Not so long ago, organic gardening was thought of as something only practised by nuts and flower children. But now with global warming, many different “green” movements and ecology awareness it has become highly popular and mainstream.

Supermarkets have sections where  you can buy organically grown produce.  Organic vegetables, free-range eggs, unpasturized milk, natural honey and a host of other naturally produced foods fetch a higher price simply because they are organic.

This is because organic gardening requires more effort and commitment than conventional gardening.  Many gardeners simply lose patience with the first sign of a few pests. It’s so easy to get rid of unsightly bugs with a quick spray of insecticide.

Clearly, not everyone is cut out to be an organic gardener. You do need patience and you do need to be willing to learn by trial and error.  But the advantages of organic gardening are so great that it is worth every bit of effort.

What puts most people off organic gardening is the thought of being unable to use insect sprays to deal effectively with pests and diseases. But pests and diseases shouldn’t be top of mind when you start out – otherwise you’ll give up before you begin!

Don’t anticipate problems before they arise. Nature will tell you what to do if you observe your garden carefully.

The Micro-climate of your Garden
For example, the micro-climate of your garden plays a very important role in the success of your plants. The micro-climate simply put, is the local climate within your small garden – how it is affected by the trees, by the walls and by whether the sunshine reaches your garden or not.

The bottom line is that you have to learn to be observant and sensitive to nature.  Many people who live in cities don’t even know where the sun rises and sets. So don’t forget to take note of where the sun rises and sets before you plant because this will make a huge difference to the results.

Of course there is much more to working hand in hand with nature and this is only a small example. But that is the general idea.

In particular, organic gardeners don’t like using poisons and fortunately there are a number of solutions for non-toxic sprays.  I will be writing about them from time to time in my organic gardening section. Meanwhile, go to Roses and Gardens where I have given the recipes for a few safe sprays for organic gardeners.

I bit into a lovely red tomato and tasted a mouth full of chemicals.  No lovely tomato flavour. Just pure chemical spray.

That was more than enough for me.  Not only was the taste terrible but can you imagine how unhealthy tomatoes like that must be?

And what about all those vegetables where you don’t taste the chemicals because you have cooked them into your stew? And what about serving up meals like this to your children?

Now I know that organic gardening is supposed to be more difficult.  Just think about the steep price of organically grown vegetables at the shops.  But the taste of that chemical tomato still lingers and that makes me more determined than ever to try my hand at organic gardening.

I have always had a special feeling about nature so it hasn’t been all that difficult to get into. I use a three-pronged approach that involves improving  the soil, using compost instead of artificial fertilizers and definitely no chemical sprays.

• Soil care
• Compost
• No chemical sprays

And thereby hangs many a tale. In due course, I’ll let you know about some of my triumphs as well as my trials and tribulations!

You can read more about my adventures with organic gardening at Roses and Gardens

We all know that toxic sprays damage the environment.  But it damages our own gardens too. It upsets the delicate balance of nature and as a result, you find yourself having to use poisonous sprays and fertilizers more and more.

Obviously this has a toxic build-up and there are side effects. Not only are poisonous sprays dangerous to human health; they make your pets suffer too.

All this can spoil any gardening experience. And that is why I decided to join the organic gardening fraternity.

Years ago, Prince Charles got a lot of flack when people found out that he was into organic gardening. Many jokes went the rounds about how he was secretly chatting up his favourite plants. But the joke is on us!  His organic farms thrived. And now he is the one smiling his rueful “I told you so” smile as gardeners everywhere try to follow his example.

Organic gardening simply makes sense in these ecologically challenging times. And now that America too is going greener after getting involved with the Kyoto protocol we will find that environmentally friendly gardening will become more and more popular.

But I digress. I was talking about poisonous sprays.  The bottom line is that I don’t use them. I have found some great alternate methods – some really effective non-toxic sprays that are easy to make – and best of all, are completely safe for your home garden.

You’ll find several helpful and easy recipes for non-toxic sprays at Rosesandgardens.com. It’s all about growing roses and vegetables the safe, organic way.

P.S.
I just discovered a detailed online book about getting rid of pests organically – without  poisons. You  may  be interested too.  Here it is:

Organic Pest Control

I’m talking about pumpkins – yes, the ordinary garden variety. And this is how it happened.

I kept a few pumpkin seeds from a really good pumpkin we had bought at the supermarket.  And like Jack and the beanstalk the day arrived when I decided to plant them. Just 6 seeds at the bottom of my garden.

Now the garden is slightly sloped so they were out of sight and I forgot about them until a few weeks later when I saw some big healthy pumpkin leaves.  It didn’t take long before yellow pumpkin flowers started to develop and soon one plant in particular began to trail down the slope bearing lots of little white pumpkins.

A few good rains and some overhead watering and the pumpkins really started to take on a life of their own.  It wasn’t too long before I began to invite visitors to see our giant pumpkin plant with its huge white pumpkins.

They are still thriving at the bottom of the garden and now each pumpkin is so huge that I need help to carry it up the slope.

I’m still giving away pumpkins to friends and family and I’ll have plenty to last through the coming winter. The joys of organic gardening!  No fertilizers beyond a little compost and certainly no toxic sprays or poisons.

Next time I’ll share my excellent pumpkin fritter recipe. They’re puffy and delicious.