First, organic vegetable gardening does not use any fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides. Nature is your partner here because you will be using two things to make it all work namely sunlight and water. We don’t produce these ourselves but you have to find the ideal area and provide adequate drainage.

Aside from sunlight and water, you can help the crops grow by using compost heap from leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure. You can mix these all together and then spread this throughout your garden.

A lot of people are grossed about by manure. You don’t have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores. If you have a dog, put on some gloves and put it there. Chickens are also great to have. Just let them roam around in the garden.

Some people use dead animals or meat products. You don’t put these in the soil but leave it for a couple of weeks in the bin because maggots will soon appear and this is what you use to help fertilize your garden.

Another helpful creature is the earthworm because it digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface which also provides better drainage. This long pink colored creature also leaves casting behind that experts say is five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. Again, this can be purchased from the gardening store.

Organic garden is challenging since you have to deal with unwanted guests. Some of these pests include armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. Before, people used fertilizer to kill them but in an organic setting, the best weapon is the toad that is known to eat more almost every type of insect. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because this is not in the toad’s diet.

In some cases, you don’t have to buy a toad or a bird from the pet store. They may come in to your home as long as you set the ideal environment for them. You can put up a bird house or a small pond. Within days, you will have some new occupants protecting your garden.

Other insect killers which you can get to do the job include the preying mantis and the ladybug because they mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain.

Plants can also be used to protect your vegetables. For example, the rosemary, sage or thyme is an effective deterrent against butterflies. Marigolds on the other hand are effective against nematodes.

But despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile. If you planted this kind of vegetable for this season, change it with another and the return to the first after this one is harvested.

The principles behind organic gardening are very simple. You just have to be practice it so you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.

But in addition to these benefits, did you also know that home vegetable gardening is a good way to save money?  For as little as a $40 investment at your local garden center, you can grow over $600 worth of fruits and vegetables in your own yard.  During tough economic times, those numbers can really help out your pocketbook!

It is estimated that the number of U.S. families growing their own produce will increase by approximately 40% this summer.  So what kinds of fruits and vegetables are these families growing?  What are the best plants to put in your vegetable garden?  We’ll evaluate some of the more commonly home grown produce items and review the basics of how to get started growing them yourself.

Tomatoes:Tomatoes are by far the most popular home grown produce item.  They are extremely versatile and easy to grow. They don’t require a lot of care, and will produce well, even under less than desirable conditions.  Tomatoes can be grown in almost any soil type, as long as they receive 4-5 hours of sunlight per day.  Regular watering is preferable, though they will produce fruit even in dry conditions.  Tomatoes can be purchased as small plants from your local garden center, but they are also quite simple to grow from seed.  If growing from seed, you should start your plants indoors about 8 weeks before the last frost in your area.

Squash:Squash is another popular choice for home vegetable gardeners because of its heavy yields.  One squash will easily feed a family of 3-4 people, or if you want to do some canning, 3 or 4 plants will be sufficient.  There are many varieties of squash to choose from.  Summer squash such as zucchini is a popular choice.  Winter squashes such as acorn or butternut squash are harvested later in the fall and have a long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.

Peas and Beans:Peas are a cool season crop that should be started as early as possible in the spring, after the last frost.  Most types of peas are climbing vines, which means you’ll need to provide some type of support such as a small trellis.  Beans are available in both pole (climbing) and bush varieties, depending on how much space you have and what your needs are.  Depending on the variety of peas and beans you choose, some will require shelling, meaning that the outer hull must be removed and discarded before consumption.  Other peas and beans such as snow or sugar peas and green beans have edible pods.

Peppers:Peppers are another popular choice for home vegetable gardening, especially because they can be a very expensive produce item to buy in the grocery store.  The most important thing to remember about growing peppers is that they require plenty of warm weather.  If you live in a northern climate with cooler, shorter summers, then peppers probably aren’t the plant for you.  Peppers require at least 6-8 weeks of very hot temperatures in order to produce reliably.  Good fertilization is also important for the best yields.  Once the plant is established, be sure to choose a fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium rather than one with too much nitrogen.

