My OG Blog

In the two previous post we talked about the first fundamental collect, collect, collect! The second fundamental of organic gardening is to compost some of what you collected. I mention in that post that some of the materials you collect should be composted right away because they start to decompose so quickly. Materials like kitchen scraps and grass clippings start to decompose quickly and do not store well while items like diseased or pest infected plants should be thrown into the compost pile as soon as possible to prevent the spread of either the pests or the disease along with weeds which have gone to seed since the heat of the compost pile will help to kill pests, disease and weed seeds.

So you might be asking, if I am not saving all this stuff to compost what else should I do with all of these materials I have collected? If the material is one that will store well like pine needles, straw, leaves, saw dust, shredded paper, etc. then it will also make great mulch! Grass clippings are also a great mulch if you use it right away so if you don’t want to or don’t need to compost your grass clippings then use it to mulch. Mulching is an extremely important aspect of organic gardening. It helps the soil retain moisture, helps control weeds and provides shelter for beneficial insects! So it reduces the amount of time spent watering and weeding, conserves on water and supports the beneficial population in your garden meaning you can spend less time working and more time enjoying your organic vegetable garden! An added benefit of using organic matter to mulch with is that as it is acting as a mulch it is also beginning to decompose and when you go to plant in that area  again you simply work the mulch into the soil where it will finish composting and enrich your soil!

In my last article we discussed the first fundamental of organic gardening: collect, collect, collect. The next two fundamentals are about what you do with all of this organic material you’ve collected. As was stated before the single most important ingredient in a successful organic garden is the soil and the best fertilizer for an organic garden is compost.

If you are lucky enough to be starting your garden with great soil compost will keep it rich and healthy. If you’re not so lucky, compost will build any type of soil into great soil. Compost improves sandy soil by adding nutrients and improving water retention. Compost will add nutrients and improve texture and drainage in heavy clays. No matter what soil type you have you can improve it by adding compost.

So now that you have collected all these great organic materials it’s time to start composting some of them. Some of the materials you will collect should be put into an active compost pile immediately. Kitchen scraps you don’t have room to freeze, weeds that have gone to seed, sick or diseased plants, fresh grass clippings (though there is another use for these), garden debris which may harbor harmful insects or their larvae and hay.

There are many different methods of composting find the ones that work for you. I personally have two or three methods going at the same time. Check out some of my other articles on composting to discover what works for you.

In my last post I wrote about benefits of grouping plants into families in your organic garden. This post is about plant friends. A plant friend is a plant that doesn’t belong to the family of plants but still provides some kind of benefit to the family. The friend may attract beneficial insects, or it may attract pests away from the family, it may provide shade or shelter, they may block weeds, or feed the soil. Whatever role they take on it is always good to have friends!

A classic example of planting crop friends together comes from Native Americans. They would plant corn, pole beans and squash together. The dense growth and prickly nature of squash growing amongst the corn stocks helps to keep animal invaders out and the squash has the benefit of open ground to grow on. The corn provides the pole beans with a natural trellis while the beans help to fix nitrogen in soil for the corn.

The most important plant friends are the ones who attract beneficial insects. To name just a few: dill attracts lady bugs, wasps, spiders, hoverflies and bees; Bachelor buttons provide nectar for many beneficial insects; Gazania is popular with lady bugs and spined soldier bugs; Marigolds attract hoverflies and parasitic wasps. I will be going into further detail on this in future posts.

So if we put plant families with plant friends, beneficial insects and beneficial wildlife what do we get? A garden neighborhood! No chemicals needed or allowed!

One very important aspect of companion gardening is companion planting. There are a lot of great organic gardening books out there that can help you find companions for the fruits and vegetables in your organic garden. One that I found to be extremely helpful is “Great Garden Companions” by Sally Jean Cunningham. She emphasizes the idea of plant families and neighborhoods, which really simplifies the whole companion planting system.

In her system there are four types of plant families: Botanical families, Feeding families, Performance families and Pest-fighting families. Botanical families are genetically related and often have similar needs and pest problems. Feeding families have similar needs for nutrients. Some plants require fertile ground and some will thrive in average or even poor soils. Performance families are plants which help each other grow and are a very practical way of grouping families. Then there are the pest fighting families, where one family member may help repel pests away from another family member or lure it away (a sacrificial plant).

