In the case of non-organic livestock farming, it is normal for antibiotics to be used for preventing diseases and promoting the growth of livestock, unlike organic food farming. Generally, animals are bigger due to the regular injection of antibiotics. Although certain nations like UK discourage farmers from injecting antibiotics in animals for growth promotion but the practice is very much common in such places. Organic food farming uses antibiotics for treating animal illnesses only. It promotes good husbandry and animal stocking levels as a means of preventing possible animal diseases.

With regular antibiotic injection for animals, there is a high possibility of a high residue of antibiotics in non-organic animal meat. This residue would be transferred to the person who consumes the meat. As you may know, antibiotics have strong side effects in terms of health. In other words, people who consume non-organic meat may suffer from serious illnesses at a much later stage in their lives.

Apart from this, certain bacteria and germs in animals could develop full immunity towards the aforementioned antibiotics. Therefore, if a person suffers due to any of this bacteria or germs, it would not be possible to use certain antibiotics for curing the disease or illness. Other than that, some research and studies show good evidence that organic food contains more Vitamin C, minerals and polyphenols in comparison to non-organic food.

Due to the lack of pesticides and other chemicals usage, it is very much understandable. In the case of non-organic farming, it is usual for non-organic farmers to use pesticides for keeping away insects and other pests. However, pesticides are chemical based compounds, which can cause health side effects. Due to their vulnerability in physical terms, children may suffer more health problems compared to adults. Apart from pesticides, artificial preservatives and sweeteners are normally used for non-organic food farming as well. This type of additives give side effects to health, more so as time goes on.

However, organic food farming focuses on natural growth and does not use chemical additives. In other words, organic food is a better choice for health compared to non-organic food, especially for young growing children. Although there have been some studies and research of the benefits of organic food but more intensive research and concrete proof is needed. With such evidence, perhaps, more people may opt for a healthier choice and help to save the environment at the same time.

Build your own organic vegetable farm not only will save your time and money to travel to market for grocery, but in the same time the health benefits you gain from organic vegetables are numerous. Home grown vegetables are more fresh and rich in nutrients than those that come from large farms that use pesticides and other chemicals to maintain the crop. Freshly grown vegetables are also preservative free, unlike canned vegetables from the grocery store. Try it now with just a few simple steps and start getting all the freshness and nutrients from YOUR organic food farming.

Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant an organic vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live HERE.

If you want to learn how to plant an organic vegetable garden you are making terrific decision. Planting a year around vegetable garden will allow you to grow enough fresh vegetables for you and your family that you will soon have fresh and organic vegetables on your table daily. Whether it’s to save money or to avoid genetically modified vegetables at your supermarket, planting a veggie garden provides countless benefits.

One of the first things you need to know when looking to learn how to plant a vegetable garden is making the most from your the space you have available. You will be surprised how many fresh vegetables you can grow even with limited space for a plot. If possible try and stay away from any trees which can steal nutrients away from your vegetables.

Vegetables need plenty of sunshine, look for an area that receives plenty of morning sun. Preparation is the key to learning how to plant a vegetable garden you can be proud of. One of the secrets to growing a great garden is soil preparation, it is critical.

With soil preparation you must remove all weeds, avoid any weed killers and remove them by hand. You must test the pH level of your soil, anything around a reading of 6.5 is ideal. If you are unable to test it yourself head over to your local gardening store for testing.

Having your soil pH either too high or two low will restrict nutrients to your vegetables. Garden lime is commonly used to bring up low pH soil levels. Dig the soil over and look to get to depth of about 30cm (12″).You should allow 4-5 weeks before you begin to plant any vegetables.

Now you might be asking what vegetables you can plant? This will be dependent on climate zone so speak to your gardening store about the ideal vegetables for your area. You can pick up seedling for a great price and begin planting after your soil preparation.

The key to learning how to plant an organic vegetable garden from scratch picking the right vegetables that you can rotate year around to help eliminate pests and disease problems.

Organic fertilizers such as animal manure and garden composts are fantastic for providing nutrients to your vegetables as well as improving soil conditions and structure. Organic fertilizers help retain moisture which is very important. Watering your organic vegetable garden is important but try to ensure it doesn’t become waterlogged and allow for proper drainage.