With a little patience and a green thumb, you too can be well on your way to growing your own vegetables at home.  Home grown vegetables cost less, usually taste better, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you grew them yourself!  So what are you waiting for?  Buy some seeds and get your home vegetable garden started today!

Certainly if you go to the shops to buy your vegetables they will never be as fresh as the ones you pick yourself from your own garden. Many of the vegetables you pick ready for including in your Sunday dinner are also very tasty to eat in their natural state. In fact I have often found myself nibbling on peas while I have been picking them for dinner. They taste great fresh out of the pod. If you have a greenhouse, why not have a go at growing your own tomatoes and other things like peppers and chillies. In fact, it’s great to be able to wander outside and just pick yourself a fresh tomato to eat whenever you like.

There is another advantage to growing your own vegetables too and that is that you know exactly what went in to creating them. You can be 100% certain whether or not pesticides and other chemicals were used on your crop. This is great knowledge to have, especially if you have children and want to be careful about exactly what you are feeding them. No matter what the labels say in the shops, this is something you may never be 100% sure about when you buy vegetables from the shop.

There are some sprays you may want to use to keep pests and diseases at bay but even so, you are in control. Make sure you read the labels and you can be sure exactly what you are spraying on your plants. Wherever possible though, try and go for a natural solution. For example, when growing tomatoes one of the most common problems is white fly. You can reduce their impact quite a lot though by growing French Marigolds close by. This is because the Marigold’s pungent odour will mask the scent of the tomato plants and therefore they will not as easily attract the pest. There are other companion plants you can use to keep different pests away from your other vegetables as well.

If you are concerned about disease then it is within your control to select the variety of vegetable to grow that will flourish in your environment and also be resistant to disease. It is this control that allows you to do anything you want in your garden. So, if you have a spare piece of ground in your garden, why not consider growing a few vegetables for yourself. You will be rewarded time and again if you do.

There are five simple things that most new gardeners overlook when they plant their first garden. Once everything is planted, the real care begins. You have to tend your garden well in order to produce the best results.

Tip #1: Water your garden. Watering is the number one responsibility you have when it comes to a garden. The best practice is to get into a routine and water consistently every day at about the same time. Don’t let a rain fall get you off track, you still have to water the next day.

Tip #2: Water in the morning. I know this goes hand in hand with number one, but this one is equally important. If you water in the afternoon, the heat from the sun can evaporate the water before your plants have fed. It is best to water prior to 10 am when possible.

Tip #3: Weed your garden. It sounds like a no-brainer, but weeds are a vampire to your garden. They suck the nutrients and the water out of the soil. You have to get out there every day and pull weeds before they are allowed to take root. Dig them out when possible to remove all traces.

Tip #4: Rid yourself of pests. Since you are growing an organic garden, over the counter pesticides are a no-go. You can make your own homemade pesticide though that will assist you if your garden is being overrun. Mix two teaspoons of dish soap with one cup of vegetable oil. Add a couple of teaspoons of this to a spray bottle with water in it. Then spray the heavily infected areas with this solution to control pests.

Tip #5: Care for your spot all year round. If you let the garden just be overrun with weeds, leaves, etc in the off season, you are asking for trouble. Even if you are just seasonally growing, you should keep that patch of earth clean. Caring for your garden area all year round will lead to a more bountiful, disease free harvest the next season.

Armed with these 5 tips and a “can do” attitude you are well on your way to a healthy organic garden.

With any type of gardening, it all begins with good soil preparation and choosing the right seeds. Also try to select the healthiest looking plants when transplanting. Immediate removal of diseased plants will protect your other vegetables as well.

Proper watering practices will help as well. You should give the plants moisture early to allow them time to dry before the sun sets. Careful watering can benefit your plants in a number of ways. If a plant is diseased, and water splashes from it to another plant, it could spread that disease. Think about how a cold is spread from a sneezing person to someone else. Spacing your plants properly should help reduce this possibility.

