Make your own produce with Organic Vegetable Gardening

Many people are doing their own organic vegetable gardening to provide fresh produce for their family.  With the rising cost of produce, increasing scares about pesticides and an overall movement towards healthier lifestyles, organic vegetable gardening is increasing in popularity.

Organic vegetable gardening has many benefits:

• It is better for the planet since persistent, toxic chemicals are not added into the soil and water table.  In fact, studies show that organic vegetable gardening improves the land by enriching the soil with organic compost and creates a healthier, more diverse ecosystem.
• It’s better for the body since the produce being eaten is grown without pesticides, herbicides or synthetic chemicals.
• Organic produce tastes better.
• Organic gardeners tend to use muscle power rather than machine power for their gardening tasks thereby keeping the body fit.

Almost anyone can get into organic vegetable gardening whether you have a small backyard garden or a larger plot; with a few simple tools and knowledge, you could be on your way to enjoying the personal and environmental benefits of this gardening method.

Here are some basic steps to starting organic vegetable gardening at your home.  Don’t forget that many local gardening centers may offer classes providing all the information you need to get started.

• Choose a location – Select a spot with good, well drained soil near a water supply.  Should be sunny as well.
• Select vegetables that are suitable for your growing conditions.
• Prepare the soil with organic fertilizer at least three weeks before planting.  Remove all previous organic materials to ensure healthy soil and successful seeding.
• Determine and make arrangements for your organic matter that you will apply to the soil.
• Plant your vegetables according to their growth schedule.
• Irrigate your garden regularly.  For organic vegetable gardening, it is recommended that you thoroughly wet the soil weekly, unless you’ve had sufficient rain.  Remember that light rains daily will only wet the surface and will encourage shallow root growth. 
• Consider adding organic mulch to conserve soil moisture, conserve soil nutrients, prevent soil erosion and reduce weed growth.
• Cultivate regularly to control weeds.  Perform shallow cultivation and hoeing in order to avoid damaging the delicate root system.
• Insect and disease control is very important.  Read up on organic control methods to help avoid garden pest infestation.

Once you start tasting the wonderful vegetables from your garden, all your efforts will be so worthwhile. If you find that you have more vegetables than your family can consume, consider purchasing a food dehydrator to preserve your organic fruits and vegetables for the non-growing months.

The Excalibur Food Dehydrator offers many benefits to the organic gardener:

• Dry your produce as it is harvested
• Process big batches when the garden starts bearing
• Preparation time and effort are minimal
• Dried foods keep indefinitely
• Dried foods can be used in recipes all year long!

Visit www.excaliburedehydrator.com to learn more about how a dehydrator can be a perfect companion tool for your organic vegetable gardening!