Organic Gardening for Beginners

September 10, 2024

Organic Gardening has grown increasingly popular, and there have been conscious efforts to switch to organic and eco-friendly gardening products. 46% of UK gardeners now use organic fertilisers instead of chemical options. Although the basic premise of organic gardening is predominantly the usage of organic fertilisers and pesticides, organic gardening is beneficial in providing additional support for the health of the garden/ allotment’s ecosystem. Some examples of these organic fertilisers and pesticides include:

Pesticides:

Tomato Leaves
Garlic Spray
Pyrethrin

Fertilisers:

Animal Manure
Compost
Food waste
Off-the-shelf organic fertiliser

The benefits of organic gardening:

A healthier garden: By having an organic garden the fruit and vegetables you grow won’t be treated with harsh chemicals reducing the risk of spreading harmful diseases and hormonal imbalances.
Increased soil health: Using organic fertilisers and pesticides improves soil health by increasing its capacity to hold nutrients, improving soil structure maintaining its optimum firm yet moist form.
Environmental benefits: Prevention of using any further chemical gardening aids ensures a healthier environment, in the larger cases nitrogen fertilisers used in non-organic farming increase pollution affecting wildlife, rivers, or any body of nearby water. Organic standards have banned the usage of nitrogen fertilisers for these reasons and are encouraging farmers to go organic. Switching to natural fertilisers and pesticides increases soil fertility, accelerates plant growth, and helps prevent further environmental damage. TOP TIP! If you have animals on your farm going organic means you can recycle your animal waste back into the farm, using it for fertiliser and energy.
Saving your pennies: Organic gardening or just growing your food saves time and money, no more running to the shop when you’ve forgotten that pesky onion you didn’t notice was on the recipe. Rising costs of groceries are becoming a great concern to many, due to the overall cost of living, therefore growing your own is a cheap alternative to overpriced shop-bought fruit and vegetables that are largely grown using chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

How do I become an organic gardener?

Start with healthy soil: Healthy and fertile soil is the key to optimum growing conditions, using organic materials such as compost, and animal manure provides your soil with the nutrients it needs to promote accelerated and healthy plant growth. Mixing natural rotting materials helps maintain soil structure, improve water-holding capacity, and retain nutrients within the soil.

Use an organic fertiliser: Organic Fertilisers consist of plant and animal sources. However, organic fertilisers may be slower to act as they must be broken down within the soil before any worthwhile nutrients are released. If you're not a fan of shoveling manure and lack natural plant substances. You can also buy organic fertiliser that is widely available such as Miracle-Gro Organic All Purpose Liquid Plant Food, and Levington Organic Concentrated fertiliser.

Pest Control: Organic pesticides focus predominantly on prevention rather than a cure. They do this by maintaining optimum plant and crop growing conditions, resulting in crops becoming more resistant to disease. These methods include:

Insects, such as ladybirds and hoverflies as they feed on common garden pests.
Adopting the manual approach: Start hand-picking and removing common garden pests such as snails and slugs, physically removing them from the infestation site.
Trap Crops: Plant ornamental crops that you aren’t overly fussed about being attacked by pests, plants such as marigolds are a popular choice, used to attract insects including spider mites, and beetles. Planting extra crops in more open positions if you have the space would also be beneficial to deter pests from the majority.
Companion Planting: Planting sacrificial plants such as marigolds near high-value crops such as tomatoes and various other vegetables is key to discouraging pests from these high-value crops. This method isn’t always successful; however, it makes a great addition to a healthy allotment or garden.

Raised Beds: A raised bed is where the soil is enclosed in a container above the ground, it’s great for growing a variety of different crops, from fruit and vegetables to a variety of small trees and flowers. Raised beds are good for organic gardening as the raised container creates a barrier between the soil and various pests, reducing the demand for organic pesticides. This is beneficial because as previously mentioned, organic deterrents are slower-acting than chemical pesticides.

Crop Rotation: On top of using natural pesticides and fertilisers to protect your crops and soil from various diseases, weed problems, and pests. Crop Rotation also supports a healthy garden/ allotment, by rotating crops between pest sites to reduce the build-up of unwanted visitors as well as increasing soil fertility by reducing the likelihood of soil deficiencies due to crops having various soil nutritional needs.

Use weather instruments: Weather plays an important role in gardening determining the overall health and natural growth rate of plants and crops. UK weather is renowned for being unpredictable, temperature and humidity levels along with rainfall can fluctuate considerably over the year therefore it can be difficult to maintain optimum plant growing conditions. Owning a selection of weather instruments is essential for monitoring your garden/allotment's overall health, providing you with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions on maintaining optimal growing conditions for your garden/ allotment. Weather Stations are a great tool for environmental monitoring from the comfort of your home, predicting weather activity over the next few days, allowing you the time to learn about upcoming weather events and plan various gardening activities accordingly.

The ClimeMET Wireless Weather Station

ClimeMET’s Wireless Weather Station will become your garden's best friend, our weather station is simple to use and packed with features, measuring temperature and humidity levels, wind speed, rainfall, and pressure.

FAQs:

What is organic gardening?
Organic gardening is an environmentally friendly alternative to growing plants and crops without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilisers. Organic gardening relies on natural materials and processes to add nutrients to the soil and deter pests.

Why should I choose organic gardening?
Organic gardening is better for the environment, supports biodiversity, and increases nutrient content in the produce, without the usage of harmful chemicals.

What should I do with my organic garden in the winter?
Plant cover crops such as various Legumes (Clover, peas, and beans) and Grasses (Rye, barley, and wheat) this protects and increases nutrient content in the soil. Monitor and consistently maintain a tidy allotment or garden to reduce the risk of pests and disease problems.

What are the signs of nutrient deficiencies in plants?
Reduced growth rate, yellowing leaves, and poor standard of crop this can include taste, colour, and texture. You will need to test your soil to find out what nutrients are lacking and use organic fertilisers to fix the problem.