As more and more people choose organically grown foods, stores are complying by offering an ever increasing variety for sale. Organic co-ops keep springing up everywhere. Organically grown foods purchased directly from farmers are becoming more and more numerous. The web offers a wealth of info. on the subject. However, most crops grown organically come with a pretty high price tag attached to them. So why not begin turning your own back yard into an organic haven. The earth will love you for it. Birds and bees and butterflies will show their appreciation by choosing your yard for their place to sing and flutter and buzz about in. Begin by making a conscious decision to never again put chemicals or herbicides on your soil. COMPOST!!! Save every fruit and veggie scrap you have. They are so valuable. I keep a bowl in my kitchen for that precise purpose. When it's full it gets emptied onto a pile in the backyard that is kept surrounded by a small fence in a hidden area. There it needs to be watered and turned with a fork every now and then to keep it decomposing. Leaves, yard grass, garden waste is also added. Never add dairy, eggs, or meat scraps to your compost. Egg shells are great though and provide calcium. Coffee grounds are good, too, as are spent tea bags. You can go on line for a fancier way of composting if you choose. There are some excellent products for sale that you can purchase to use on a larger scale. For the two of us, this way of doing it provides a lot of rich black healthy compost every Spring that is simple and easy to produce. Purchasing heritage (or organic) seeds directly from organic suppliers, such as www.seedsofchange.com, and starting your own plants indoors assures that the little seedlings were started in organic potting soil as well. However, that takes time and space. More and more nurseries are offering native and organic plants for sale, too. You just have to check around to find them. Leafy lettuce is such an easy plant to grow. Start from seed sown directly into the garden in very early Spring. Spinach can be planted in late summer here in south central Pa., for an early Spring crop. It will winter over in the soil and come bounding back as soon as the weather warms. Snip the deep green leaves for making a delicious Quiche dish and for use in salads. etc. Put in a row or two of tiny onion sets for spring onions. Beets, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, (esp. organic cherry tomatoes for salads) and squash are just the greatest for summer dishes. They are all quite easy to grow. All of these and many more take up very little space and will provide not only delicious nutritious summer eating but pull us out of the house and into the backyard for fresh air, sunshine and exercise. I enjoy mixing flowers among the veggies in the gardens. It looks pretty and helps confuse bugs that would like to beat me to the goodies. Mulching is another important addition to successful crops. So don't forget to mulch. Lawn clipping work well for this, if you have enough and don't want to purchase garden mulch. It's also important to add a coating of lime to your soil each year. Fast acting type if spreading in Spring, or slow acting in the autumn. If you've never tried gardening, or organic gardening in particular, I urge you to do it. It does takes time, years, to build soil that has never been cared for in this way to become completely organic, but each year you care for your soil in this way is a step closer to bringing it back to the way nature intended. If you're unable to purchase all plants that are organic, any variety will thrive and be a great source of flavor and good nutrition when grown in healthy soil to which organic matter has been added. Read books and/or magazines on growing food and flowers organically. Search web sites on the subject. Then get busy, knowing you'll soon be reaping the reward of eating fresh, delicious and nutritious produce - direct from your own backyard. For any questions you may have on this subject, please contact me on this blog. I'll be happy to draw from my many years of organic gardening experience and try to be of help. Or, if I don't have an answer, perhaps readers will have ideas they would like to share that we can all learn from.
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