Organic Gardening

The best way to get fresh organically grown fruit and vegetables is to grow your own. Australia's climate is perfect for growing a wide variety of fruit and vegetables all year round.

The most important thing when starting your own vegetable garden is to improve your soil. This can easily be achieved by making your own compost. Adding compost and well rotted animal manure will significantly improve your soil and eliminate the need for fertilisers.

Many organic materials can be composted including lawn clippings, chicken and cow manure (although these may contain weed seeds), leaves, fruit and vegetable scraps, hedge clippings, weeds (without seeds), shredded paper, coffee grounds, egg shells, and straw.

Materials which should never be composted include pet faeces, diseased plants, meat, bones, whole eggs, and dairy products, as theses may attract rodents.

Starting your own worm farm is another way to improve your soil. Worms aerate the soil and worm castings are an excellent fertiliser. You can buy worm farms and worms from your local garden centre. Worms eat most fruit and vegetable scraps (except citrus, onions, and garlic), paper, cardboard, leaves, and egg shells. It's best not to put meat in your worm farm as you could end up with maggots.

Worm castings can be used directly on garden beds (covered with mulch) and pots or you can add water to make a liquid fertiliser.

Compost and worm castings are excellent fertilisers for plants but there are also a number of commercially produced organic fertilisers available. The benefit of organic fertilisers over non-organic is that they are slow release fertilisers which may improve soil. They are generally based on seaweed, fish, and rock minerals. However, be aware that some organic fertilisers are fortified with non-organic ingredients.

A good quality soil with plenty of organic matter will result in strong, healthy plants. This will reduce the need for pest control as will crop rotation, companion planting, and attracting birds. Pests can also be controlled by removing them by hand.

Generally, vegetables should not be grown in same place in the garden each year. Crops should be rotated to help control pests, diseases, and weeds. The best way to achieve this is with a 3 year rotation, meaning you would have 3 different beds in your garden to grow different groups of vegetables. The 3 different groups are root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beetroot), brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage) and other crops such as beans, peas, tomatoes, and corn.

If you have good, healthy soil, and you practice companion planting, then you may be able to manage your garden without the need for crop rotation. Many aromatic herbs, vegetables (garlic, onions, turnips, and radishes), and certain flowers can act as a deterrent to pests as well as attracting bees which are required for pollinating. The most effective flowers to plant include marigolds, nasturtium, calendula, white geranium, zinnias, and pansies.

Most common herbs are believed to repel pests. Plant these around your vegetables to create a protective barrier. The best herbs to plant are parsley, lavender, rosemary, chives, mint, sage, thyme, basil, catnip, and dill. Growing these will also add another dimension to your cooking as they can add great flavour to your meals.

You can find organically grown fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs from your local garden centre or start your own from seed.

For more information on growing organically, we recommend the excellent book Organic Gardening for the 21st Century or subscribe to Organic Gardener magazine, both of which are excellent resouces for Australian gardeners.