Organic Gardening  -  Seeds,  Earthworms, 

Weeds,  and  Mulch

When we are doing Organic Gardening, the seeds from which our food is grown are as important as all other parts of the gardening process. If you do not know that your seeds are from an organic gardening source, you need to make sure that the seeds are not GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds. The best source, if you cannot get organic seeds, is to get open pollinated seeds.

Nearly all GMO seeds are engineered to either survive weed killers, or to produce their own pesticides. Some do both. In the USA, over 70% of soy, corn, and canola are GMO crops. Even other, processed foods contain GMOs, meat, eggs and dairy products in supermarkets are likely to be affected by GMOs through the feed the animals eat. Another good reason to eat all organic foods!

Hybrid seeds versus open pollinated seeds (O.P.)  – Many of our seeds today are hybrid seeds. These are produced by cross pollinating two different varieties. Many of today's hybrids have been developed to be suitable for harvesting by machinery. The goal for that, was to produce crops that have tougher skins, more solid flesh, and looked more attractive. The problem with all that – they had to sacrifice something, and they sacrificed flavor and nutrition.

Now, what is the benefit of the O.P. seeds? They are of course more nutritional than their hybrid versions. This is important when you want to start off your plants with a good, solid, nutritional foundation. Think about this one: Even animals, if given the choice, will choose to eat the OP crop, versus the hybrid crop.

Funny story: My father had a few ears of corn on his desk in his farm shop. He had an OP ear of corn next to a regular ear of corn, to show that the OP corn was larger and better looking. A few days later, he found out that the mice thought the OP corn tasted better too! They had nibbled at the regular corn, but they moved on quickly to the OP corn and ate a lot more of that!

Organic Gardening Seeds on Amazon

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Organic Gardening and Earthworms

Earthworms are good indicators of the condition of your soil. The better your soil, the more earthworms you should see. The life in your soil can be judged by the number of worm holes you see. Your earthworms will increase swiftly in soil that is high in calcium, has good structure, lots of organic matter, and beneficial micro-organisms. Worms will not survive in poor soil, they will starve.

Earthworms eat their way through the soil, recycling all sorts of organic matter, weed seeds and insect, larvae, at the same time producing lots of nitrogen with their castings, or manure. Because they cannot survive in poor soil, you will need to build up your soil first, before adding any worms, if you do not have enough immediately. It can take a few years for them to multiply sufficiently on their own, so you may want to check out the option below.

Weeds are also a good indicator of your soil's nutritional condition. You might not have known this, and yes, weeds were given to man as a curse, but when your soil is properly balanced, you will have fewer weeds. You could say that weeds are a witness of man's failure to master the soil, indicating our errors, and Nature's corrections. Certain deficiencies in your soil will cause certain types of weeds to grow.

Weeds actually help to balance the toxic imbalance caused by improper treatment and neglect of the soil. Without carbon and micro-organisms, the soil becomes hard and tight, causing toxic gases from undecayed matter that is trapped in your soil. This toxic gas will be released through your plants, if not through the weeds. So, you might not hate them so much anymore, now that you know they actually can be beneficial.

Mulch helps to conserve moisture and keep the weeds down, but it is also high in potash. Using a lot of mulch will eventually start to imbalance your soil, causing diseases and more weeds. A good rule of thumb is to use less than an inch of fine mulch for small plants. For medium size plants, use a 2 inch layer of a mixture of leaves, grass clippings, and 1 inch woody material, such as wood chips or chopped up vegetable stalks, etc.

For large plants like trees, large shrubs, and raspberries, use 3-4 inches of loose, fibrous material such as brush chips. With a deeper layer of mulch, you do not want it to be fine mulch, but rather a very loose, coarse mulch. A deep layer of fine mulch will get too tight, this will cause the roots to grow up instead of down, in order to get some air, and they will dry out. Also, keep the mulch away from the base or trunk of your trees and shrubs at least 1-2 feet. This encourages the roots to spread out, and keeps them from potentially getting tangled roots and becoming root-bound.

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