Want to learn a step by step guide on how to plant an organic vegetable garden properly? Learn how to plant an organic vegetable garden that will produce fresh, organic vegetables year round and save up to $5,000 a year on food. Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden with only 8 hours work per year!

Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant an organic vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live HERE.

Are you looking to plant your very own organic vegetable garden but you’re not sure how to get started? Planting a healthy organic vegetable garden provides so many benefits including an abundance of healthy organic food and saving thousands on your grocery bills. I don’t know about you but I still remember the days when a tomato from the supermarket tasted like a tomato, not anymore unfortunately. Let’s look at some organic vegetable gardening for beginners’ tips to help get you started today.

Vegetable Gardening For Beginners – Tips

Preparation is the key to growing a beautiful and healthy organic vegetable garden. Planning is critical for setting up a organic vegetable garden that you can harvest every daily. Vegetable gardening for beginners does not have to be difficult with the correct planning.

First you must decide on your plot, the area for your garden. The ideal spot is somewhere that receives plenty of morning sun and protection from the elements such as wind. Although you may be limited with the space you have available don’t be discouraged as you will be shocked at how much you can grow by maximizing the space you have. Ensure there is sufficient drainage for water runoff.

Importance Of Soil Quality

One of the most common organic vegetable gardening for beginners’ tips you will hear is never underestimate soil quality. Soil is the life lines of a garden so please do not underestimate its importance. You must ensure that your soil preparations include checking the soil and preparing it by testing its pH levels. The ideal pH level for your soil is 6.5, if you do not have a test kit you can go to your local garden outlet and let them test it for you.

Don’t stress if your levels are out of whack for the moment, you can purchase garden lime that will improve the pH levels of your soil. In a nutshell your pH levels will determine how much nutrients your vegetables will be able to receive.

Preparing Your Plot

Dig your plot and turn your soil over, ensure you dig into a depth of about 12″ (30cm) and remove any weeds you find by hand. Avoid using weed killers and they can affect your soil structure and levels. Once your pH levels are in healthy range, wait 4-5 weeks before you begin planting.

The vegetables that you grow will dependent on where you live. Speak to your gardening outlet that will buy seedlings from for the most suitable vegetables. Ask about purchasing some organic fertilizer which will be the life blood of your garden. Organic fertilizers such as animal manure, blood and bones as well as compost are terrific choices for providing essential nutrients and moisture.

Growing Vegetables Year Round

The key to planting a successful organic vegetable garden is to have vegetables that you can harvest year round. By doing this you can rotate different vegetables to help ensure the health of your gardening by limiting pests and diseases. One of the most common organic vegetable gardening for beginners’ mistakes is insufficient planning and set up process.

If you set up your organic vegetable garden correctly you will have vegetables that you can harvest every single day. With the right planning your garden should require very maintenance and upkeep as it continues to provide fresh, organic food for you and your family for years to come.

Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant an organic vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live HERE.

For many people, composting is just an alternative way of dealing with rubbish.  It prevents the garbage bin from getting full and smelly.  It’s also a way of disposing of grass clippings and leaves, which saves many trips to the garbage depot.  Whilst these things are valid, they are not giving compost the full credibility it deserves.  Compost can be very valuable when used in the right way.

I have a completely different way of looking at compost.  For me, composting is a way of building valuable nutrients that will, one day, feed me and my family.  I only use compost on my vegetable gardens.  The way I manage my organic vegetable gardens means that composting is an integral part of the whole food production system.  I create compost as a way of collecting nutrients in one form (waste), and turning them into another form (food).

The average person buys food from a shop, consumes it and then sends the waste away.  This is simply buying nutrients, taking what you need for that precise moment, and disregarding the remainder.  It’s a nutrient flow that only flows in one direction, like a fancy car roaring down the road.  You admire the car for a moment, but after a second or two, it’s gone.

To put it in a different way; composting is a vehicle in which we are able to create a nutrient cycle within our property.  We are part of that cycle because we consume the nutrients when they are, for a brief time, in a useful form.  Then they return to the compost and slowly make their way into another useful form where we consume them again.  This cycle can go on and on indefinitely.  Of course, there will be many lost nutrients that you will never see again, but with a little diligence, you will be surprised at how much compost you can create, and hence, how many valuable nutrients you can recycle.

