Scientists have finally shown that organic produce may indeed be more nutritious than non-organically grown produce. Studies like this are a great argument in favor of being picky about the source of your food, and it goes beyond merely wondering whether or not you can wash the various chemicals off.

They said analysis of organic tomatoes, apples and peaches revealed greater concentrations of vitamin C, polyphenols, betacarotene and flavonoids.

To me it also makes a degree of sense. If you’re using a chemical to make the plants grow faster or produce more, what is the plant giving up in order to do so? It must be an extra strain on the plant.

Of coure, I love being able to grow produce at home. Having a garden and keeping it organic is fun for my family. It’s a healthy activity as well as a source of wonderful food.

Organic gardening is more than just hype. It’s a great way to give your family the healthiest food you can grow at home, no chemicals added.

Going organic can sound tough. It is indeed more work to make a compost pile than to run to the garden shop for chemical fertilizers. But it has some definite benefits.

A simple benefit of composting is that you are saving money. You’re taking food scraps that you would have thrown out and making use of them. For many families, saving money is a big deal. It’s better for the earth as well as for your family.

Going organic has benefits you really can’t see. You don’t see pesticides, after all, and you can’t tell directly which time that pesticides have caused a particular problem, unless it’s severe. But you also can’t see pesticide residues on your food, which may or may not wash off before you eat. These toxins can remain in your body as well as in your children.

Pesticides and chemical fertilizers don’t just sit where they are used. They wash into the water when it rains, where they can kill fish when they reach high enough levels. They make the water unhealthy.

Organic gardening can also be attractive. Marigolds can be planted to discourage aphids, for example.

I know not every gardener has the dedication to do organic gardening. It’s just so easy to buy chemicals, and the ads promising huge vegetables and flowers are so tempting. But when you use chemicals you may be doing just a bit of damage to the environment that you could have avoided.

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All is not lost. There are natural ways to control the pests in your garden.

Garlic and onions can be quite effective. Liquify these and spray them onto soft body insects to kill them. It can also paralyze flies. A garlic or onion spray can work as a fungicide too.

You can include hot peppers with your garlic or onion spray to make it stronger if you like. Hot peppers can also be effective on it’s own, but the garlic really can help. Sprinkle it about to discourage rabbits and other small animals.

Cornmeal can be used as a fungicide. Mix it with water to make a tea.

Crushed egg shells or lime can help to keep slugs and snails away. It’s the calcium carbonate in them that does the work.

Put several tablespoons of ground cloves in a gallon of water for a spray that is effective against flying insects.

Vinegar mixed at a rate of no more than 2 tablespoons to a gallon of water makes a good mild fungicide. Too strong can damage or kill your plants. However, at this level it’s also a good fertilizer for your plants.

Vegetable oils can be used to kill bugs. They work by causing the bugs to suffocate. Use about a cup of oil to a gallon of water.

There are many more natural ways to control pests in your garden, but these should give you some easy ways to get started.

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The decision relates quite a bit to the value we have learned to place on this planet. Many chemicals work well enough to help your garden grow or to kill pests, but they aren’t so good for the environment. They can also leave unhealthy residues on your foods.

An organic garden is friendlier to wildlife. This doesn’t mean you’re going to lose your entire garden to pests such as squirrels; it means you learn friendlier ways of scaring them off. It also means you won’t be killing the bugs that are good for your garden while you try to kill the ones that are damaging it.

An organic garden allows you to make use of yard and organic waste you generate at home rather than sending it to a landfill. Creating a compost heap gives you a natural fertilizer that won’t damage the environment the ways chemical ones can over time.

Many people feel that organic produce tastes much better than non organic. Perhaps this is an illusion, but there’s that good feeling knowing that you aren’t feeding yourself or your family the chemicals you sprayed on your garden when you go organic. With an organic garden, you know your produce is very healthy for your family.

It always pays to remember that we didn’t always have all these chemicals to fertilize the soil or kill bugs, and there are ways to do the same job in many cases naturally.

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Gardens are almost irresistible to squirrels. Gardens offer an easy food source to them, and many popular garden plants taste great to squirrels.

A fence is not sufficient to keeping squirrels out of the garden. They’re great climbers and many of them jump quite well too. Especially if you have a tree overhanging your garden, don’t assume that a fence will do much of anything to keep squirrels out.

Repelling them humanely is quite challenging. Most sprays and such aren’t all that effective. You can use products such as Ropel to discourage them from chewing on furniture and such. You can also install a motion sensitive water sprinkler such as Scarecrow to scare them away gently.

