People have asked this question around the world, to grow fruit and vegetables organically or not? I will provide you with Why you should Garden Organically for you and your family.
There is no limit to what you can grow when gardening organically, I have grown larger crops of fruits and vegetables for years providing my family with healthy foods. You can do this as well with a little knowledge of what to feed your plants and how to combat those pests that try to harm your plants and the fruits and vegetables they produce.
I will explain how to avoid chemicals that can cause health concerns and how to make your own organic fertilizers to how it is cost savings for those hard-earned dollars for you and your family. As well as how to eliminate those pests that are trying to destroy your garden using healthy methods and avoiding harsh chemicals.
Why you should Garden Organically to Avoid the “C” word CANCER
Many of the chemicals used that are not organic can cause cancer and more research that is done today is telling us to avoid them whenever possible even in the small doses that they say are safe. It is difficult to avoid these in processed foods but you can do this when you grow your own food.
More and more chemicals are being used to grow the fruit and vegetables that you purchase in the stores to extend the shelf life and to provide the best-looking fruit and vegetables. These chemicals are not healthy for us to eat when compared to organically grown fruit and vegetables.
Once these harsh chemicals are introduced into our environment it is difficult to remove them and in some cases, it can take many years to remove them.
Cost Savings
Organic fruit and vegetables you purchase in the stores are very expensive and are not as fresh as what you grow yourself.
If you can grow organically you can save a huge amount of money over the cost of these in your local grocery stores. An example of organically grown tomatoes in the store this past summer showed tomatoes for $5.99 a pound for them, my plants that I grew from seeds cost pennies per pound in comparison.
Not only was it a huge cost saving but I also enjoyed the benefits and satisfaction of growing them myself and I could pick the varieties that I like the most.
Health Advantages
Every year there are more and more health alerts for fruit and vegetables that have salmonella contamination that can make people very sick and even cause death.
By growing your own you can make sure that they are grown safely avoiding exposing your family to salmonella and other illnesses caused by improper gardening techniques.
Let’s look at the European diet that consists of fresh vs processed foods and the health of those people vs those of us not eating this way.
If we can avoid using chemicals on our yards and in our gardens it will improve the water runoff quality which we all end up drinking and using in our daily lives.
Recommended Organic Fertilizers
When you grow your fruits and vegetables organically you feed your plants by using organic fertilizers that support the plant’s growth and enable the plants to produce a large crop that is healthy for you and your family to eat.
When using organic fertilizers you can either buy pre-mixed fertilizers or you can make your own COF (Complete organic fertilizers) and the cost is very affordable.
Neptune’s organic fertilizers
Down to Earth’s organic fertilizers
Dr. Earth’s organic fertilizers
Make your own Complete Organic Fertilizers
Recipe for COF once you have mixed these ingredients add one handful to each hole and mix in before planting your plants. You can feed your plants throughout the growing season with this COF around the drip line of the plants. I also add a handful of rock phosphate to each plant after mixing the COF in the hole.
7-7-2 Down to Earth Bio Fish Mix 4 cups
Aglime 1/3 cup
Gypsum 1/3 cup
Recommended Organic Options to eliminate Pests
Instead of using harsh chemicals to treat pests, you can use safe treatments using organic chemicals or introduce bugs that will gladly eat your pests to safeguard your plants, vegetables, and fruit.
Green Lacewing is great to have in your garden to eat aphids, they love to lay their eggs near aphids to feed their offspring when they hatch. They are attracted to sweet-smelling flowers
Ladybugs these are voracious good bugs that will eat all other bugs in your garden, especially aphids, the only downside is they will also eat good bugs. Ladybugs will overwinter in your garden for many seasons as long as there is bugs to eat.
Hoverflies look similar to bees with yellow and black stripes but you can tell them apart by the way they will hover like a helicopter. They have a great appetite and will eat most of the pests they can get their jaws on.
Dragonflies eat many pests to your garden and to you, especially like to devour mosquitos and flies.
Why you should Garden Organically has been written to help you understand all the reasons to use organic methods when gardening. I hope that this article convinces you to start your gardening experience using these methods to grow healthy food for you and your family.
