Organic gardeners use nature as a guide for gardening. A good organic garden promotes natural processes:
1. Resource cycling - As much as possible, materials used in organic gardens should come from the garden site and cycle through the garden, instead of leaving the site.
2. Biological diversity - Organic gardens should support a broad mix of plants, animals, and other living things.
3. Ecological balance - Beneficial organisms reduce outbreaks of pest organisms, but they do not drive them to extinction.
The biggest concern of an organic gardener is care of the soil. Organic gardeners use natural fertilizers, such as compost, instead of synthetically produced fertilizers to build soils rich in organic matter. By concentrating on soil health, organic gardeners hope to grow healthy plants that resist pest pressure. If pests do become a problem, organic gardeners use may use a variety of sustainable practices like: compainion planting, lures, and pesticides from naturally derived products, such as plant extracts. They prefer tactics that have little impact on natural systems.
Organic gardening has some limitations:
1. It is usually more labor intensive.
2. You may need to accept some, often superficial, damage.
3. You need more knowledge to be a good organic gardener.
Most organic gardeners believe the satisfaction of producing food without using synthetic chemicals more than compensates for its drawbacks. Tending an organic garden connects them with the soil and makes them feel close to nature.
