Organic Gardening:

There as many definitions of organic as there mers in Iowa. So it is up to you to select your own level of ity and focus. You may choose to be absolutely al-free or to accept some level of commercial intervention. Much will depend upon your availa t as well as your willingn to get down and dirty w the gross and sme.

Any organic intervention in your life is better t none, so take the inmation that fits your needs and begin. Who knows? That first step into the world of independent gardening may free you enough to catapult you into full-fledge organic ming at its best.

Cosg
What is considered one man's garbage is another man's trure. For organic ists cosg is almost canon, altgh not absolutely necary organic gardening. Because it is my and aatic, some may choose to se costed l or products already costed rather t to ln this age-old method.

The proc of cosg is the scie of decosition in a controlled environment, such as a big garbage can, a 5 ft. x 5 ft. hole in the ground, or an expensive sed drum that turns automatica. It provides a fer proc of breaking down o-living matter into enrid l and nutnts perfect the health of your garden. The cost gardener does all possi to recycle appropriate wes of any living matter, along w a healthy supply of bacteria (sed or natura availa in the l f hard work and t.)

To cost, use and accumulate all fruit, vegeta, and grain scraps througt the y. Yes, this takes t and might not produce a parfum de toilet that tickles your nose, but you will reap the benefits by producing fruits and vegetas that packed full of the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Recycling left-over food wes, leaves, grasses and hay is at the core of organic gardening at its finest and well worth the eft.

Cost must be turned fafu to oxyate the matter. The oxy is required to heat and decose the food into nutnts and l in a tly manner. Wout the oxy that is provided by turning, the material will have to take its natural t to cge into l. Altgh this is accepta, many gardeners want to use the recycled wes win the next six months and willing to put in the biweekly labor of turning the cost. Some may roll the drum of "brown gold" around the yard while others may enjoy turning it by d w a pitchk.

Felizing
Wout felizing additives (natural or al), pts will be stunted and unhealthy. Organic gardeners may use cost to augment the nutnts in the l and to improve the texture and good bacteria, but most cost sld not tota replace felizing additives. Cynthia Boruff, a gardener of fifty ys, told us that she annua adds to her garden: cost, chicken manure, alfalfa tea (after the pts at lt six ins tall), and her special mula felizer.

"Si I do not rely on commercial al felizers, I vary my organic methods to insure a broader spectrum of nutnts," states Cynthia. "My mula that replaces sed felizer is a combination of bd meal, bone meal, and dolomite (or agriculture l) in equal propoons. I mix it into the l at the t of setg the young seedlings or pg the seed. It never failed me yet! My corn is the biggest in the county and my vegetas award-winning."

Gardeners who don't use al felizers practice crop rotation--a common technique to len the amount of felizer needed. This will help to prevent depletion of nutnts specific to individual species of pts by rotag vegeta beds or rows. As an example, organic gardeners will pt carrots in a specific row one y and pt a difent vegeta in that spot the next son. Si difent pts require difent amounts of key nutnts, the l will not be depleted and l organic felizer is needed.

Seed Selection
Depending on your definition of "organic," you may choose to se seeds f a universal standard seed catalog or f an organic seed m. The difes vary f multi-erational hybrids and etica engineered pts/seeds on one end of the spectrum to heritage or hm seeds on the other.

Purists on the organic side religiously se only hm seeds because these seeds have had little cge over decades, somets even centus. Pure high-protein bean seeds used by the Anazasi have managed to survive in tact these p centus and have been ded down eration to eration hundreds of ys. Heritage ms have kept the ity of the bean and of the seeds by catalog se. The same is true of a bean vaty that the Pilgrims brought over on the Mayflower. The catalogs usua bo seventy-five to one hundred difent pt seeds, somets w very integ histos.

Hm seed catalogs availa via the internet, but it is more fun to collect the seeds or catalogs f other organic gardeners or heritage seed club members. O seed been acquired, it is necary to ln how to harvest and store the seed properly to maintain quality control the next son and to protect the ity of the hm seed. While it is integ to think of an entire garden of only hm pts, gardeners may find tselves disappointed w the final product. Wout the scie of hybridizing, some historic products may be small or not as ty.

Winifred Meidinger, a 90-y old gardener, collects her hm seeds each y the following son's pg. She especia loves her tomatoes and zucchini that have been ded down eration to eration the l one hundred ys. Ms. Meidinger enjoys the te and texture of her produce and a sense of pride in knowing she is one of the few gardeners holding to the hm philosophy. Many find it fascinag to keep in touch w the p by using the same seeds the pioneers used--unadulterated by modern scie.

Hm seeds absolutely organic, but not all organic seeds "hm." Organic seeds not etica engineered and not a treated prior to se. Most organic mers se mainly f organic seed catalogs. But they will also buy seed f standard catalogs if it is the best way to get the desired te or texture of a pacular fruit.

Standard seeds, f the store and most catalogs, frequently powdered w als to prevent mold or fungus growth and to ward off deterioration in the l bee germination. While there organic methods to do the same precautionary mu wout als, few gardeners know the techniques to protect the seeds. These methods sld be d in organic ming books and magazines. Such approas include pg in paper towels, or how to properly collect and dry seeds.

Bruised Knuckles
The benefits of organic gardening out-weigh the work load. But the amount of t down in the dirt is greater t standard al gardening. It requi t picking bugs off of pts, t placing jars of natural attractants and boards on moist ground to trick insects into captivity, t working manure and t into the l--all of this instead of the y al fix. The advantage is health f al-free produce you and your family, as well as physical and spiritual bala f the daily physical exercise required to nurture your garden.

In ys p the knowledge of organic gardening was ded down f eration to eration, as well as a basketful of tricks to make the job ier. Today, it is a risk good produce the first son or two if you a beginning organic mer -- unl a mentor is nby to of helpful hints. However, there hundreds of books, acles, and internet oes to help the new gardener become succful. Even that takes t, tgh.

Organic ming is a no suit that requi persevera. This olve will rnd you of your astors and your p each t you pick up a dful of costed l or perve an hm seed. It will keep you king to the future -- jumping over and around your pent day proms -- to the seeds that you will se, the produce that will be picked, the new recipes and uses you will concoct. For that you won't mind a few scrapes, an aching back, or bruised knuckles. It will all be worth it because philosophica, it is where you want to be.