Growing organically is better for us, better for the environment, and when done well can keep you well supplied with seasonal food all year round. The key is to prevent problems before they happen so that you reduce the need for intervention. This guide will help start you off and tell you how to prepare and grow and organic garden.
Growing organically is better for us, better for the environment, and when done well can keep you well supplied with seasonal food all year round. The key is to prevent problems before they happen so that you reduce the need for intervention. This guide will help start you off and tell you how to prepare and grow and organic garden.
Organic gardening is simply gardening without the use of any man-made chemicals or processes. There are many natural solutions that can do the same job as chemicals, and all it takes is knowing what they are and how to use them.
A lot of the work comes down to learning how to preemptively solve any issues, and how to work with the ecological systems within your garden to help your plants stay healthy, pest free, and productive.
This governs what and when you plant. For example, the further south, the shorter the growing seasons and the greater the need to protect soil and plants from cold. In climates like this you will need to select more hardy plant varieties. First and last frost dates are also important to know. Further north, growing seasons are longer and plants may need to be able to withstand humidity.
Do you have any microclimates in your garden that you need to be aware of? For example gardens in colder areas may have warmer sheltered spot against a southern facing wall. Or a warmer area may have an inhospitable northfacing exposed site, which may not be suitable for growing.
Get to know which areas of your garden get the sun and the shade and choose plants accordingly.
Get familiar with spots that tend to be damp all the time and spots that dry out quickly.
The ideal soil is dark, light and crumbly, and slightly moist so that when squeezed into a ball it holds together. You will need to prepare your soil so it has those characteristics.
Good gardening starts from the ground up – and soil is the number one thing you need to look after if you want to grow organically. Healthy soil will promote strong, vigorous plants that resist disease and insect attacks, and need little or no fertilizing.
The soil must be fertile, with soil microbes allowed to play their vital role. Feed the soil by returning organic matter to it as compost or mulch. Fallen leaves, grass clippings and rotted manure can all be used as mulches. If you keep your soil healthy like this you will not need commercial fertilisers. See our “How to make your own compost” Easy As guide.
How acid or alkaline (sour or sweet) a soil is impacts significantly on microbial life and plant health. pH ranges from 0 (acid) to 17 (alkaline): 7 is neutral. The acceptable range for plant life is between 4.5 and 7.5.
Make sure to test your soil’s pH levels with a pH tester kit, and add the above additives to get it to the right pH level.
Worm farms are a great way to process your food scraps and turn them into highly nutritious substances full of beneficial microbes, perfect for adding a bit of life to your soil. See our “How to set up a worm farm” Easy As guide.
A healthy plant can overcome the effects of diseases or pests better than a weak one. If you have a plant with a pest problem, try to work out why it is so vulnerable. Does it need more or less water? Does it need more or less nitrogen or other nutrients? Does it need more sun? Grow plants that do well in your local soil and climate.
Young, tender seedlings are more vulnerable to pest damage than older, more established plants, so make sure the soil is good enough to give the plants or seeds a rapid start in life. Water frequently to encourage steady growth.
Crop rotation is important if you want to grow organically in your veggie garden. Pests and diseases can build up in soil and attack specific vegetable families each year. To help control this, divide your annual vegetable plot into sections and rotate what you grow in each section every year for 3 or 4 years. This will also help the soil fertility as different crops have different nutrient requirements.
For example: Peas and beans make nitrogen available in the soil, so they should be planted the season before crops which need lots of nitrogen – such as cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli (brassicas). Follow with a root crop such as carrots or onions.
Click here to download the pdf version of this guide to see two examples of crop rotation you can adopt for your vege patch.
You can also have a year off in the crop rotation to leave the shallow fallow to reinvigorate the soil naturally so this is when it is perfect to plant a Green crop.
A green crop is a quick growing plant sown thickly on vacant ground or within a vegetable rotation and then dug into the topsoil. Within the soil it breaks down to humus and release nutrients. Green crops also act as a protective cover for the soil, and a shelter and food source for beneficial insects.
Green crops are usually planted in late autumn, grow through the winter and are dug-in in spring. It is most important that the green crop is still soft and watery when dug-in so that it breaks down easily. Allow three weeks after digging-in before planting the next crop.
