up to 90% of its weight in water, in addition to absorbing and storing key nutrients. Other microorganisms that live within the soil feeds upon this organic matter, which is what keeps the ecosystem thriving. The best way to increase your organic matter is to add organic compost bought from the store and made in your own kitchen.

In organic gardening, weeds are pulled rather than stripped by chemicals. Growing plants surrounded by mulch, straw or hay can keep weeds from poking through as well. Organic gardeners rely on birds, ladybugs, dragonflies, spiders and praying mantises to kill the pests that feast on their precious plants. To attract these natural born killers, plant Angelica, caraway, cilantro, coreopsis, white cosmos, dandelions, dill, fennel, geraniums, tansy and yarrow for them to sample while they look for bigger prey like aphids and beetles. You can purchase ladybugs at some garden shops and dragonflies at certain bait shops. In the end, you’ll be glad you cultivated a healthy and hardy garden, without destroying nature in the process.

To have a good home is good, but for Alistair Haynes, a great home is best. To have this, is to have you helped by her creative mind. She can make your usual home into a picture of elegance and style that is worth your budget. To protect your tables, she recommends you use stone coasters. So don’t waste time and get her now.

Tags: Flower gardening, gardening questions, gardening tips, growing plants, organic gardening, perennial flower gardening

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Home & Garden Improvements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.