Going Organic Your Questions Part One

Organic produce, like fruit and vegetables have become big business, and the word ‘organic’ appears to be a license to print money.

However, looking at many of the ‘organic’ offerings does not instill confidence that the extra money is worth it.

So, what does it take to grow your own organic produce?

Here are the most frequently asked questions by someone considering growing their own organic produce for the first time.

I want to go organic but don’t know where to start?

Organic gardening begins with a change of mind set and thinking. First, you have to learn, to feed the soil and NOT the plants, this concept underpins the whole principle of organic gardening.

This is done by adding organic materials to the soil, in the form of compost, manures and mulches. These materials are broken down by a hidden army of workers in the soil, these are called microflora, and their job is to make food become available for the roots to take up to feed the plants.

What make organic fruit and vegetables different?

Non-organic gardening has evolved around commercially made plant foods in the form of fertilisers, these are ‘fed’ to the plants mixed in with water, thus making it readily available for the roots to absorb, even if you choose to use a power form of fertiliser, it will dissolve in the soils water supply as this is the way they are designed.

The problem begins in the fact that the plant roots are ONLY offered this water & food mixture. In reality, this means, every time the roots need just water to hydrate the plant cells, it has to take up nutrients as well. The roots cannot separate the fertilisers from the water, resulting in the plant having ‘excess’ energy and being forced into using this energy by growing.

Plants are not so different to humans, they have a pre-determined routine. They have natural cycles, there are times when they are not actively growing and during these periods the roots, only take up water and the plant only requires food when it is in a growing phase and during this time the roots will find both nutrients and water to feed the plant.

And like humans, if plants get ‘overloaded’ with food they become unhealthy and sick, which is what happens in commercial growing conditions because they feed the plants constantly.

Organic gardening supplies both water and nutrients separately, allowing the plants to go about their cycles that nature has created.

Is going organic expensive?

Not in the least, infact, going organic will SAVE you money. You will save money by not having to buy expensive commercially made food and pesticides.

In organic gardening you will use animal manures, recycle garden waste like leaves, grass clippings, hedge cuttings and old vegetables.

These can be obtained from your existing garden free of charge and by visiting farms and stables, who will be only too glad to let you have animal manure free of charge and if you are lucky, some spoilt hay bales for mulch free of charge.

And if you use heirloom seeds you only have to invest in the seeds once and then save seeds from your best plants for generations to come free of charge. You just need to know where to look, then understand what it is you have found, that’s where I come in to help lead the way.

Do I have to re-plant my whole garden to go organic?

No, you can simply change over. The only thing you will have to consider, is doing a ‘little bit’ of both types of gardening for a season or two.

This is because your existing plants have been established by being fed a solution of food and water, the roots have never been in a position that they have to go looking for food and water, you have saved them the job.

Now, you will have to ‘wean’ your plants off their liquid diet, and build your soil with enough organic matter that the roots can take over and let the plants ‘revert’ back to their natural cycles. There is no quick fix for this, it is purely done on trial and error, but it will not take your plants long to revert, thats if they haven’t been spoilt too much!!

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