Viruses can be spread from plant to plant in many ways. Some are spread by insects, so controlling them will aid you in disease control. Other animals, as well as humans can spread harmful diseases among your plants as well. An example of this is tobacco mosaic virus, which can be spread by a gardener’s gloves or possibly on the legs of animals that walk through your garden.

Maintaining a tight check on weeds will help to lower the chances of diseases. This improves the health, as well as the beauty of your garden. Many organisms can move to your vegetables from the weeds they are so fond of. They are also transferable via other medium such as air, water and living organisms like bugs.

Knowing which diseases to look for on certain plants will give you a head start.

Lettuce mold will show up as a rotted wet spot at the base when the edges are touching the ground. The white mold is called Sclerotinia, and the gray is Botrytis. Remove the affected areas, or if it’s too bad, take out the entire plant.

Lettuce is also prone to the spinach mosaic virus. It will start with mottled looking leaves that, later, turn yellow. It begins to look limp and will droop. Some varieties are more resistant to this disease than others, so keep that in mind.

Wilting or rotting of asparagus may be caused by something called Fusarium. The shoots will begin to turn yellow and the spears will be spindly. Discolored and rotted roots may also show up. Remove the affected plants as necessary. The Puccinia fungus will cause another problem with asparagus called rust. Red spots on the shoots and spears will indicate this problem. Excess watering is sometimes the cause of this.

Tomatoes are commonly susceptible to blight and leaf spots, as well as others. Especially in cool summers, these diseases will usually show up by mid August. Certain soil fungi are common to only tomatoes. The roots of walnut trees sometimes carry a toxin that is potentially dangerous to nearby tomatoes. Making sure the leaves are dry before nightfall will help reduce this.

Knowing what to look for and how to avoid it will help you produce large and healthy crops.

Tomato plants may suffer blooms that keep falling off without production of fruit could be caused by Blossom End Rot, a Fruit Rot – A mold growing inside tomatoes as they ripen but outside the tomatoes are healthy, or Early Blight – Leaves that curl up, turn a yellowish brown color and almost look like black spot found on rose bushes.Early blight is a fungus. Dark brown to black spots on the leafs with concentric rings, usually starting on the lower leaves. Leaves can turn yellow and drop off the plant.

Various research groups around the glove in the plant industry have conducted a painstaking research, and studied on how to improve tomato production especially during off-season. In the Philippines, researchers at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Los Banos National Crop Research and Development, a research laboratory based in Los Banos Laguna, have discovered a

new technology for tomato off-season production. This new tomato off-season production technology is now being commercialized in the region.

Tomato growers, farmers and gardeners who wants to earn more from tomato harvested during rainy season, may find this technology beneficial. Even the hobbyist gardeners may find this tomato off-season production technology, enjoyable, as they continuously plant tomatoes in pots, boxes, or any available containers, for easy and accessible fresh tomato yields during

mealtime.

Grafting tomato on eggplant rootstock is one way of eliminating bacterial wilt, which is a very destructive disease of tomato. Research showed that grafted tomatoes in the eggplant rootstock yielded a 21% higher than the ordinary tomato seedlings. The grafting process is simple. Sow seeds of eggplant for rootstock 5-7 days ahead of tomatoes. Graft when eggplant is 3-4 weeks old. Cut the stock and scion ( the same size ) with a sterilized blade at 70-80 degree angles above the first two leaves (the cotyledon). Insert rubber tubing, 10mm long and 1-1.5 cm diameter on the stock allowing the cut portion of the scion or splice to get in touch with each other. Set the grafter plants inside the humidity chamber and transfer seedlings in a cool dry place with complete black net cover for 4-7 days. The seedlings are then ready for transplanting.

The eggplant variety used for rootstock is EG-203 which known and identified to be very highly resistant to bacterial wilt and other soil-borne tomato plant disease organisms.

The tomato variety for scion must be an indeterminate type wherein trellis must be provided for favorable vegetable development.

Try this tomato off-season production technology and enjoy a fruitful tomatoes growing on eggplant rootstock.