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A plentiful supply of garden fresh vegetables are just one of the reasons individuals decide to plant an organic garden.
A plentiful supply of garden fresh vegetables are just one of the reasons individuals decide to plant an organic garden.
As the weather becomes warmer and the days get longer, gardeners throughout the community will begin the process of preparing their home gardens for the summer growing season.
One option gardeners can consider is utilizing all natural methods.
Annette Meyer Heisdorffer, Daviess County Cooperative Extension Office, said there are a lot of similarities between cultivating an organic garden and opting to use pesticides for disease and weed control.
“A lot of cultural practices are used that are the same no matter what type of gardening you do,” she said.
One of those practices is finding a location where the plants will thrive.
“The first steps are to look at the location,” Heisdorffer said. “If it is for vegetables, it would need to be well draining and full sun, meaning over six hours of direct sunlight.”
The next step would be for gardeners is to remove any weeds or growth and till the soil to prepare it for planting using organic fertilizer.
Heisdorffer said it is important to remember that the terms organic and chemical free are not necessarily interchangeable.
“Organic just means it is derived from materials that are natural, so when we say chemical free, organic is not necessarily chemical free,” she said.
One aspect of an organic garden that is different from any other backyard garden is that the seeds must be labeled organic.
“It will tell you it is organic seed, or you look for seed that does not have any treatment on the seed if you cannot find the variety you want in the organic seed,” Heisdorffer said.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, organic gardening involves the absence of any synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which can come from petroleum and other chemicals. Organic pesticides on the other hand are made from a variety mineral sources, plants, animals and microorganisms.
Heisdorffer believes organic gardening has become more popular in the Daviess County community, and is not necessarily more labor intensive than a home garden utilizing pesticides.
“I think they can both be intense,” she said. “I think in our area because of the heat and the humidity that we get and the moisture we have more challenges with diseases and there are some pests in the area that are more challenging than others.”
This can contribute to more difficulty in growing blemish-free produce, especially when it comes to fruit.
“It is really hard to grow blemish-free fruit in this area, with vegetables, we can get by,” Heisdorffer said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic creating a renewed interest in home gardening and canning, Heisdorffer said the increased interest in organic gardening is just a natural extension of that.
“I would say it is just a natural trajectory with gardening becoming more popular,” she said.
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