Organic Gardening
Your
Backyard Doesn’t Get
More Local …
Than This!
Presented by:
Lindsay Strode
Cape Organics
508-430-0267
[email protected]
What is Organic?
Or·gan·ic
Of food:
: grown or made without the use of artificial chemicals…
not using artificial chemicals…
: of, relating to, or obtained from living things
GMO’S
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has
been altered using techniques in genetics generally known as recombinant DNA
technology.
Recombinant DNA technology is the ability to combine DNA molecules from different
sources into the one molecule
Food Travels…
But You Don’t Have To !!!
Your Back Yard IS Sooo…Wicked Local…
Foods grown locally, can be healthier, taste better
and allow you to take some control of your food
production
Satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment can be gained when you
look at your table and realize that you provided for your family a
healthy and less costly alternative to conventional processed foods.
The Real Dirt… It All Starts Here…
Why All Dirt Is Not Created Equal
Everything should start with a soil test
Regional importance
All dirt has a history
Remember your are what you eat…
Why do cooking from scratch?
The same principle applies to backyard
organic gardening
The Old is Now New…
Gardening techniques have in some cases come full
circle where one finds historically appropriate means
applied to todays backyard gardening.
Cover Crops
Composting
Fallow Fielding
Companion Planting
Disease and Pest Management
Raised Beds and Cold Frames
Garden Sanitation
Cover Crops…Green Manures
Cover Crops AKA Green Manures Provide:
Organic Matter
Soil Conditioning
Source Of Nutrients
Habitat For Beneficial Microorganisms
“Sticky” Dirt
Allelopathy
Cover Crop Options For The
Backyard Garden
Annual Rye Grass
Buckwheat
Oats
Hairy Vetch
Red Clover
Winter Ryegrass
Compost
Aerobic vs Anaerobic
Parent Materials
Brown to Green Ratio
Time
Tools
Fallow Fielding
Simply fallow fielding is the resting of productive
land to regenerate and recover from successive
planting and harvest cycles
Companion Planting
Organic gardeners know that a diverse mix of
plants makes for a healthy and beautiful garden.
Many also believe that certain plant combinations
have extraordinary powers for helping each other
grow. Scientific study of companion planting has
confirmed that some combinations have real
benefits unique to those combinations. And
practical experience has demonstrated to many
gardeners how to mate certain plants for their
mutual benefit.
Disease Management In The Garden
Starts With:
Healthy Disease Resistant Seed
Look for it…
Good Cultural Practices
Appropriate garden siting
Ample spacing
Correct structural support
Good soils
Regular weed control
Even fertility
Consistent moisture
Regular plant care and monitoring
Stirrup Hoe
Colinear Hoe
Flame Weeder
Blossom End Rot Early Blight
Mosaic Virus
Bacterial Wilt
Leaf Spot
Powdery Mildew
Pest Management
Monitoring is your best indicator of when you need to
be taking action. Anticipating the time pests are likely
to appear, gives you a jump start on your control
methods. Blanket spraying of control materials
indiscriminately can harm beneficial insects, allowing
detrimental pests to increase unchecked.
IPM
Pest traps
GDD
Physical barriers
Hand picking
Beneficial Insect Releases
Vacuum
Beneficial Bedding
Trap cropping
IPM- Integrated Pest Management
IPM programs use current, comprehensive information
on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the
environment. Organic food production applies many of
the concepts as IPM but limits the use of pesticides to
those that are produced from natural sources, as
opposed to synthetic chemicals.
Growing Degree Day
GDD are a measure of heat accumulation used by
horticulturists, gardeners, and farmers to predict plant,
insect and animal development rates such as the date
that a flower will bloom or a certain pest is likely to
emerge.
Striped Cucumber Beetle
Squash Vine Borer
Flea Beetle
Floating Row Cover
Lady Bird Beetle
Praying Mantis
Parasitic Wasp on Tomato Hornworm
Raised Beds and Cold Frames
Raised Beds Offer Several Advantages…
Compact Controlled Gardening Space
Less Soil Compaction
Better Air and Water Movement
Can Be Placed Most Anywhere You Have Sun
Soil Warms Quicker In The Spring
Garden Sanitation
In Season
During the growing season it is essential to manage
weeds and disease to lessen the possibility of further and
future detrimental pressures in the garden.
Off Season
During the fall and winter there are still chores to be
done. Planting cover crops as fall crops are removed ,
spreading compost, manure and chopped leaves or
seaweed to increase organic matter and replace
nutrients depleted from a bountiful growing season
References
University Of Massachusetts Cooperative
Extension
Organic Gardening
Science Daily
Merriam Webster
Growing Cover Crops Profitably
The New Organic Grower
Carrots Love Tomato’s
Pests of The Garden and Small Farm
Cape Organics
Lindsay Strode
508-430-0267
[email protected]