Create an Organic Garden of Fruits and Vegetables

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The best part of creating an organic garden is knowing where you produced and harvested the food you consume. Fruits and vegetables have become expensive over the last year. Things that used to be three dollars are now five, which all adds up in the end. It makes sense to grow these foods ourselves to save money and reap the nutritional benefits. The fruits and vegetables in an organic garden have so much more flavor than in the grocery store.

I make it a family affair. My son loves to pick fruits and vegetables, and my daughter likes to plant them. Every day the kids get excited to see what has grown in our greenhouse. I have been gardening for some time now, and it took me several years to figure out what works and what does not. Here are some guidelines you can use to create your perfect garden. Organic Stainable Garden

Soil

I have used all soil types in my organic garden in the past, and they always attracted bugs (gnats, grasshoppers, and aphids). These are very bad for your garden. I wanted to keep my garden organic and did not want to spray pesticides. A friend told me about a soil called “sandy loam mix.” It contains 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay. This combination makes it difficult for bugs to nest in the plants—the clay and silt help maintain moisture and nutrients without attracting unwanted friends. Pioneer Landscaping Center has big piles of this dirt that you can put in containers and purchase.

Plants and Seeds

It is best to try and get non-GMO seeds and plants, so I purchase my garden supplies from Tasteful Garden. Ninety percent of the plants and seeds that they sell are organic (non-GMO). Bonnie’s has a line of organic plants that you can get at Home Depot in their gardening department. They also have non-organic plants. Here is a list of items to plant year-round in Scottsdale.

Pots

I moved from plastic pots to the fabric kind. I did that a couple of years ago because the plastic ones would break due to the sun. I would go and pick up a pot, and the ends would break off. The fabric pots have handles, so they’re easy to transport. 

Greenhouse

If you would like to keep the rabbits out of your garden, you will need a structure to prevent them from coming over and helping themselves to your food. At first, we used an enclosed greenhouse. It did a great job with the rabbits, but it blocked the bees from polluting our crops, so now we use bird netting to allow the bees to visit the plants. We (actually my husband) made it out of PVC pipe, and we put the bird netting over the top.  

I hope these tips help you make an organic garden at your home. Happy planting!

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