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Organic Vegetables

Grow Organic Vegetables By Vince Apps

There are more reasons than ever why anybody with access to a few square feet of the outdoors should grow their own organic vegetables. You may be shocked at how much of the produce at your local supermarket has been genetically modified. Some estimates now put this at over 50%. While there is no strong evidence that genetically modified foods are immediately harmful to your health, there are no long term studies either. Do you want to take that risk?

Let’s take a look at pesticides and fertilizers. Farmers no longer use crop rotation or natural manures to improve soil fertility, so they are forced to use ever increasing amounts of chemicals to improve yields and multiple pesticides to protect the weakened plants. Pesticides penetrate deeply into the leaves of plants and pesticide residues remain even after you have scrubbed them. To quote from The Environmental Protection Agency – “Pesticides are designed to kill pests. Many pesticides can also pose risks to people. The health effects of pesticides depend on the type of pesticide. Some, such as the organophosphates and carbonates, affect the nervous system. Others may irritate the skin or eyes. Some pesticides may be carcinogens. Others may affect the hormone or endocrine system in the body.”

Sure you can, and should, buy organic fruit and vegetables, but have you seen the prices? Anybody with even a modest vegetable garden can grow healthy organic vegetables at much lower cost than those at the local supermarket. Not only can you grow them at much lower cost, but you can grow them one hundred percent better. Even the long-keeping vegetables such as potatoes, onions and squash are noticeably tastier picked straight from the home vegetable garden; but when it comes to peas and corn and salad vegetables- well , there is absolutely nothing to compare with the home garden ones, gathered fresh, in the early slanting sunlight, still gemmed with dew, still crisp and tender and juicy, ready to carry every atom of savory quality and taste, without loss, to the dining table.

It is not in price or health alone that home gardening pays. There is another point. Agribusiness has to grow the things that give the biggest yield. They have to sacrifice quality and taste for quantity and long shelf life. You do not. The strawberries on the supermarket shelves may look bright and red and uniform but you will soon find they taste more like the cardboard of their containers when compared to a home grown variety picked straight from the vine.

And this brings us to what may be the most important reason you should garden. It is the cheapest, healthiest pleasure there is. Give me a sunny garden patch in the springtime, give me seeds to watch as they find the light, plants to tend as they take hold in the fine, loose, rich soil, give me succulent and tasty springtime salads. And when you have grown tired of the springtime, come back in summer to even the smallest garden, and you will find in it, every day, a new vista, new pleasures and, yes, new challenges.

Better food, better health, better living -- all these the home vegetable garden offers you in abundance. So, turn off that computer, pull out some old clothes and find a spot to dig.

Vince Apps http://manualofgardening.com

Growing Vegetables in Containers - The compact solution By Judy Williams

Container vegetable gardens are a great alternative for those that don't have access to backyards. There can be a range of reasons to grow your vegetables in containers...easy access to the kitchen, safer environments for children and the handicapped or just lack of a yard to use for gardening. Vegetable gardens in containers can also be extremely attractive and serve the dual purpose of style and function around your patio.

The no dig vegetable garden can be just as successful in containers provided similar guidelines are followed. Drainage is vital so ensure your containers have appropriate drainage holes to allow water to escape. If they don't, the plants will literally 'drown' and will be susceptible to diseases. They also need a sunny space. The advantage with vegetables grown in containers is that you can move the containers around to follow the sun if no one spot in your patio or garden is suitable.

Vegetables grown in containers will need some additional attention. Their root system is restricted to the pot so make sure you keep them well watered. Containers are far more likely to dry out in hot conditions which will kill your plants or have them 'fruit' poorly. It is also very important that a mulch is put on top of the container. This will slow evaporation and keep the surface temperature of the soil cooler.

Plants like tomatoes have small, fibrous roots which will dry and die in hot soil. Container vegetables may need some additional fertilizing due to the extra watering. Nutrients will be washed away quicker in a container than in the ground. A diluted water soluble fertilizer is the best option to use regularly with vegetables.

There have been many varieties of vegetables that have been bred to grow in containers. They are generally referred to a 'dwarf' varieties for obvious reasons. A list of suggested varieties and container sizes may help with your selection. Check with your seed supplier on the varieties they recommend. Having said that, there are many vegetable varieties that will do very well in containers. Tomatoes, lettuce, beets, carrots, cabbage, peas, beans, capsicums and peppers are all good choices. Cucumbers, cauliflower and broccoli will also do well as will virtually all herbs.

Crops like potatoes, corn, pumpkins and vine fruits generally need more room than a container can provide. But the size of your containers and the varieties available to you will dictate what you grow. As with most gardening, trial and error is your best education.

Judy Williams (www.no dig-vegetablegarden.com) is an avid organic gardener. No Dig Vegetable Gardens represents a clean, green way to grow your own food. The site covers all aspects of growing, cooking and preserving your harvest.

Thanks for all the great info about organic vegetable, we hope all or you are raising some today.

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