The first of these things is your soil, this is what your plants are going to be getting their nutrients from so failure to get this right will mean your plants will not be able to grow big ad strong as you want them to. Certain plants will need different types of soil so be sure to do a little bit of research on the exact type of soil you will need for all of your crops. As well as getting a good quality soil you should start making your own compost, now this is a fairly straight forward process but it does take a long time and is an all year round project so the sooner you get started with it the better. When your compost is finished it will help with the fertility of the soil in your organic garden and also give your plants everything that they need to be big, strong and more importantly delicious. Plus you will also be doing your bit for the environment because the things that you use on your compost heap will be recycled waste products from your kitchen.

The second important thing to get right when growing your own organic vegetables is making sure that you do not get too many bugs and animals eating all of your lovely crops. This can be done in a couple of different ways. One of my favourite and most effective ways you can do this is by doing some companion planting, if you have never heard of this before then it is basically just a method of growing certain plants in close vicinity of each other that are able to help each other out by repelling the nasty bugs and insects that are going to eat your plants or by attracting good bugs and insects that will help to defend your plants. This is a simple but very effective way of protecting your garden and is certainly important for any organic gardening project.

Organic gardening is certainly worth while and is a great way of feeding your family healthy and delicious food, and if you have young children then they will be more likely to try different fruits and vegetables if they have been involved with growing them so is fantastic in that aspect. So if you have not started growing your own organic food yet you must give it a go and I’m sure that you will absolutely love the results.

If you are new to organic vegetable gardening then these tips are essential in making sure that you grow the best vegetables that you can and without having too many problems from bugs and insects.

Click Here for a fool proof method of growing organic vegetables

1 Healthy Soil

Getting the right soil is essential when it comes to organic vegetable gardening so it is important to make sure you mix the soil with a nice compost, this will ensure that the soil has all of the vital nutrients needed for growing your lovely, healthy vegetables.

2 Companion Planting

Growing plants that have a strong scent along side your organic veg can attract the nasty insects away from your vegetables. This is one of my favourite ways of keeping the bugs at bay.

3 Making your own compost

I find that it is so much better to make my own compost out of tea bags, vegetable peelings, bits of newspaper…. basically anything that you would normally just throw away. (within reason of course)

4 Natural Pesticides

Experimenting with natural pesticides can be a very rewarding and a simple way of keeping the bugs away from your vegetables. For example, you could try using a lemon grass plant to repel the mosquito’s, or if you plant garlic around fruit trees, it will repel borers. So if you are having problems with a specific insect or bug then it isn’t too hard to just look up a way of using a natural pesticide to deter them.

5 Wildlife Is Your Friend

While organic vegetable gardening, having an abundance of wildlife is a fantastic way of keeping your vegetables healthy.

These 5 tips will ensure that you are able to produce some fantastic vegetables and not have too many problems with them being nibbled on.

But if you are fairly new to organic vegetable gardening and would like a method of growing delicious vegetables without any of the usual problems organic gardeners face then i would strongly recommend the Food4Wealth program as it completely takes the guess work out of your gardening and is ideal for first time gardeners.

The term Ecological Gardening seems to be gaining popularity.  But what is it?  My experience with Ecological Gardening started many years ago.  You see, I have always been a fence sitter.  As a teenager I could never make my mind up whether I wanted to be a horticulturist or an environmental scientist.  And sometimes I’m still a little unsure!

Fortunately, I have been able to gain qualifications in both.  My specialty is in growing food using ecological principles.  But I’m not talking about some sort of alternative hippie technique.  I’m talking about sound scientific principles.

In my experience, the study of natural ecosystems will reveal everything we need to know about growing food.  Natural ecosystems are generally diverse and there are a number of intricate interdependent relationships occurring between the living and non-living components at any given time.  Put simply, each component relies and benefits from its interaction with other components.  They fuel up on each other, causing the system to be able to sustain itself.  If one part of the system gets ‘out of whack’, the whole system is affected.

When studying a natural ecosystem, such as a diverse pristine rainforest we find that there are many living components co-existing in a given area.  Each of these components occupies a niche space.  If a component, let’s say a plant, is removed by an animal eating it, we are left with an empty niche.  An empty niche provides an opportunity for another life form to fill the space.  In natural ecosystems, nature does not tolerate empty niche spaces.  Once the niche becomes available, there will be a whole host of willing opportunists ready to fill that space.  Dormant seeds, sometimes decades old, will spring to life and quickly try to occupy it.

The same thing happens when we are trying to grow food.  In any agricultural practice, such as a vegetable garden, there are always empty niche spaces.  And remember, nature doesn’t tolerate empty niche spaces.  So weeds will try to fill the empty niche spaces.  Weeds are very good niche space fillers.  They are the ultimate colonizing plants.  So as we can see there is no difference in the way nature works, whether it is in a pristine natural ecosystem or a vegetable garden.

Ecological Gardening aims to create a system where nature works for us, and not against us.  It is actually quite easy to have a weed-free vegetable garden.  You simply do one of two things.  Firstly, you avoid having empty niche spaces.  And secondly, you make sure there is something desirable to fill niche spaces, should they become available.  That’s just one simple example, but Ecological Gardening can easily prevent a number of problems from ever arising.

