This organic gardening article is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot. All opinions expressed here are my own.
If you are trying to go green and get healthy, one of the most enjoyable ways I have found to do this is to grow your own organic fruits and vegetables. You do not have to be a master gardener or have a super green thumb to be successful at producing homegrown food right in your backyard. . You just need a few tips for organic gardening success and some basic supplies. I spend a lot of time out in my yard during the spring and summer tending to my garden. However, once you get your beds set up and the plants in the ground, a few minutes a day is all you need to raise your own food. As part of The Home Depot spring gardening campaign, I was asked to teach you how to go organic with your edibles so here are a few tips for successful organic gardening in your own back yard.
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Every year I seem to fill up every single pot and bed in my yard and still not be done with my planting. Then, I start asking my husband which shrubs we should pull out in order to make room for another garden bed. I am not a fan of shrubs..they require fertilizing and pruning and provide very little in return. I would rather put my efforts into edible garden plants that can provide organic food for my family. Shrubbery is just boring old shrubbery! So, one of my first tips for successful organic gardening is to look at your yard and decide where you want to put your plants. You cannot have healthy plants without a decent amount of sun, good drainage, and good soil. I highly recommend a raised bed system like the one I found at The Home Depot this past weekend. Just measure your space and choose an area that is in full sun for at least 4 to 6 hours a day.
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Weed control can be tough when you are committed to organic gardening but I purchased a cloth weed block to make my life a little bit easier. Most of the area I was setting my raised bed in was already mulched and fairly weed free but the area in the front of the bed is right up against the grass and wild strawberry has taken over that area. If you aren’t familiar with wild strawberry, let me just say it is incredibly hardy and very invasive. The weed control cloth under my garden bed will keep it out of my garden. Organic gardening means you will be pulling those weeds by hand, one by one, just start out right with a nice weed free bed!
Good Soil for Successful Organic Gardening
One of the most important tips for successful organic gardening is to start with good, nutritious soil. You cannot have healthy plants if you don’t have good soil. Unhealthy plants will succumb to diseases much easier and you will be constantly batting one issue or another all summer. I prefer to start with a bed full of organic garden soil, mushroom compost, and cow manure. These three things when tilled together will provide almost all the nutrients your organic garden needs to thrive. You will be amazed at how much soil it takes to fill up one 4 foot by 4 foot garden bed! If you look on the box of your raised bed system it will tell you how many cubic feet of soil it will hold. Each bag of mulch and soil also has a cubic foot measurement on it. You will need to do math! UGH, I know, right? But, based on the dimensions of my raised bed I bought 4 bags of soil, one mushroom compost, and one composted manure. I think I might go back for more but haven’t decided yet.
Feeding your plants throughout the summer is important! They need plenty of nutrients and water if they are going to provide you with a decent crop of organic fruits and veggies. There are many organic food choices out there for plants. The Home Depot had many to choose from including fish emulsion, blood meal, bone meal and an all purpose organic plant food. That is the one I went with, although I won’t be needing it for several weeks after I plant. The manure and compost is really all the plants need but when they get full size and start producing flowers and food I like to give them an added boost of nutrients.
I found everything I needed for my organic garden at The Home Depot and even found organic Bonnie plants at The Home Depot online. As I was searching for organic plants, I didn’t see them on the shelf so I spoke with the customer service representative at the information desk. She was extremely helpful in answering my questions and let me know that The Home Depot will ship their organic plants right to your home with no shipping charge! So, I headed home with my truck full of supplies to get started building and then went to Home Depot online to order my plants. Here is what I bought for my organic garden:
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Bonnie Organic Plant Starters Husky Cherry Red, Sweet Banana pepper, Basil, Flat parsley
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Bonnie Plants Organic Herb Beginner Mix 1 chives, 1 curled parsley, 1 basil, 1 mint
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Bonnie Plants Organic Patio Tomato Assortment 2 Husky Cherry Red, 1 Patio and 1 Better Bush
The Home Depot website was incredibly easy to use and I found all three of the plant sets that I was looking for in the Bonnie Organic line. With free shipping and front door delivery it is easy to start organic gardening in your own back yard. Just think of the money you will save at the grocery store! My plants should be here any day now and as soon as they arrive I will talk you through some more tips for successful organic gardening and how to ensure your plants stay healthy throughout the summer.