Some people do have success with repellants that smell like the urine of a predator, but others find that they don’t work so well. You’ll have to decide for yourself if these are worth your while. Similarly, some have luck with audio repellants while others do not.

Traps are always an option, but not so easy to use in the garden. Tempting that squirrel into a trap can be quite a challenge. There are humane traps that will allow you to capture the squirrel alive. Make sure you know local laws on trapping.

While most fencing is not terribly effective at keeping squirrels out, you can install fencing that they will find more challenging. Use 1 inch wire mesh buried at least 6 inches deep and extending at least 30 inches up, with another six inches bent at 90 degrees outward to make it more challenging. Add electrified strands to shock the animals away if they try to climb it. One should a couple inches off the ground and another about three inches above the rest of the fence.

I don’t recommend poisons, especially if you have pets or children. Poisons are a danger to more than the animals you are targeting. These humane options have the advantage that they are designed to discourage rather than injure.

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The first thing you need to do is remain aware of the general condition of plants in your garden. If you do this, you can notice and remove problems before they become widespread. This will often keep you from needing to use a fungicide.

Keep an eye out for symptoms such as black or white spots on the leaves, holes in the leaves or damage to stems. These are signs that there might be a problem. If it’s not a problem you’re familiar with, remove some of the damaged leaves and take them to a local nursery for help. Tell them you prefer organic methods whenever possible.

Sometimes, unfortunately, you have no choice but to use that fungicide or lose a lot of plants to it. This happens when the infection is just too widespread to be contained any other ways. Some fungi also spread very easily, even by the movement of the plant in wind, and these can be harder to control organically.

You will want to know if the fungicide you are choosing dissipates over time or if it is systemic. If you are spraying foods intended to be eaten, avoid systemics. They cure the plant from within, and so would remain in any food grown for some time.

Here are some of the most popular fungicides:

Chlorothalonil (Daconil) – Chlorothalonil is a multipurpose fungicide with is used to prevent and treat common fungal diseases which affect lawns, fruits, vegetables as well as many ornamental and flowering plants.

Chlorothalonil is not a systemic; the only one that is not a systemic on this list.

Theiophanate-methyl – Thelophanate-methyl is a systemic fungicide that is effective in treating many common plant diseases, including powdery mildew and black spot.
Triadimefon (Bayleton) – Triadiemefon is a systemic fungicide which is usually used to prevent and treat powdery mildew and rust. It is also effective against some lawn diseases.
Triforine (Funginex) – Triforine is a systemic fungicide used to treat and prevent common fungal diseases such as rust, black spot and powdery mildew. It has also proven effective against some other diseases of both flowering and non-flowering plants.

Of course, any time you use any chemical, follow package instructions carefully, wear gloves, breathing mask and any other necessary protective equipment, and use as little as possible while keeping it effective. You don’t want to have to do it over because you didn’t use enough, but you also don’t want to use an excessive amount, which can harm your plants.

No organic gardener is happy when it becomes necessary to use a chemical, but sometimes there is very little choice. Keep alert to the health of your garden so that you can avoid going to such measures.

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One of the most important things is to choose flowers that will grow strong in your area. No matter how much you love a particular flower, if it is going to have a lot of trouble staying alive or is prone to disease, it’s going to greatly hamper your organic gardening efforts. You are better off sticking to flowers that are stronger and more suited to your area.

Just as an example, we’ll consider tropical plants. Beautiful colors, amazing shapes… but they require extra help if they aren’t suited to your area. They won’t be happy at all in a cold climate.

The best flowers for an organic garden are ones that are native to the area. They cope best with local weather conditions. They’ll have very little need of chemicals and require less water.

Even if you live in an area where most native plants can be described as “scrub brush” or something similar that you don’t like, you may be surprised at the range of colorful flowers available to you. I live in the San Diego area, and when I look around at undeveloped areas, the plants don’t seem terribly inspiring. There’s a nursery in the area that specializes in native plants, however, and the color range is quite simply amazing.

When buying plants, do your best to only pick healthy specimens. Buying a diseased one is only going to give you trouble as you try to keep it from infecting the rest. Check the plants for harmful insects too, so that you can avoid taking unwelcome pests home. Of course, if you know your insects, you might find a few welcome ones too.

Transplant your purchases as soon as possible. Very often roots get crowded in the containers from the nursery, and with so little soil it is easy for them to dry out. Being transplanted can be a shock to plants, but the soil will give them the resources to get over it. Give them a good watering after transplantation, of course.

