10 Steps to Grow Organic Vegetables at Home

Growing your own organic vegetables at home ensures you know how your food is grown and where it is coming from.

When you and your family are eating delicious organically grown vegetables right from your backyard, all your efforts will have been well worth it.

Here’s a beginner’s guide on how to grow organic vegetables at home.

1. Figure Out What You Want to Grow

Before you pick a spot in your yard, you should figure out what vegetables you want to grow. You also need to figure out where to put the garden and what the soil condition is like.

Plant vegetables that you know your family will eat. Consider planting some that you have a hard time finding at the supermarket or ones that are really expensive to buy. Also, choose vegetables that will grow well in the climate that you live in.

Some of the best and easiest vegetables to grow as a beginner gardener are listed below:

• Kale
• Swiss chard
• Peas and beans
• Radishes
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Hot and sweet peppers
• Arugula
• Bok choy
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini

The next step is to buy your organic seeds. But be sure to read the packets carefully to know when and how to plant.

2. Choose a Spot and Prepare the Soil

Choose an appropriate spot in your yard that is large enough for the type of crop you want to grow.

You might also want to take a sample of the soil and use a home testing kit to test its pH level. Some plants prefer soil that is acidic, while others do better growing in alkaline soil.

Additionally, till the soil if it is heavily compacted. This will help the roots of your plants go deeper into the soil [1].

The next step is to add nutrients to improve and maintain the quality of the soil.

3. Nurture with Organic Fertilizers

Add natural fertilizers to the soil. Add compost or buy organic fertilizers at your nearest garden store.

Measure the planting area so you know how much fertilizer you will need. There are many different types of natural and homemade fertilizers. These include fish bone meal, crushed eggshells, worm castings, and compost.

You can also use organic mulch that will decompose and improve the soil.

4. Water Your Plants

Maintain your garden by giving your plants the water they need. For some crops, it is best if you hand-water them.

Also, if it’s not absolutely necessary, putting in a sprinkler can waste water and support weed growth.

Additionally, pay attention to the weather to ensure you are not giving your plants too much water when it’s about to rain or too little water if there’s a drought.

5. Watch Out for Pests and Plant Diseases

No matter where you live or what you grow, your garden is susceptible to pests that can harm or destroy your crops. Therefore, it is important to spend time inspecting your garden for bugs and other pests.

Identifying the pest correctly is also important. There are many friendly creatures that can help your garden. These include earthworms, ladybugs, lacewings, and more.

This is why you must identify the insects that are lurking around. They might not be pests after all.

To deal with harmful insects, though, there are many organic solutions to get rid of bad insects and related pests.

Plant diseases are also other issues to watch out for. It’s important that you properly identify and treat plant diseases organically.

6. Attract Beneficial Insects

As mentioned earlier, some insects provide benefits to your garden.

Pollinators such as bees and wasps transport pollen from one plant to another. And other insects, like ladybugs, hunt down destructive insects. Additionally, earthworms help to aerate and maintain soil fertility.

Utilizing organic fertilizers and planting flowering plants will help attract many beneficial insects to your garden.

7. Control Weeds

There are different ways to organically control weeds. However, the best way to control weeds in a small garden is to hand-pull them.

If you visit your garden daily, weeding won’t be overwhelming. You can also use mulch to help keep down weeds.

8. Harvest When Ready

After you have worked so hard to start your garden, watered it when necessary, and controlled weeds and pests, it’s time to harvest.

Do your research and figure out when the best time is to harvest each of your crops. For many crops, you can follow harvesting guidelines so the plant continues to produce throughout the rest of the season.

Harvesting at the right time will also help to ensure your vegetables are at their peak of tastiness.

9. Enjoy Your Fresh Produce

There is so much you can do with vegetables, herbs, and fruits straight from the farm.

As you eat them, you will appreciate their fresh taste so much more than what you get from the grocery store. After cultivating your produce single-handedly, you deserve to enjoy every single bite.

If you have a surplus of vegetables, try pickling or freezing them. That way, you can enjoy the fresh taste throughout the year until it is time to grow again or until another crop is ready.

10. Save Your Seeds

It can be very expensive to buy organic seeds each year. But by saving seeds to replant year after year, you can cut your seed bill in half.

Crops like corn, tomatoes, sweet peppers, peas, pak choy, pumpkin, and beans are great to add to your seed-saving collection.

Dry and store them properly. Once preserved properly, you can have a variety of seeds to replant the next season.

Don’t forget to put labels on your seed containers. Include all the necessary details, such as the crop type and date.

Takeaway

Setting up and working in your garden is a lot of work, but it can also be very rewarding. You can’t find vegetables any fresher than what you can walk out into your backyard and pick.

Gardening is not only rewarding for the delicious food you can grow, but it is also a relaxing hobby you can enjoy season after season.