Organic gardening is all the rage and for good reason. Risks to pets, people and the environment are just beginning to be understood. Becoming an organic farmer takes a little planning. Typical garden problems need to be proactively managed as opposed to correcting them after they happen.

Pesticides and toxic chemicals can build up in your system or have long-term effects on your health. Pesticide exposure has been linked to nerve damage, cancer and birth defects.

Children and infants are at a dramatically increased risk for damage done by chemicals and pesticides. Children have excretory systems that are still developing. This means that they are less able to rid their bodies of chemicals consumed. Chemical damage can alter the biology of their bodies permanently, causing all sorts of problems. Developing organs and tissues can suffer when chemicals block absorption of nutrients.

Needless to say, avoiding chemicals and pesticides in your garden is a good step towards protecting the health and well being of yourself and your family.

To grow an organic garden, you need to anticipate problems that you may encounter. Keep a garden diary to document problems that you encounter and treatments that were effective for you. This way, you can adjust your planting patterns and types of plants each year. Many people find that it takes a bit of research to really have a successful organic garden.

If you have had a garden in your area before, you probably already know what to expect. For example, you may be able to predict that your garden will get fire ants and rabbits will make themselves at home. If you already know what you will be up against, preventing problems will be easier. Talk to your neighbors if you are not sure.

Prevention is key. You really do not have to worry about many bugs. Nature has a good balance of its own and over ninety percent of bugs will not harm your plants. Simple organic solutions can help you keep bugs and animals that you do not want out of your garden.

For example, human hair spread around the garden will keep out rabbits. Lavender and basil deter ants. Rosemary will repel mosquitoes. The way that you arrange your plants can help protect certain vegetables, too. Garlic and peppers planted around tomatoes and squash will help protect them from harmful insects and rodents.

Finding the right balance of beneficial bugs and plants may take a little time and effort, but the fruits of your labor will be well worth it. Once you have the right combination of plants, caring for your organic garden is as simple as watering. Keep your garden hose on a hose reel for quick and easy access. You will love your organic garden and how easy it is to take care of.

Farmers discovered years ago that tomatoes can grow really well if you plant them upside down. Today, there are plenty of good upside down planters on the market. The only problem is that they can be expensive. But, you can easily make an upside down tomato planter yourself.

First, you need a good sturdy bucket for each plant. You will need to grow your plant to at least four inches tall before you begin. We’ve used everything from one gallon ice cream buckets to five gallon paint buckets. The main thing your bucket needs is a good handle.

A lid is also preferable, but not really necessary. Cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket. Make it only an inch or two across, you don’t want your plant to fall out. Put some potting soil in the bucket, catching what falls out for future use. Gently position your tomato plant in the hole so that the roots are inside the bucket and the stems are sticking out of the bottom.

You may enlist some help for this step unless you already have somewhere to hang your bucket where you can still reach inside. Gently fill dirt little by little around the roots. Do not pack it tight. Wrap a strip of newspaper around the stem so that it is half-way in the dirt and half-way out. This keeps bugs that may climb around the bucket from climbing down the tomato plant. This trick also works for tomatoes planted in the ground.

Finish filling the bucket with dirt because upside down tomato plants can grow a lot of roots. Because gravity is pulling down on the plant, it will grow thick sturdy stalks that may curve up into the air. They will sprout more stems per stalk than a normal tomato plant and support a lot more weight. Hang your bucket somewhere that gets a lot of sun.

If you use a lid, cut a hole in it big enough for rain to enter. Your upside down tomato plant will not need as much water as one planted in the ground because it’s soil will not drain much. Tomatoes never touch the ground and can get sun all the way around. This helps them to ripen sooner and more evenly than traditional plants. The gravity and additional circulation also helps the tomato plant produce more tomatoes and bigger tomatoes.

You want to let the soil in your tomato plant become almost dry before you water it again. Tomatoes prefer an arid climate and too much water will produce flavorless, light-colored, grainy-fleshed tomatoes like you find in many super markets. Bark-like scars on your tomatoes are a sign that you haven’t over-watered and your tomatoes can hold up to five times the nutrients of over-watered tomatoes.

Use a hose reel to keep your hose stored for the long times between watering. With your tomatoes away from bugs and pests, you could have the harvest of a lifetime this summer!