My composting system is large because I have a few large vegetable gardens.  I believe that the size of your vegetable garden should be determined by how much compost you can create, and not merely by the amount of space you have in your backyard.  To run a rich, high yielding vegetable garden you need to have some sort of soil conditioning plan, and the best thing for your soil is a generous layer of good compost on the surface a few times per year.

If you can create your own compost from the organic waste that you generate in your everyday life, then you can have an organic vegetable garden that is self-sustainable.  Once it is set up, it will never need nutrients in the form of store-bought fertilizers.  You will have established a flow of nutrients, and your nutrient-store will grow bigger and bigger, year after year.  Applying compost to your garden will have a very positive effect on your soil structure and fertility.  With good soil structure and plenty of organic material, you will be able to release nutrients that have been locked up and unavailable to your plants.  You will be speeding up the flow of nutrients, thus increasing your yield significantly.  Your soil will become alive and healthy with micro-organisms and soil bacteria that are beneficial to creating the conditions for proper plant growth.  Your vegetables will contain all the essential nutrients in the correct proportions, giving your body the vitamins and minerals it needs to function at its best.

Composting is very easy once you make it part of your everyday life.  A small container on your kitchen bench to collect scraps and a daily trip to the compost bin is all it takes.  It’s a small effort for huge rewards.  The golden rule in making compost is never to have large clumps of a single type of material.  Thin layers of hot and cold materials work best.  Cold materials include leaves, shredded newspaper and dried grass clippings.  Hot materials include fresh grass clippings, manures, weeds, discarded soft plants and kitchen scraps.

If you make composting part of your daily routine, along with an effective method of growing food, you can literally save thousands of dollars per year.  This is possible simply because you won’t have to keep buying nutrients over and over.  You will buy them once, hold onto them and then convert them into useful forms again and again.  It’s that simple!

Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant an organic vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live HERE.

Absolutely everyone from farmers to inner-city townhouse dwellers.  It may seem strange, but if you have never grown food before then you are, in some ways, at an advantage.  Experienced gardeners may like to see themselves as adopting some ecological gardening techniques, but find it difficult to let go of the need to control the system.  Like all industries, the gardening industry can get stuck in doing things a certain way and most seasoned gardeners will inevitably over-work the garden.  As a species, human beings prospered when we learnt to cultivate food using tilling and other traditional agricultural methods, so it’s difficult to turn back to where we came from – nature.  It might even feel like a step in the wrong direction.  But if we can let go of our need to control every living thing on the planet, and start to work with nature, we actually gain more control by being able to grow food more efficiently than ever before.  It’s a paradox – but it works!

Setting up an ecological garden

Any existing vegetable garden can be converted into an ecological garden.  Firstly, get your pathways laid out so that you never have to walk on your garden beds again.  After that, get a good composting system going and apply it to the soil surface.  Then plant densely and diversely.

If you don’t have a vegetable garden, my suggestion would be to create a classic Esther Deans ‘no dig’ garden to get you started.  Once erected, simply follow the ecological gardening method.

Mini-ecological garden

If you live in a unit or townhouse with no soft ground you could create a mini-ecological garden using a series of containers.  Polystyrafoam boxes with drainage holes are ideal.  Fill them with good potting mixture and arrange them side by side using as many as you can fit onto your verandah or patio.  Rather than developing a large composting system, you could purchase a worm farm and add the worm casts to the soil surface as fertilizer.  Once the boxes are set up, simply adopt the ecological gardening method.

The Ecological Gardening Method – the key principles.

1. Plant densely

2. Plant a diversity of plants within a given area

3. Get a good composting system set up and use the compost as a surface mulch on bare patches

4. Allow some plants to go to seed

5. Only interfere with the system when a single species of plant over-dominates and simply scratch out excess plants when they are small.

Growing food is not hard work, especially when you have nature helping you 24/7.  A small area can provide you with such a bounty of food, saving your family thousands of dollars per year.  Most of us don’t have much time to spend in the garden, including me.  I only invest around eight hours of time per year to growing my food, and although I live on a small farm I only use a space of around 6 x 6m.  That’s an area that could fit into many suburban backyards several times over.  The most wonderful thing about this method is that I know I can ignore my vegetable garden for months and it won’t miss a beat.  So, if you believe growing food is only for tough bearded warriors with lots of land and time, think again.  Ecological gardening could be just the thing for you.

Learn how to set up an organic vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant an organic vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live HERE.