19 Sep Five Green Tips for your Organic Garden

Spring is the season when green fingers start twitching, and nature-lovers from all walks of life can’t wait to roll up their sleeves and get to work in the garden. Whether you’re lucky enough to be planting on a rambling plot, or simply turning your apartment balcony into a tiny urban oasis, we’ve got five groovy green tips to help you make sure your garden stays organic and earth-friendly, every step of the way.

1. Be Seed Smart

By planting organic seeds, you’ll be helping to support organic agriculture as a whole and giving yourself a crop of chemical-free produce – which is healthier and tastier. You’ll find that certain herbs and vegetables grow really well together and complement each other in nourishing organic dishes, so take a look at our handy “companion packs”, eg Tomato and Basil.

2. Get Well-Grounded

The quality of what you grow also depends largely on the quality of the soil you’re working with. Factors like frost, drought, heat, cold, fire and chemical pollution can all cause damage to fertile ground. You might find you need to improve your soil with a natural probiotic, which are packed full of the beneficial fungi and bacteria needed to repair the soil and grow healthier, happier plants. To keep your garden organic, make sure you choose an all-natural soil improver that’s free of pathogens and GMOs.

3. Cool Compost

Forget those chemical-laden commercial fertilisers. Cut down on food waste and give your plants a tasty treat at the same time by making your own all-natural compost. All you need is a healthy helping of Bokashi bran and your organic kitchen scraps, mixed together in a composting bin.

4. Water Wise

Save and reuse the water you use to cook your veggies – let it cool down and then water your vegetable garden with it. You’ll be saving precious water and boosting soil nutrients at the same time.

5. Send those Pests Packing

It’s every gardener’s dilemma: you don’t want creepy-crawlies dining on your home-grown greens, but you don’t want to harm your environment or the creatures in it. Luckily, there are plenty of natural insecticide solutions to deter pests without killing them – without damaging your soil or scaring off useful pollinating insects.

You can either use an organic pesticide in your garden, or have some fun planting herbs and flowers that naturally repel harmful insects and attract useful ones.

•Repel aphids with garlic, chives or spearmint
•Control mosquitos with citronella or catnip
•Attract bees with lavender, sage, thyme, rosemary and chamomile

Diatomaceous Earth also makes a great natural snail and slug repellent.

Have fun growing your own organic plants and making your own small patch of our planet even more beautiful! Be sure to send us pics of your organic garden, and share more tips with your fellow gardeners.