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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
I am ALL about organic gardening. I start my seeds with an organic mix I find at Home Depot.
I rarely have luck with seeds for tomatoes and peppers but radishes, squash cucumbers and a few others do well from seed for me.
What about GMO plants at big box stores?
It is my understanding that organic plants cannot be GMO but they are sometimes hard to find. Many nurseries and big box stores are starting to carry them but selection is sometimes small. While I would love to be able to claim that my garden is GMO free, i can’t. I DO however feel that gardening in any way, shape or form is better for us and better for the environment than buying from mass produced farms. I also feel that backyard produce is fresher and probably even more nutritious than even organic produce that has been shipped half way across the world. It certainly has a smaller carbon footprint. We do what we can, one baby step at a time.
Great suggestions! Organic is the way to go!
I’m with you on ripping out the shrubs! I’d love to have all edible landscaping. Blueberry bushes could be just as pretty as my boxwoods!
We use the organic Vigaro potting soil & garden soil from Home Depot, too.
I have 3 blueberry bushes that I LOVE. They are getting crowded out by large, useless junipers that I need to have removed!
I really need to get started at preparing my gardens for this year. I am not much of a gardener, but my mom LOVES it
It really can be fun. And I love being able to go out and pick dinner!
I’ve been growing my own veggies for years… it’s the way it should be! This is an awesome post full of great tips. Good to know I can order organic plants online… I never see them at my local stores!
I rarely see organic plants in my stores so I was happy to see I could have them delivered!
I was JUST asking someone for help with making a garden at our new house – this post is helpful!!! Is now the right time to start planting?? I don’t want to be too late. Thanks!
It really depends on what area of the country you are in. Here in Georgia we plant in late march and early april. Up in Vermont you don’t plant til late May. Where are you located? If you Google the last frost date for your area that is the planting date you should go by for summer planting.
I just went to Home Depot and bought a blueberry shrub, tomatoes, and Flat Italian Parsley to plant. I am curious about something though. I did not buy organic plants, nor did I buy organic seeds for radishes and carrots, but if the are planted in organic soil is that just as good?
No, its not just as good. If any part of the garden is non organic, then you do not have an organic garden.
I have to disagree. Even the rain and runoff that water our plants is not ‘organic’. Every small step is a step in the right direction. I cannot find organic plants in most nurseries. I would rather use non organic plants and pick something from my own non chemically sprayed garden than buy traditional produce from the grocery store.
If you are using non organic materials and along with organic materials, you can’t say its organic. It’s false information. If those seeds are gmo, you are still eating unhealthy foods. Yes, far better than a chain store, but its still genetically modified food… That’s not good for you. The great thing about the internet is that our options for purchases reaches the world. You really want to help people go organic, you need to lead by example. Buy true organic seeds, true organic soil. The seeds need only be bought one time, you can bank your own seeds after first harvest. That’s true savings.
I just found this on Pinterest and while I don’t normally comment on blogs, i feel the need to for this one due to the topic and products recommended. Please understand that just because a package claims organic, even with that wonderful USDA certified organic label, it does not, I repeat, does NOT MEAN it is 100% organic. Research, in depth, the companies that are selling these products. Know that the USDA has a 5% loop hole that allows non organic material in an organic products. Mirical grow, wildly popular, is NOT 100% organic. It is owned by Scott’s and Scott’s is an affiliate of Monsanto. And for truly organic seeds that are Non-GMO project verified (100% organic) look online, high mowing seeds is as organic as you can get, family owned, highly active for organic living etc. Massive selection of seeds. I’m not affiliated by them, I just did a ton of searching to find true organic seeds. If you are planning in ground that has had ANY kind if chemical put on it, it needs to be chemical free for at least 3 years. There are fantastic organic pesticides found at arbico for yard and garden. Shrubbery us actually very important as is all foliage. First, oxygen production. Second, plant the right ones, they can attract garden helpers or deter garden enemies.