|
|
|
|
Home / Home / Gardening
How to Grow Healthy Food
By:Linda Paquette
words: 400
How to Grow Healthy Food
To grow healthy food, you literally have to start at rock bottom. No matter what you’re growing, from chickpeas to chickens, the truth is that you are what they eat!
It’s no secret that all life begins with the soil. Although it may look like dirt to the naked eye, organically rich soil is a living, breathing community of microorganisms. These little denizens of the dirt are born, grow, breed, give birth and die leaving an estate of nutrition-filled remains to the soil. While they live, many of these little critters feed on undesirable elements like harmful bacteria.
Every year, gardeners spend thousands of dollars on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that are little more than a quick fix to gardening problems and create long-term health hazards for everyone, from humans to single-celled organisms in the soil. If you really want to grow healthy food, the first step is to keep your underground colony in good health.
There are two things you need to do to maintain healthy soil. The first is to keep out the chemicals. The second is to add rich organic matter to your soil at regular intervals.
Keep out the chemicals
No matter what amount of chemical you use in your gardening, a drop is a deluge to a microorganism. More to the point, most chemicals don’t fade away. They leech into your garden and wait to attach to some growing thing… like your plants. One example is a gardener who claims to grow organic apples. He doesn’t spray his trees, but he does use a chemical “weed & feed” application on his lawn, seemingly unaware of the systemic consequences of using chemicals.
Feed your soil
The best way to enrich your soil is to give it regular applications of composted organic matter. Compost can be anything from yard mulch to kitchen vegetable waste. If you don’t have the time to maintain a compost bin, an easy way to add organic matter to your yard is through mowing your lawn with a mulching mower. Prepared compost is also available for purchase from nurseries and home garden centers.
Remember the house that Jack built? It’s similar in your garden. The roots take from the soil to give to the stems that bear the buds that turn into the fruit…. Whether or not the fruit is healthy depends on what was in the soil.
About the Author
Linda is editor of Gardening Guides
Article Source: http://www.dailynewarticles.com
More Articles from Gardening Category:
An Overview Of The Worlds Most Beautiful Flowers - Australian Orchids
Some Basic Facts about Lawn Mower Parts
Handy Tips On Buying Lawn Mower Parts
House Plants and their Bugs, Pests and Insects
How To Make Sure Your Wildflowers Survive In Your Home Garden
Perennial Gardens That Stay Healthy All Year Round
The Ideal Greenhouse Heaters To Choose From
Gardening: Blue Lobelia and Its Gorgeous Twin Sister
Save Time And Labor With A Garden Hose Reel
Organic Fertilizers Are Becoming More Popular In The Garden
If You Want To Drink Fresh Healthy Juice You Need A Quality Juicer
The Beauty Of Iron Arbors
Organic Indoor Gardening
Lawnmower Battery Buying Guide
Why The Beauty Of Roses Is Hard To Resist
|
|
