What could be a better use of your garden than to grow organic fruit, vegetables and herbs that you can use in healthy and delicious meals for the whole family? Growing an organic ingredients in your garden doesn’t need to be intimidating. With the right knowledge and care, your plants will grow healthy and strong and look beautiful and vibrant in your garden. Here’s how to prepare for your garden of organic ingredients.
Kitting yourself out
You’ll need a range of gardening tools for this purpose. It’s a wise move to invest in good-quality equipment as it will be more sturdy and efficient, making it much easier for you to do your job. If you are a keen gardener, you may already have the necessary tools for planting veg, fruit and herbs. Amongst your kit you will need a trowel, rake, pitchfork, shears, watering can or hose and gardening gloves. If you have a large garden, you may also benefit from owning a wheelbarrow to transport heavy materials, such as soil. Additionally, as you will be outside a lot, do protect yourself from sunburn with a hat and sunscreen.
Selecting the area for your organic ingredients patch
The next thing you should turn your attention to is where to plant. The size of this area isn’t really the issue here. Rather you should concentrate on the location. It should be in the sunniest and warmest part of the garden in order for your plants to grow well. You should also dedicate an inside area where you plants can be taken to protect them during the winter. You may wish to purchase specially designed indoor lighting, from HydroGrow, for example, to help your plants out in the colder and darker months.
You will also need to decide whether you will create a traditional, container or raised-bed garden. A traditional garden is just planted straight into the soil. A container garden is often chosen because there is no soil or it is in bad condition. This type involves plants growing in containers. Containers come in all different sizes, shapes and styles to suit any outdoor space. Lastly, raised-bed gardens are where plants are grown in large, and mainly wooden, boxes.
Improve your soil
Before you start planting, you must make your soil is in good condition. To improve soil: aerate it (prod the soil with your pitchfork to ensure good drainage), remove any debris and add organic compost to provide nutrients for your plants.
Choose your ingredients
There are many easy to grow vegetables, fruit and herbs for the garden. Pick plants based on the ingredients you like to eat, the typical climate in your area and their size. You can grow your plants from a packet of seeds. The packet will provide instructions on how to sew and care for your plant. However, if you are a novice gardener or short on time, consider buying pre-sown or young plants from your garden centre that are ready to be planted straight into the soil.