What is Organic Gardening?
Many gardeners wonder what exactly organic gardening means. Rodale's Organic Life states the simple answer is that organic gardeners don't use artificial fertilizers or pesticides on their plants. But gardening organically is much more than what you don't do. If you garden organically, you think of your plants as a whole system within Nature that starts in the soil and includes the water, people, wildlife and even the insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural systems and to lessen and continually replace any resources the garden consumes.
Organic gardening, then, begins with attention to the soil. Organic matter must be added regular to the soil with local resources when possible. Compost is decomposed organic matter. Composting is the recycling of organic material such as kitchen scraps, grass clippings and leaves. Compost is the ideal organic matter for your garden soil. If you add compost to your soil, you are already on your way to raising a beautiful healthy organic garden.
