Go Organic

An Easy-to-Follow Checklist For
Starting an organic garden
by Kim J. Gifford
photographs by Henry Homeyer

 As any expert will tell you, the first step in starting an organic garden is embracing a new perspective. The gardener must see the garden as an ecosystem where soil, insects, and other organisms each play an important role. Above all, the organic gardener's job is to keep this system in balance by giving up invasive chemicals for organic products made from plants, animals, and other naturally occurring material.

With this mindset in place, the following checklist will help you in your quest of starting an organic garden of your own:

Give up chemicals.

This is a big step. The traditional approach to gardening has been to rely on chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. "The modern approach is to reach for a weapon," confirms Scott Stokoe of Dartmouth College's organic Farm.

Even if you have decided that chemicals are not the answer, family members and neighbors may not agree.

organic gardening is a way of looking at the world and saying, 'hey, we can do something better.' -henry homeyer

"A lot of times the wife of the family wants an organic vegetable garden, but her husband still wants to put Weed-and-Feed on the lawn four times a year," says Henry Homeyer, author of Notes from the Garden: Re- flections and Observations of an Organic Gardener. "I tell these people if their dandelions were renamed 'daffodil,' people would pay big money for them rather than buying 50 pounds of chemicals to wipe them out."

Buffer areas between organic and non-organic gardens are often important to preserve the integrity of an organic space. "if you know your neighbor has a lawn service, you should not plant a garden on their perimeter, says Cheryl Bruce of the Vermont organic Farmers Certification Agency. "you need a significant buffer area to be sure that none of those chemicals interfere with your garden."

Encourage healthy soil.

Before planting anything, you should have your soil tested. This may be done through area university extension services. Jay North, author of Getting Started in Organic: Gardening for Fun and Profit , cautions in his book, "Be sure to get samples from different areas of the land where you wish to plant as the soil will not be uni- form across your property." The soil test will tell you where your soil is deficient. yet, regardless of what the soil test shows, Stokoe says "the organic antidote is always to raise the level of organic matter in the soil."

Certain bugs such as ladybugs can be helpful in maintaining the garden as they feed on unwanted aphids.

Organic matter helps sandy soil by holding and binding nutrients, and it helps heavy clay soil by allowing for drainage and root penetration.

Find a good source of compost.

For many this is not difficult to do. If your neighbor owns horses and is composting the manure, you can ask them. "Many dairy farms have begun selling composted or aged manure, which has an advantage over fresh manure that can be full of weed seeds," notes Homeyer.

"The key is to feed the soil, not the plants," says Stokoe. "People will go out and look at their plants and think they look a little yellow and may add some nitrogen to the roots. The organic gardener will say, 'I bet I didn't work enough compost in here.'"

Choose the right plants.

According to the GardenWeb (www.gardenweb.com), if you are going to go organic, you need "to choose your plants to fit your garden, rather than insisting on growing picky and temperamental plants that require constant fertilizing."

Stokoe surveys seed catalogues for a plant's disease resistance. "The longer the list of resistance, the more likely i am to consider the plant. We know we're going to have pests and disease, so let's pick a plant that already has its own immunity." he says.

Control pests naturally.

One of the dangers of insecticides is that they kill beneficial bugs as well as pests. Certain bugs such as ladybugs can be helpful in maintaining a garden as they feed on unwanted aphids. rather than using insecticides, choose plants that attract local, beneficial insects.

Sometimes it is not bugs, but other naturally occurring "predators" that keep insects and disease in check. For example, there is a bacteria called Bt that you can purchase at your local garden center to kill the Colorado potato beetle that preys on potato crops.

According to Homeyer, however, "the best pest control grows on your hands. They are called fingers."

Beginning an organic garden isn't always easy, and maintaining it takes work, too, but if you can follow these steps, you'll save money on chemicals, produce healthier fruits and vegetables, and become a good steward of the land.