Plants grow best with good mates. Companion planting is the grouping of plants together in a combination that is beneficial to them or other plants around them. This increases the health and success of the harvest. If also significantly reduces the need to spray by helping repel unwanted insects or attract beneficial insects, it nourishes the soil, and helps control diseases.
For example, planting basil near your tomato plants will ensure both will flourish and some flowers are best grown near edible crops in order to attract insects for pollination. This table will guide you.
| Vegetable | Ideal companions | Unsuitable companions |
| Asparagus | Basil, coriander, nasturtiums, parsley, tomatoes | Garlic, onions, Potatoes |
| Bean | Carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, marigolds, sweetcorn | Capsicums, chives, garlic, leeks, other onions & tomatoes |
| Broad bean | Brassicas, carrots, celery, lettuces, potatoes, sweetcorn | Fennel |
| Beetroot | Brassicas, broccoli, cabbage, lettuces, onions, sage | Beans (pole) |
| Broccoli | Celery, chamomile, dill, rosemary | Oregano, strawberries |
| Brussel sprout | Dill, potatoes, thyme | Strawberries, tomatoes |
| Cabbage | Beetroot, celery, Oregano, Potatoes, Sage, plus any other strong-smelling herbs | Strawberries, tomatoes |
| Carrot | Bush Beans, Lettuces Onions, Peas, Radishes, Runner beans, tomatoes | Dill, parsnips |
| Capsicum | Basil | |
| Cauliflower | Beans, celery, oregano, peas | Nasturtiums, peas, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes |
| Celery | Cabbage, leaks, onions, spinach, tomatoes | Parsnips, potatoes |
| Courgette | Nasturtiums | |
| Cucumber | Beans, celery, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes | Cauliflowers, potatoes, basil or other strong smelling herbs |
| Eggplant | Beans, Capsicums, potatoes, spinach | |
| Leek | Carrots, celery, radishes, strawberries | |
| Lettuce | Carrots, cucumbers, radishes, strawberries, tomatoes | Beans, beetroot parsley |
| Melon | Sweetcorn, radishes | Potatoes |
| Onion | Broccoli, cabbages, lettuces, strawberries, tomatoes | Beans, peas |
| Pea | Beans, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, sweetcorn | Onion family |
| Potato | Beans, cabbages, eggplants, peas, sweetcorn | Cucumbers, pumpkin, squash, sunflower |
| Pumpkin | Beans, peas, radishes, sweetcorn | Potatoes |
| Radish | Beans, carrots, cucumbers, lettuces, melons, peas and squash | Brassicas |
| Spinach | Cauliflowers, celery, eggplant | |
| Sweetcorn | Beans, celery, cucumbers, melons, peas, radishes | Tomatoes |
| Tomato | Asparagus, basil, carrots, celery, parsley | Brassicas, fennel, potatoes, sweetcorn |
The best defence against insect attack is prevention and with good soil, companion planting, and care you can avoid them. But if you do have any problems there are some natural ways of dealing with pests.
The following table will show you some natural control mechanisms for pest and fungal control as well as natural fertilisers sprays for your garden.
