host posted on April 20, 2008 12:57
By
Tropical John
There’s no time like the present. This is a saying that we have all heard for years. I am here to tell you that it is more important now than ever. It is time to convert to Organic Gardening! It is not that hard – I promise. It’s time to create a safe environment for our children, our pets, and ourselves. This time is NOW! So let’s move through it one step at a time.
The number one rule is to stop using synthetic products like chemical fertilizers and insecticides. These products leach out of the soil and wash away easily. So, where do they go? They go down the drains and down the hill right into Lake Ray Hubbard. This concern began my quest for safer solutions some twenty years ago. You should make the decision to go Organic. This takes a basic mindset change, persistence, and patience. Your yard on synthetic products is like an athlete on steroids. They will perform great at first, but the long term effects can be devastating. So, put your yards and gardens into organic rehabilitation and get them back to a natural state.
Everything in the organic program starts in the soil. The chemical approach targets plants and problems that exist for the most part, above the soil line. Healthy, living soil is the key to good organic gardening. If your soil is loaded with organic materials (compost), earthworms, micro-organisms, beneficial bacteria and fungi, then you will have very few insect and disease problems. Insects and diseases do not attack healthy plants. They attack the weak plants as opposed to the healthy plants, thus the strong will survive. Mother Nature takes care of herself.
The soil amendments and flowerbed preparation is the key to a strong, healthy planting area. Clay and sandy soils both need lots of compost. Compost is decayed organic materials. You can make your own using leaves, trimmings, grass clippings, or just about anything that will breakdown and decay. Or, you can always buy compost. I do not recommend using peat moss or pine bark mulch. The best compost found in a bas is the cotton bur compost from west Texas. It is a good, safe local product. Next, you will want to use the rock minerals like lava sand, expanded shale, and green sand. Lava sand and expanded shale help improve drainage and increase the water and nutrient holding capacity of the soil. Now it’s time to add dry molasses. This will feed and stimulate the micro-organisms in the soil, not to mention helps repel fire ants when applied to the surface of your flowerbeds and grass. Let’s now add a good organic dry soil food (organically speaking, we call fertilizer – soil food) to our mix. Some brand names I like are Texas Tee, Medina, or Gardenville.
Last but not least, is the top dressing or mulch you use to cover your soil. Now, going gardening the organic way means working with nature and not against her. Mother Nature never leaves bare clean soil. It is vital to add good shredded mulch to your flowerbeds and gardens. Native tree trimmings are best because they contain the biological makeup of your surrounding area. We want to use local products as much as possible because this helps cut down the fuel consumption from transporting products throughout the nation. If you have the need to use bagged products, shredded cedar or hardwood mulch is the best. The top dressing continues the circle of life in the garden by decaying and adding the all important compost back into the soil. Please do not use pine bark, decorative bark or weed barriers in this process.
You should always spend time preparing your planting bed. The time and effort you spend is the key to minimizing unwanted insects and diseases.
You now have the first steps to a healthy, safe environment. Don’t stop now! We have covered some of the basics of organic gardening, but we have more to learn. One of the things I am passionate about is that there is always something new to learn. So, keep your hands in the dirt until you make soil and always try to live “natural” first.
Tropical John owned and operated Tropical John’s Garden Shop in Rockwall for 20 years. He now spreads the Organic word on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. on WBAP 820AM. He also runs Tropical John’s Garden Therapy (landscaping, organic fertilization program, and water gardens) and sells organic products for Natural First Distribution. For more information, please go to www.tropicaljohnsgardens.com or www.livingnaturalfirst.com