Once you have decided which fruits and vegetables you want to grow it is time to group them into the appropriate families. This can be a little confusing at first and I highly recommend reading “Great Garden Companions”. If you don’t want to purchase it check out your public library to see if it is available.

Once you have created your garden families you will want to find their friends. When we put garden families with garden friends we create garden neighborhoods! Next time I will go into more detail on what a garden friend is!

In the last article on companion gardening I mentioned that many creatures should be welcomed into an organic garden. I went on to discuss how beneficial birds are in the garden but birds are not the only creatures you should encourage to make a home in your garden! Bats, lizards and salamanders, snakes, toads and frogs are all wildlife that should be welcomed in your garden.

Now I know that these animals are sometimes considered a little creepy. When I am organic gardening, it still scares me when a snake or a lizard startles me! Truth is they are harmless and more frightened of you than you are of them.

There are only four types of snakes in the U.S. that are considered dangerous, they are very rare, and they most likely will not be visiting your garden. The ones you see control rodents, insects and even slugs and snails. Snakes like the shelter of rocks, woodpiles and brush. So find creative ways to use these features near your garden.

The common brown bat can consume up to 3,000 insects/night including mosquitoes. You can build or buy house created just for them, they’re also attracted by ponds.

Lizards and salamanders are completely harmless and will consume thousands of insects. They like cool damp places to hide like under a rock pile.

Toads and frogs are great for controlling insect populations. One toad can eat as many as 10,000 insects in a year including slugs! Toads like cool dark places, so make a little shelter out of rocks or an upside down clay pot (just make sure there is a way for the toad to get under it. Ponds and water features are a great attraction for both frogs and toads.

So take the time to add a few features in and around your garden to attract these wildlife companions your organic garden will love you for it!

Companion gardening is a system of using what Mother Nature provides us with to make our garden flourish without the use of sprays or chemicals of any kind. Sometimes this will go against everything you are familiar with. There are some really great organic gardening books that explain the whole system very well.

In a companion garden we encourage all kinds of creatures to live and work in our garden. Birds are especially welcome in our garden they eat all kinds of garden pests like Colorado potato beetles, cabbage loopers, tomato hornworms, Japanese-beetle grubs, flea beetles and mosquitoes – just to name a few! Now granted while the birds are eating up all of those pests they may also take a bite out of your strawberries or nibble on some tender lettuce or some other little delicacy but this is easily minimized with some floating row covers. The benefits of having them far outweighs the disadvantages.

There are a variety of plants, shrubs and trees you can plant around or near your garden to attract birds. You will want to do some research to see which ones will do well in your area. I’ve included a list below of just a few that birds find attractive. As was mentioned in a previous post you will want to provide a water source for your birds, a bird bath, a small garden pond or a small fountain are just a few of ways this can be accomplished. Make sure the water is fresh and change it out often if it is in a stagnant pool.

Birds are only one of many creatures welcome in a companion garden.  I will be writing about some of the other welcome residents in future posts. I will tell how they help and give tips and ideas of how you can attract them.

Plants for the Birds

(source for above table Great Garden Companions, by Sally Jean Cunningham)

If you have been researching organic gardening you’ve probably heard the term companion planting before and understand that companion planting refers to putting plants together that benefit each other in some way. They attract beneficial insects; they provide a beneficial nutrient exchange; they provide shade or any number of positive benefits for each other. When I speak of companion gardening I’m talking about a larger view of companion planting.

Companion gardening is about creating a mini ecosystem where everything coexist in a balance that will help your garden thrive without the need for man made pesticides and disease controls. After all if it kills insects why would you want it in your food? Most people cringe at the thought of encouraging animals to take up residence in their garden, but this is about balance. After all Mother Nature has been a highly successful gardener for millions of years. When nature is in balance everything thrives!

Companion gardening encourages all sorts of life forms to take up residence in your garden. For example consider placing a bird bath near or in your garden to attract some feathered friends, birds help pollinate plants, scatter seeds, provide fertilizer and prey on plant pests. You may also consider putting a wren house near your garden. Wrens eat insect pests and are very territorial they will help keep less desirable birds away, like the ones who want to eat your strawberries!

There are many other beneficial animals and insects you will want to attract into your garden and I’ll be adding tips and ideas regularly to assist you in creating a mini ecosystem of your own!