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How to grow your own organic vegetables

You don't need a farm to grow vegetables, so stop making excuses! If you have a roof deck, a patio, a fire escape or even just a sunny window, you too can be a farmer.

If you're lucky enough to have a larger lot, why not replace part of your lawn with a vegetable garden? Get the family involved—kids like growing vegetables, and it gets them connected to food (in a positive way) at an early age.

Where should I put my garden?

Your site should have (note, this is more applicable to larger "plots"):

• Sun: Choose a location that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day. In the spring and fall, the angle of the sun is lower: make sure your site won't be shaded by adjacent trees or buildings.
• Water: Your vegetable garden will need at least an inch of water per week. If it's a large plot, you'll need hoses long enough to reach it. For a small plot or city garden, a watering can will do.
• Good drainage: Standing water isn't good for vegetable gardens, so avoid a poorly drained site.
• Good air circulation: Adequate air flow is especially important for wind-pollinated crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and corn. Don't choose a windy spot, however, as winds dry out soil, reduce yields, cause erosion, and blow down tall crops like corn. If your site is windy, plant a wind break.
• A level pitch: Sloping spots result in soil erosion. Terracing the slope can fix the problem. One advantage of a south-facing slope is that the soil warms up quicker in the spring, resulting in earlier crops.
• A convenient location: Siting your garden close to the house (and near the kitchen) makes it handy to harvest fresh vegetables for tonight's dinner!

What should I grow?

Whatever you like to eat! Also think about space-efficient varieties and go vertical, planting trellised vegetables and pole beans. Plant vegetables that aren't readily available from a local organic market, or those that are expensive to buy.

Good vegetables for first-time gardeners include bush beans, loose-leaf lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, summer squash, swiss chard, and tomatoes. Plant tomatoes and peppers from purchased seedlings, and onions from onion sets (immature onion bulbs). Peas, beans, summer squash, and swiss chard are easily grown from seed. Lettuce from seed can be tricky, so starting with seedlings. Vegetables like corn, potatoes, and winter squash take up a lot of space, but aren't hard to grow if you have the room.

How do I grow them?

For expert planting tips for each type of vegetable, take a look at the Cornell Vegetable Growing Guides from Cornell University. The Mississippi State University Extension Service offers tips on how to grow 40 different vegetables and vegetable varieties.

Other tips for successful vegetable gardening include learning how to make compost, using natural pest control, choosing the right watering system, using natural weed control, and planting the right seeds for your climate.

Find it! Resources for growing your own organic vegetables

Growing your own organic vegetables helps you go green because…

• It eliminates harmful synthetic chemical pesticides.
• It saves on the oil and gasoline used to transport vegetables.
• It saves on the electricity used to refrigerate commercially produced vegetables.
• It helps keep potentially harmful genetically modified organisms (GMOs) out of the food chain.

Related health issues

Conventionally grown vegetables purchased at the supermarket contain a multitude of harmful pesticides. Studies link one common class of agricultural pesticides, organophosphates, to cancer, fetal abnormalities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Parkinson's disease.[1] Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a five to nine times higher likelihood of having pesticide residues in their blood than those who don't have breast cancer.[2] One study in California found that infants exposed to herbicides before the age of 1 are 10 times more likely to develop early persistent asthma.[3]

Did you know?

• Food transportation is one of the largest—and fastest-growing— sources of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet.[4]
• If you live in Washington, DC, and buy a head of lettuce grown in California—which travels about 3,000 miles to get to your table—transporting it consumes nearly 36 times more energy in fossil fuel than it provides in food energy when you eat it.[4]
• In the US, food travels an average of 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to plate—25 percent farther than it did in 1980.[5]
• Currently, 817 million tons of food are shipped around the world every year, up four times from the 200 million tons shipped in 1961.[4]
• With current food distribution methods, cities would run out of fresh food in two to three days if many national and international transportation routes were cut off, according to Brian Halweil, author of Home Grown: The Case For Local Food In A Global Market, a report for the Worldwatch Institute.[6][5]

Glossary

• genetically modified organism (GMO): GMOs result from merging the genetic makeup of two organisms to create a desired byproduct that could otherwise not be found in nature. Using genetically modified seed is a common practice in conventional farming. Studies have shown that GMOs pose significant environmental risks and cause some insects which feed on GM crops to become resistant to pesticides.[7]
• organophosphates: Pesticides (such as malathion) that are phosphorus-containing organic compounds.

External links

• Cornell - Vegetable Growing Guides Check out Cornell University's expert planting tips listed by vegetable.
• Virginia Cooperative Extension - Vegetable Gardening in Containers Learn how to grow vegetables on a windowsill, patio, balcony, or doorstep.
• National Garden Bureau - Reach for the Sky with Vertical Plants Plant more veggies in less space by growing vertically. Produce higher yields of tomatoes, peas, beans, and vining crops using poles, stakes, cages, trellises, fences, and arbors.
• Colorado State University Cooperative Extension - Grow Your Own Tomatoes Indoors This Winter Tired of store-bought tomatoes that taste like cardboard? Grow your own "grape" tomatoes indoors on your windowsill.
• Mississippi State University Extension Service - Vegetables: Varieties and Choices Read tips on how to grow 40 different vegetables and vegetable varieties.
• US Department of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension Services For advice, seminars, and publications on how to grow vegetables in your area, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service.
• Environmental Working Group - Food News: Shopping Guide Check this list ranking the pesticide load contained in the 43 most popular fruits and vegetables purchased at your local supermarket. Consider growing your own organic substitutes for commercial vegetables with the highest pesticide ratings.