Don’t forget a nice addition of compost from your compost heap. Depending on your soil, you may want to add compost as much as eight inches deep into the soil. Most people will simply mix compost in with the soil removed to plant the plants, and that is generally sufficient.

If roots have grown out past the plastic containers from the nursery, go ahead and remove them. You don’t want to damage the plant too much, but these roots are generally safe to remove.

An organic flower garden can look quite lovely. Done right, it is no more challenging than any other kind of flower garden. You might even get a garden that is more accustomed to local conditions and thrives when other gardens die.

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The ladybug is popular with children, and is one example of a beneficial bug. You probably picture them as having a red body with black spots, but they may also have an orange or yellow body. They eat certain other insects, including aphids. Similarly, the aphid midge also eats aphids.

The assassin bug does just what its name implies. It eats many garden pests. It is around an inch long, looks rather flat and has an elongated head.

You probably already know that bees are great pollinators. You may dread their stings, but you do need them in your garden. Growing lots of flowers will help to attract them.

The big eyed bug has a name that children will love, whether or not they love the bug itself. It is quite fast, has large eyes, of course, and has a black spotted body. They eat pests such as grasshoppers, small caterpillars, aphids and spider mites.

The mealybug destroyer is another insect whose name defines what it does. It’s about a third of an inch in length, oval and coral colored. If you have mealybugs, look for this one and leave it along.

There are many other beneficial bugs such as tachinid flies, minute pirate bugs and tiger beetles. Learn about the beneficial bugs in your area and let them do their work. Your garden will benefit and you may realize how little you need to use poisons in your garden.

Have you ever considered farming your own worms? It’s actually not that hard.

You can buy a worm farm that will help you to grow your own worms. Alternatively, you can use a concrete laundry tub. You will need to remove the plug and cover the hole with a screen to allow for drainage, but otherwise it will not need much adaptation.

To get started, mix compost with some dolomite or agricultural lime, and add to about a half bucket of soil. Add water until water starts to drip from the bottom of the tub. Add your worms. Cover with wet cardboard, as worms love to be wet, dark and moist. You can purchase your starter worms if necessary from a worm breeder or your local garden supply.

Keep the farm moist, but not so wet that your worms drown. Add compost regularly, along with a spoonful of the dolomite or agricultural lime. To make the compost easy for the worms to eat, you may need to use a blender. Worms love household scraps, with the exception of meat, onion and citrus. A coffee can with a good, tight sealing lid, can be a good place to keep the scraps for a short time… but if you have a compost pile you may be more comfortable just taking the scraps out of the house immediately.

Softer food, such as old potatoes and fruit, can just be placed on the top for the worms to eat. Worms also enjoy old, shredded and soaked cardboard. Make sure you avoid anything in the onion family, as the worms really cannot stand the oils from them, and will try to get out of the farm.

You can set up a second farm much as you did the first. Then plug the drain and fill the first about halfway with water to encourage the worms to move to the top. Take the ones you need for your garden, moving the rest to the second tub. The first tub now has excellent fertilizer for your garden.

Repeat this process monthly, and you will have marvelous organic fertilizer for your garden, saving the trouble of using chemicals. It’s better for your garden, better for you and better for the planet.

All kinds of things can go in your compost heap – grass clippings, fruit and vegetable peels from your kitchen, leaves and so forth.

After some time in your compost heap, all these things make a marvelous fertilizer for your garden. You can save money on fertilizer by taking a little time to compost things you would otherwise be throwing away.

The basic compost heap is just a pile of things somewhere unobtrusive in the back yard. This works well enough, but there are ways to speed up the process. You’ll also keep it from stinking, which is one of the factors that keeps many people from doing their own composting. No one wants their back yard to stink.

You can stack up the materials you use to make your compost heap, so long as you don’t overdo it. Oxygen is required for proper composting, so if you make your pile too deep some of the materials won’t decompose. Also moisten the pile regularly, as this helps to move things along. If you really want to go at it, get a pitchfork or even a shovel and flip things over, so that everything has it’s best chance to decompose.

Compost heaps don’t have to be just a heap on the ground. You can buy equipment to help your compost heap decompose properly. These also make it easier to work with your pile.

Composting isn’t for everyone. You need a place to put it and you have to work it right to keep the smell down. But once you’re good at it, you’ll love what you’re doing for your garden and the planet, simply by not throwing away things you can compost.