My experience with Ecological Gardening has been phenomenal.  I have been able to combine natural weed management, soil ecology, pest ecology and crop management into a very simple and easy method.  In fact, I have been able to create a garden that requires very little attention and produces far more than a traditional vegetable garden, simply by applying sound scientific principles.  And from the incredible results that I have achieved, I can say, with absolute certainty, that Ecological Gardening is the way we will be producing food in the future.

Jonathan White is an Environmental Scientist and the founder of the Food4Wealth Method.  For more information see www.Food4Wealth.com

Although there has recently been a big gain in popularity regarding organic vegetable gardening it is surprisingly still a topic that a lot of people do not know much about. In essence organic gardening is very much similar to normal gardening, with the main difference just being the method in which things are done due to not using any chemicals on your crops.

The vegetables are grown using only natural means by taking advantage of all of the nutrients that are already in the soil. In terms of fertilizer organic gardeners will use kitchen and garden waste to make a natural compost. If you are interested in making your own compost then be sure to check out My Guide To Compost

Like any other garden or even more so in fact, pests, insects and weeds can be a real problem. But there are many natural ways of dealing with these pests without too much hard work. Or you can even get 100% natural pesticides these days which get the job done pretty well.

As many people only have a small amount of space available for growing their organic vegetables it is vital that the correct planning should be undertaken to ensure that you are making the most out of the space you have. This should include choosing vegetables that your whole family love and making sure you don’t grow too much otherwise you will have a lot of waste which would be a real shame. One more thing you should check before going ahead with your organic garden is to make sure that the soil in your garden is good and healthy for your veg to grow in.

As you may know, certain vegetables will grow better than others under certain conditions so crop rotation is an important part of any organic vegetable garden. This just means that you plant different vegetables according to season. This way you are able to maximize the space that you have as well as achieving better results..

Organic vegetable gardening is a great way of growing your own healthy and delicious food, If you are a little confused as to which vegetables you want to grow then just think about which vegetables you eat most often. By doing this you will be able to reduce your grocery bill as well as making sure your whole family is eating a healthy diet, what could be better than that?

With these tried and tested tactics under your belt you will start beating these nasty bugs and you will have your lovely vegetables back to yourself again in no time at all.

Plant Some Flowers

Believe it or not, there are some insects and bugs that will help protect your vegetables for you by eating the nasty pests, so what you should do is make your garden inviting and welcoming for these friendly insects. The best way to do this would be to plant a variety of different flowers that these particular insects love so they will come and set up home in your garden and be your vegetable bodyguards Some of these flowers include:

Marigold

Daisy

Candy Tuft

Viola

Californian Poppy

Golden Rod

So as you can see there are plenty to choose from as this is just a very small example and there are even certain herbs like Sage, Parsley and Chives (just to name a few) that will help as well which is very handy indeed.

Attract Friendly Wildlife

As well as using flowers in order to attract the friendly insects you should also be doing everything you can to attract other forms of wildlife that will help you protect your precious vegetables. If you have enough room in your garden it would be a fantastic idea to get a pond put in, that way you will attract frogs and dragonflies. Birds are also very helpful when it comes to organic gardening so putting up a bird box and/or bird bath would be also be a good idea. A few of the other animals that are good to have around are:

Centipede

Garden Spider

Hedgehog

Lady Birds

So once you have started attracting this friendly wildlife into your garden you will see a remarkable increase in the health of your vegetables and the best thing about this method is that once you have attracted these animals they will generally stay around as long as you make sure your garden is full of the things that they like.

Growing vegetables in containers has some very good benefits over standard growing as well because you are able to provide ideal growing conditions for your veg making sure the soil is just right for them, plus it can be easier to win the war over the pests as well.

You can use a wide variety of different containers to plant in, ranging from terracotta pots, wooden pots, clay, plastic or my favourite things to use are old containers that you may find around the house like paint tins, jars, cake tins, kitchen colander’s, the list is endless! But be sure to make some drainage holes in the bottom of whatever you decide to use so that the excess water is able to drain out.

If you put a layer of broken terracotta pot or chunks of polystyrene at the bottom of your pots this will prevent drainage holes from becoming clogged up with compost and soil from falling out. Also if you stand your pots up on something like bricks then that will help it to drain more effectively.

So you have no excuse for not giving it a go now! You can start off with one or two containers at first but I’m sure once you get the hang of it you will end up with a lot more than that.

Here are a list of just a few companion plants:

• Basil > Tomatoes and Asparagus

• Chervil > Radish, Lettuce and Broccoli

• Dill > Cabbage

• Horseradish > Potatoes

• Eggplant > Peppers

• Mustard > Cabbage, Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

• Caraway > Strawberries

• Oregano > Tomatoes and Peppers

• Beets > Lettuce and Onions

• Leek > Celery

So give some of them a try and see what you think. If you are starting a new garden then it is a good idea to think about certain companion plants while you are deciding on the layout of your garden , this way you will be able to use companion planting to get the most out of your garden.

