| An organic garden is a rewarding source of healthy | | | | balance: |
| fruits and vegetables for you and your family. | | | | 1. Maintain healthy soil. |
| Maintaining the delicate balance between all of the | | | | This will promote healthy plants. Most insects only |
| components of your organic garden's ecosystem is | | | | attack unhealthy plants. Incorporating natural compost |
| hard work but it is the key to successfully preventing | | | | consisting of garden and kitchen scraps is a natural, |
| damage from harmful garden insects. | | | | organic way to keep your soil fertile and healthy. |
| If that balance is upset, harmful pests may become a | | | | 2. Rotate your crops. |
| problem that requires additional attention. The topic of | | | | Planting a crop in the same spot season after season |
| using any "pesticide" in an organic garden is a | | | | will eventually weaken the soil of the nutrients a |
| controversial one. There are both homemade and | | | | particular plant needs. The resulting unhealthy plans will |
| commercially-available products to assist in the control | | | | be more prone to insect attack. Rotating crops from |
| of harmful garden pests but it is important to note that | | | | year to year allows the soil to replenish itself of |
| extra care should be taken when selecting any | | | | depleted nutrients from the year before. |
| pesticide to use in your organic garden. Pay particular | | | | 3. Invite the good bugs to your garden. |
| attention to ingredients and warnings even though it | | | | Encourage beneficial predator and parasitic insects into |
| may be labeled "natural" or "organic". | | | | your garden by planting flowers in your garden that |
| To avoid the need for any pesticides, you should focus | | | | provide sources of food for them. They, in turn, will |
| on the prevention of harmful garden insects instead. It | | | | help keep the harmful insect population in check. |
| is indeed the best "medicine" you can give your organic | | | | 4. Keep your garden clean. |
| garden. Your ultimate goal is a natural balance of all | | | | Keeping the garden or orchard free of excess debris |
| the key elements of your garden...soil, water, plants | | | | will give the harmful insect population less places to |
| AND insects. There are quite a few "good" insects | | | | hide and thrive. |
| that will help you fight the battle. Treat them well and | | | | At times, considering all of these factors may seem a |
| you will reduce the risk of ever needing a pesticide. | | | | bit overwhelming and stressful. However, if you are |
| When the key elements of your garden are in balance, | | | | successful in keeping this delicate balance in check, |
| it promotes a healthy garden and a balanced insect | | | | you may never need to consider using pesticides in |
| population (just enough of the good insects to control | | | | your garden and it will reward you with some of the |
| the bad ones)...and a healthy garden will do a great job | | | | healthiest, freshest vegetables on earth. Please never |
| all by itself to control harmful pests. | | | | forget one of the most important things about your |
| Here are four tips to promote a natural organic garden | | | | garden. You planted it because gardening is fun. |