| Item | Use | Recipe |
| Baking soda | Fungicide | Mix 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp soft soap, 1 tsp cooking oil, litre water. Spray on foliage. |
| Dipel (bio insecticide) | For caterpillars, as a last resort | Per manufacturer’s instructions |
| Chamomile tea in boiling water | Fungal diseases, especially | Teabag or cupful of flowers to 1 litre water. Cool then use, damping off. |
| Chicken, cow, horse manures | Liquid fertiliser | Steep 1 kg manure in 10 litres water for 1 month. Dilute to colour of weak tea. |
| Cider Vinegar | Tonic, fungicide | 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar to 1 gallon water. Spray. |
| Compost tea | Foliar leaf fertiliser. Preventative measure against fungal disease e.g. early or late blight | Mix half a bucket of compost with half a bucket of water. Stir every 2 days until liquid is mahogany coloured. Strain. Spray plants once a week. |
| Eggshells | Calcium Tonic – good to prevent blossom end rot | Crush and sprinkle around base of plants, or make a tea – crush 12 eggshells in 1 litre water. Leave overnight. |
| Iron nails | Deter cutworms | Sow a few iron nails in the soil. |
| Milk Powder | Anti-viral, fungicide, tonic | 1 tablespoon powdered milk worked into soil when transplanting, then 1 tablespoon per week watered into soil. 1 tablespoon powdered milk in 1 litre of water as foliar, fungal spray. |
| Molasses, seaweed and milk powder | Foliar spray. Fungicide | 1 cup molasses, 1 cup seaweed powder, 1 cup milk powder. Dissolve in 1 gallon of water. Use as foliar spray. |
| Nettle 1 | Liquid fertiliser Pest control | 1 kg fresh cut nettles, 10 litres water. Cover, leave at room temperature 14 days. Stir every other day. Strain, use undiluted. |
| Nettle 2 | Liquid fertiliser Pest control | 100g nettles, 1 litre water, leave 24 hours. Strain, dilute 1.5 with water. |
| Seaweed/fish | Foliar feed, fungal and pest control | Foliar spray of liquid seaweed or fish emulsion every 1-2 weeks. |
The following are natural predators of pest insects – beneficial insects, birds, frogs and lizards – control pests by eating them.
| Predator | Prey |
| Ants | Feed on fruit fly, codling moth, some caterpillars etc. |
| Beetles | Rove beetles, soldier beetles, tiger beetles etc eat a range of insect pests |
| Birds | Friends as well as foes, they feed on hundreds of pests |
| Centipedes | One leg per segment, (plant-eating millipedes have many legs per segment), they eat caterpillars, slugs etc. |
| Drangonflies | Eat mosquitoes and other insects, sadly including bees |
| Frogs | Need water and damp dark places, eat slugs |
| Hedgehogs | Eat slugs, millipedes etc., but also beneficial insects |
| Hoverflies | Eat aphids, scale insects, mites, young caterpillars, larvae of pear/cherry slugs |
| Lacewings | Eat aphids, scale, mealy bugs, mites, whitefly, etc. |
| Ladybirds | Eat scale, aphids, whitefly, mealy bugs etc. |
| Lizards | Eat slugs, snails etc. |
| Parasitic Wasps | Ichneumons lay eggs on many pests and eat caterpillars |
| Praying Mantises | Adults eat caterpillars, bugs, beetles etc., young eat aphids |
| Spiders | Eat flies, mosquitoes, caterpillars, codling moth larvae, butterflies etc. |
Natural predators of pest insects – beneficial insects, birds, frogs and lizards – control pests by eating them. See our “Bringing bees butterflies and birds to the garden” Easy As guide.
These thrive on constant moisture and too little air circulating around plants. To prevent them:
In the organic vocabulary weeds have been described as “plants out of place”. The tradition of leaving fields to fallow was to allow “weeds” and wildflowers to regenerate the soil depleted by crops.
So while non-organic gardeners wage war on weeds, organic gardeners look first to see if weeds are trying to tell them something. Different weeds have different purposes. These include:
Weeds will always be around because they were designed to survive inhospitable conditions. You may be happy to live with a few, especially those that have many uses e.g. dandelion and comfrey.
As soil becomes more fertile and balanced, excessive weed problems will be minimised. As well as building healthy fertile soils manage weeds by:
These common weeds tell you about the condition of your soil and are often trying to remedy a problem.
| Weed | Soil condition |
| Borage | Fertile |
| Buttercup | Acidity & lack of drainage |
| Chickweed | Fertile |
| Cleavers | Fertile |
| Clover | Lacking nitrogen |
| Coltsfoot | Poor drainage |
| Comfrey | Damp soil |
| Cow Parsley | Too much nitrogen |
| Dandelion | Heavy, clumpy soil, fertile |
| Dock | Poor, damp soil |
| Galinsoga | Good humus |
| Horsetail (Equisetum) | Acid soil, poorly drained |
| Plantain | Acid soil |
| Polygonum | Heavy, wet soil |
| Sorrel | Acid soil, lacking calcium |
| Spurge (Euphorbia) | Alkaline soil |
| Stinging Nettles | Good soil |
| Vetch | Lack of nitrogen |