There are several beneficial factors to getting your children involved in the growing of fruit and vegetables, firstly if you give them their very own little piece of the garden were they can grow a couple of their own plants it gives them a great sense of achievement when they are able to grow their very own food. Also it gives them some sort of responsibility of making sure the plants have enough water and are healthy so it will make them feel all grown up too.

But one of the best reasons to get your children involved in the planting and growing process of fruit and vegetables is the fact that they will be much more willing to eat their vegetables if they have had a part in the whole process. Even if you start on a small scale by just growing a few plants in containers you will be amazed at the results. So if you are having trouble getting your children to be able to eat their vegetables then just by getting them involved in the whole growing process will have amazing results so is definitely worth a go.

I feel that it is important for children to know where their food actually comes from and by having them help you out in your garden they will pick up a lot of great tips and learn so much about fruit and vegetables which will in turn set them up to be able to live a healthy lifestyle which is very important these days when there is so much fast food everywhere you look.

So if you’ve not started organic gardening yet then now is the time time to start! Your entire family will benefit from this healthy lifestyle and I’m sure you will agree, that is a fantastic reason for you to start organic gardening.

We all know how much hard work there is in growing vegetables – digging, weeding, crop rotation, watering, fertilizing, planting winter crops, resting beds, spraying pests and weeds – the list goes on and on.  So imagine a vegetable garden that didn’t need any of these things.  Imagine a garden that never had pests, never needed digging, didn’t need to be rested in winter, had no need for crop rotation, had virtually no weeds, needed very little water and virtually looked after itself.  But to top all that off, this garden produces many times more than a traditional vegetable garden and regenerates itself year after year, all by itself.

Surely, that would be magic!

How could a vegetable garden like this exist?  Easily!  The answer is in nature.  Natural ecosystems are very healthy and diverse and don’t require any human interference.  If we are able to take the same natural laws that are found in nature and apply them to our garden, we are able to reproduce the same results.  And that’s exactly what the Food4Wealth method has done.

The Food4Wealth method is based on science.  It follows very sound ecological principles.  It’s a way of setting up a natural ecosystem using edible plants, and it uses the types of plants we all like to eat.  The special planting arrangement mimics nature so the same interdependent relationships between the living components exist.  These relationships are mutually beneficial for the various components, so the vegetable garden actually runs all by itself.

The people in the family who own the Food4Wealth plot are actually one of the important living components.  They perform a similar task to a grazing animal in a natural ecosystem.  The Food4Wealth plot actually benefits from regular harvesting, just as a natural ecosystem benefits from regular grazing.  These plots are so prolific, that they need almost daily harvesting.  Regular harvesting maintains the ideal vegetation balance required to run the garden like a natural ecosystem.  It’s the ultimate win win situation.  Harvesting is good for the people, but it’s also good for the garden.

The biggest challenge that faces modern agricultural practices is to incorporate pest ecology, plant ecology, soil ecology and crop management into a method that is reliable and efficient.  And until now, that has never been achieved.  The Food4Wealth method naturally combines all of these factors without any effort.  You see, nature has had these things under control for millions of years.  It’s only humans who have made things more complicated.

But the path is now clear, because Food4Wealth has laid the foundations for a healthier, more efficient and reliable way to grow food.  It’s a simple method that sets things up as nature intended, so that problems simply don’t exist.

So, to answer the question – is it magic?

No, it isn’t magic, but it sure feels like it.

Jonathan White is an Environmental Scientist and the founder of the Food4Wealth Method.  For more information see www.Food4Wealth.com

Having a good quality compost enables your soil to retain nutrients, air and water as well as protecting your valuable plants from certain diseases. Not only will it help your plants to grow bigger and stronger but it will give the worms and other such animals in your garden lots to munch on and keep them happy.

So I guess you are now wondering what goes into making a good compost exactly…. Well here are some of the things that I use when making my compost:

• Kitchen left overs like old fruit and vegetables, vegetable peelings, fruit peelings/cores, ground coffee, tea bags.
• Manure is a great thing to add if you are able to get hold of any from a local farm.
• Garden waste like leaves, dead plants, wood chippings or bark, straw and hay, soft hedge clippings.
• Waste from around the house like newspaper (shredded) but not magazines with the shiny paper.
• Pet droppings from animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and budgies. But NOT from dogs and cats.

Some of the things that you should keep off your compost heap are:

• Meat or fish
• Dairy products
• Cooked food
• Disposable nappies

In order to make the most of your compost it is important to use a mixture of different ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ the greens being things like vegetable peelings etc. and the browns being all of your newspapers, pet droppings etc.

It is important not to have your compost too wet or too dry so if yours is looking a little on the wet side then you should think about adding more ‘browns’ or vice versa.

If you seem to be having trouble with too many flies buzzing around your compost heap then you may have it a little too wet, in which case if you add some more of your ‘brown’ ingredients like the shredded newspaper then that should sort out the problem.

Once your compost has turned into a dark brown crumbly type consistency with an earthy smell then it should be ready for you to begin using on your plants.