Most people think that “organic gardening” means only the artificial pesticides and fertilizers are not used on the plants. That is, of course, true, but that is not quite all that there is to organic gardening.

Organic gardening is more like playing one instrument in an orchestra rather than giving a solo performance. A true organic gardener knows that his garden must get in harmony and stay in harmony with all of nature. It isn’t so much what an organic gardener does NOT do (use artificial pesticides and fertilizers) but more what an organic gardener DOES do that makes him an organic gardener.

All gardens start basically with the same thing – soil. Those who do not practice organic gardening simply go down to the local nursery and pick up a few bags of fertilizer, dump it on the ground and spread it around, but the organic gardener uses the things that nature provides as fertilizer.

For example, the grass clipping from mowing the lawn during warm months are fertilizer, and so are the leaves that are raked up in the fall. The vegetable peelings that are produced and called waste in the kitchen are also fertilizer. The organic gardener collect this “waste,” makes it into a compost pile, and as the plant material decays, a very effective, all-natural fertilizer is produced.

Nature also gives the organic gardener natural pest control. The organic gardener encourages ladybugs, frogs, and lizards to live in his garden. The frogs, lizards, and ladybugs are happy and they keep the pests off the plants.

Organic mulches are the best weed control and straw, grass clippings, leaves, and shredded bark nourish the soil as they decompose and keep the weeds out. Hoeing and pulling weed out by their roots are also effective methods for controlling weeds in an organic garden.