Why garden organically?
Gardening
organically results in strong, healthy plants that can fight off many
pests and diseases. These plants are grown in soil that provides the
right amounts of feed – not too much or too little. By attracting
wildlife to the garden, most pests can be kept under control. A wide
range of growing methods prevent problems and produce excellent results.
Organic
gardeners want a garden that is teeming with life and interest – with
birds, butterflies, ladybirds, frogs and hedgehogs to watch and enjoy:
all hunting and sheltering in a stunning herbaceous border or productive potager. We respect the bond that links all these living creatures
together. We recognise that this delicate web of life and
interdependence could be damaged if synthetic chemicals, weedkillers and
fungicides, are sprayed onto plants or the ground. Organic gardening is
about how to garden environmentally and how to work with and respect our
many garden residents. Methods and techniques are constantly being
developed to solve the problems we all face, so the ’chemical’ solution
is damaging, unnecessary and old fashioned.
More of us would like to garden organically and to learn how to do it
successfully. We all know how important it is for the environment and
that it’s much safer and healthier to eat your own fruit and veg,
freshly picked from the garden.
On these pages we will introduce you to a variety of organic methods.
Every season we choose different growing techniques and we explain how
they work and why we use them. We describe the whys rather than the
whats of organic gardening. This is a new venture for 2008, so keep
visiting this site for our latest updates.
The techniques will be arranged by season, so have a look at the winter and spring pages to find out what you can be doing in the garden at the moment.
In our Home Grown section there is a series of leaflets that you can download as pdfs. These give you help and advice for getting started with growing your own fruit and veg organically. They take you from selecting the seeds to harvesting the produce. They were kindly funded by Lottery Awards for All.
For a huge range of vegetable seeds, some of them organic, try Thompson & Morgan
For gardening sundries suitable for organic gardening
try
Harrod Horticultural
For garden design contact David Keegan - an organic enthusiast