DON’T JUST GO ORGANIC,
Jackie Dargaville provides these tips to help you successfully grow
organic vegetables at home.
rowing vegetables for your family
using organic methods is an
absorbing hobby with the benefits of fresh
air, exercise, saving money and above all
providing nutrient-dense, flavoursome,
clean food for your family. What could be
better than that? Here are seven top tips to
get you on your way.
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1. Start small
Often we dig over a large space in a burst of
enthusiasm, but later can’t keep up the
maintenance and end up with a meagre
crop in a weedy, dry plot.
2. Plant vegetables that
your family prefers to
consume in quantity
Avoid planting large numbers of seedlings
of one type at the one time and, instead,
stagger plantings according to your family’s
needs (e.g., a punnet of lettuce seedlings
every few weeks).
3. Soil quality
Work on improving your soil, as the soil
quality determines how healthy the
vegetables and subsequently you the
consumer will be. The optimal soil will be
beautifully structured, drained and aerated. It
will be deep, moist and friable (crumbly and
rubbly). Ideally it will be fertile sandy loam
full of critters and organic matter. Raised
beds, lots of compost and mulch and a
targeted watering program in dry times will
speed you to this goal. Consider doing a soil
test or at the very least, test the pH of your
soil so that you can correct any deficiencies.
4. Compost
Improve your compost making skills as
chemical fertilisers, raw manures and the
like have no place in an organic growing
system. The organic grower relies heavily
on compost as a fertiliser, mulch, soil
conditioner and as a food supply for the
life in the soil, which keeps the whole
engine room within the soil ticking over.
Read books and articles on compostmaking and attend courses when available,
but above all experiment and find a
technique that suits your needs, fitness
levels and resources.
5. Observe
Perfect your observation skills, as the
organic grower relies heavily on this
attribute, particularly in the avoidance of
pest damage, water stress and for picking
up the signs of deficiencies. A plant needs
to be grown quickly, in the correct season
and with the best management in order to
flourish. Pests don’t find plants grown this
way palatable and leave them alone.
6. Become water-conscious
Learn to maximise the benefit from every
nosh magazine
GROW ORGANIC
drop of precious water. In these
increasingly dry times, we all need to
conserve water and eliminate waste. A
general rule is to water if there has not
been 2.5cm of rain in a given week, but
this is dependent on the prevailing
conditions, type of crop and stage of its
growth. Aim to reduce frequency of
watering by choosing crops that aren’t
too thirsty, mulching heavily and
checking soil moisture 4cm down before
turning on the tap. Reduce waste by
watering either early or late in the day to
avoid evaporation.
7. Regard weeds as allies,
not enemies
Regard weeds as allies not enemies.
Chemical companies promote “war on
weeds” campaigns in an effort to sell more
herbicides. Herbicides have no place in an
organic garden unless derived from pine
oil. Weeds can be seen as a benign element
of an ecosystem and are nature’s indicators
and the caretakers of the soil. Observe how
they spread quickly to colonise bare areas
to provide cover and protection for the soil
life. If, however, weeds are growing where
you don’t want them and are competing
with crops for light, water and nutrients,
use mulch, prevent weeds seeding, hoe
when they are tiny and use close planting
to deprive them of sunlight. N
Jackie Dargaville
Learn more about Jackie: website
Jackie is an experienced and certified biodynamic farmer based in South
Gippsland (VIC). She is the author of “The Vegie Box” ($64.95, Busybird
Publishing), which is a complete guide to growing organic vegetables.
www.n4foodandhealth.com
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