Planning an Organic Garden
I also included toad, snake and bird habitat in my garden area. I have two bird feeders filled with sunflower seed. According to Organic Gardening, birds need lots of protein while breeding so they will eat insects at breeding time. I have rocky areas around my garden for the snakes and toads to hide in. The one thing I have net been very good about is providing water for my pest patrol. It's on my list of improvements for next year, along with some bird houses. If you want to include some mammals in your garden, install a bat house.
Going Around the Mulberry Bush I recommend rotating organic garden crops. I would even rotate annual flowers you include in the flower garden. Rotating crops can decrease pests and disease. Some pests overwinter in the soil. By moving your crops and flowers, you can keep the newly emerged pests from having immediate access to their favorite food.
Mixing it Up Some people also recommend mixing up different vegetables and flowers — not planting rows or blocks of the same type of plants. I tried mixing my eggplant in my peppers in hopes of avoiding the flea beetles. Unfortunately, the flea beetles found every eggplant and avoided the peppers. A great way to do this is to plant edibles in your flower garden. Some bright red lettuce could be a nice border for your flowers.
Let it Rot Organic gardeners need a compost pile. I've already mentioned where to find supplies for the pile, and I can't say enough how important a compost pile is for an organic gardener.
Time, Time, Time Organic gardeners also have to take time into account when they plan a garden. Chemical gardeners just dump more synthetic fertilizers and more synthetic pesticides on the garden to "control" the problem. We organic gardeners have to learn to let time take care of the problem Every year that you spend improving your soil and encouraging beneficials to inhabit your garden, the better your garden will be.
This year is the first year I've gardened at my home in Maryland. My garden is not as productive as the garden I left in Alabama. I spent four years gardening and adding organic matter to the soil there and the difference between my first year and the subsequent years was significant. Actually, the difference isn't attributable only to soil improvement. The first year I gardened, I had my
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