Julie Turner - Organic Gardening Beginners Manual: The ultimate Take-You-By-The-Hand beginners gardening manual for creating and managing your own organic garden.

This book is dedicated to all the ancestral lovers of gardening who have contributed to the collective knowledge that is

Organic Gardening

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No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, without the expressed written, dated and signed permission of the author, other than a printed version for personal use of the purchaser.

This e-book published by Julie Turner

Copyright 2013, All Rights Reserved

Revised 2013

Introduction

Thriving and productive organic vegetable gardens dont just happen. They are the result of planning, preparation and persistence.

Your organic garden will produce higher yields and more amazing results year after year, providing you pay attention to what works well in your garden and what doesnt. Like our gardens, our knowledge of gardening is a process undergoing constant change. Thats one of the great things about organic gardening you just keep learning.

But first off, let me congratulate you on deciding to go organic! By committing the time and effort required, you will find the rewards to be well worth it.

The benefits of eating fresh, chemical free, live foods, rich in vitamins and minerals are obvious.

Some other benefits you may not have considered are the health benefits of exercising, being in the sun (vitamin D) and fresh air, being able to go outside and pick what you want for your meal, interacting with other family members in the garden, stress/anxiety release, recycling of organic materials, leaving a smaller footprint on the environment... you get the idea!

So what is the difference between ordinary gardening and organic gardening? Basically organic gardeners choose to garden in harmony with nature, by using natural and organic materials and practices. We avoid using synthetic chemicals and fertilizers at all costs .

This way we are as kind to our health and the environment as possible. It is a holistic approach to gardening, where all elements and their interaction with other elements are observed and taken into consideration.

We use simple systems and techniques in our gardens that have nature helping us such as:

No-Dig plots (encourages earthworms and micro-flora)

Raised beds (to improve drainage and soil conditions)

Companion planting (encouraging beneficial insects and vigorous growth)

Composting (providing nutrient-rich humus)

Liquid fertilizers (feeding our plants)

Organic sprays (protecting plants without chemicals)

Choosing the right location

The information found throughout these pages will be useful for all gardeners, but is written with beginners to organic practices and methods in mind.

Please dont feel intimidated by the list above. There is nothing difficult about any of these methods. They are all quite simple. Its really just a matter of having a go and practice.

A lot of organic gardening is about trying something, seeing how it goes, making a record of it in your journal and then modifying it if it didnt quite do what you wanted or expected it to.

First Things First Planning

Planning is the best way to achieve the results you want from your organic garden. The first thing you need to do is ask yourself a few questions to work out the needs of your family.

You can start by thinking about the size of your family and the amount of produce you are able to freeze, can, preserve, pickle, turn into jams, jellies, soups, sauces, chutneys etc. and store as well as how much fresh produce you will need.

What vegetables, fruits, herbs and nuts does my family enjoy the most? Theres no point growing cauliflower if no-one likes cauliflower! Make a list of what fruit and vegetables your family likes and uses most in the kitchen.

OK, now write it all down. Yes a list of all the things youd like to grow for your family and roughly how much of each thing you would use per week.

You also have to decide what space you have available for your food plots. Obviously if you live in an apartment you will have more space limitations than someone living on acreage.

If you are limited for space, consider growing things that you use the most and things that are expensive to buy. More on limited space at in the chapter on Food Gardening In Small Spaces.

As with investing in real-estate, a highly productive vegetable garden relies on location, location, location. It is the most important thing to consider. You need to give quite a lot of consideration to the location of your main vegetable plots.

Many poor soil conditions can be corrected over time, but your number one priority should be how much sun the area receives especially if you are lucky enough to be able to grow winter veggies. Having said that, make sure you read the next chapter on How To Create Healthy, Fertile Soil as this is an extremely important step if you want good yields and healthy plants.

You want to aim for an area that gets at least six hours sunlight each day. If you live in a temperate zone like I do, then I prefer to position the garden so that the maximum sunlight is from the morning. I dont mind too much if theres some afternoon shade through summer as our summers are very hot (35C - 45C, thats 95F - 114F) and dry.

You dont want to have large trees too close. They will create too much shade and compete with your vegetables for available nutrients and water.

The second most important issue is water . Your veggie garden must have access to a reliable water supply. Most of us have mains water available straight from the tap. This is really important as it can get really tiresome carting bucket load after bucket load to keep your garden alive. Besides, you dont want to just keep it alive you want it to thrive.

If you have some kind of rainwater collection, thats even better. You may need to install a pump though, rather than rely on gravity fed if you are using an irrigation system. Gravity may work, so you will need to test this as it will be different for every garden, depending on how you plan to water.

Grey water (or recycling household water) should be reserved for fruit and nut trees, lawn or ornamentals, unless your water goes through some sort of filtration system. Dont use it on your vegetables, herbs or soft fruits (fruits not grown on trees, such as berries, kiwi fruit, grapes etc.) unless you have had it tested for safety.

You also need to consider how windy your vegetable garden area may be. Some plants really dislike wind, so if you live in a windy area, are you able to erect a wind-break to reduce prevailing winds? Ive had tomatoes grown in a wire cage topple over after reaching 2metres / 6feet. Its very disheartening.

Consider putting up something that reduces the wind, rather than totally blocking it. When you build a structure that blocks the wind, it creates a lot of turbulence that might have the opposite effect than what youre expecting and needing.