Corn and other vegetables can be grown organically.
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Organic gardeners who grow vegetables not only help reduce the number of artificial pesticides and herbicides they contribute to the environment but also provide their families with chemical-free food. Although gardeners may pick or choose among the organic methods they use to grow food, the basic requirements are natural fertilizers and pesticides, arrangement of the vegetables to "confuse" harmful insects and conservation of water with organic mulch.
Items you will need:
- Organic seeds or seedlings
- Seed starting formula
- Potting mix formula
- Peat pots or clean, recycled containers, 2 to 10 oz.
- Baking sheet or other shallow tray
- Dark or clear plastic
- Fish emulsion
- Rake or hoe
- Trowel or spade
- Hose
- Organic mulch
- Organic fertilizer
Starting Seeds
Purchase organic seeds. Consult such organizations as the Organic Materials Review Institute or the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine reputable mail order and local sources for untreated, organic vegetable seeds.
Consult the seed packet to determine whether the seeds need to be started indoors. In cooler regions, most vegetables benefit from the head start provided by growing seedlings to be transplanted into the ground in late spring. Even warm-weather gardeners may appreciate the pest-free start an indoor seed-starting system provides.
Mix up an organic seed-starting medium by combining one part perlite or vermiculite with one part compost or peat moss. Alternatively, use bagged organic seed-starting mix.
Moisten your seed-starting mix and spoon the mix into small peat pots or cleaned, recycled small plastic containers or egg cartons. Poke drainage holes in recycled containers.
Sow seeds in the pots. Consult the packet directions to determine the depth to which you need to bury the seeds. In some cases, companies recommend laying seeds on the surface of the soil and covering them with a thin layer of potting soil or seed-starting medium.
Set pots in a shallow tray of lukewarm water. When the surface of the soil becomes moist, remove the pots and drain the tray if excess water remains.
Cover the seeds with plastic. Your seed packet will tell you whether the vegetable seeds need light or darkness to germinate. Use a clear plastic bag in the former case and black plastic for the latter. Check the flats daily and remove the covers as soon as seedlings emerge.
Set the seedlings on a sunny windowsill or 3 to 6 inches under special grow lights or fluorescent tubes. Provide seedlings with bottom watering from a shallow tray and keep them at temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Feed seedlings once a week with half-strength liquid fish emulsion for the first three weeks, and then begin giving the full-strength dose every 10 to 14 days.
Move larger vegetable seedlings into larger peat pots or recycled pots after they develop "true leaves." True leaves are the second set of leaves that vegetables develop as they pass the "baby" stage; the first set are the small, round leaves known as cotyledons that all new seedlings sport after germination. For the growing medium, use organic potting soil or one part vermiculite to one part compost.
Planting Vegetables
Prepare garden beds around the same time you sow your indoor seeds. Spread compost on garden beds or rows to improve the soil's texture and fertility. A home soil test kit or one conducted by your local extension service can determine other amendments your vegetable garden may need, such as limestone or peat moss to correct acid or alkaline soil, as well as manure, bone meal or kelp to organically add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Map out your garden before planting. If you grew vegetables last year, rotate your crops to reduce the need for pesticides. Insect eggs and diseases lurking in the soil from the previous year are less likely to bother a different kind of vegetable crop growing in the same space.
Set seeds or plant seedlings on top of the soil to experiment with spacing. For row gardens, set plants at the spacing recommended by the seed packet, nursery or your extension service. If you are companion planting, set seedlings out at about twice the recommended amount of space to tuck different vegetables, plants or flowers among your main-crop vegetables.
Dig holes at the recommended depth to accommodate seeds or seedlings. Add a small amount of compost to each plant hole or seed circle to boost soil fertility and texture.
Water the newly planted area thoroughly.
Add a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around seedlings, or wait until seeds germinate to put mulch down. Mulch suppresses weeds while retaining soil moisture. Organic mulch ingredients include straw, grass clippings, shredded leaves, pine needles and newspaper. Wood chips and sawdust may not be the best choices for vegetable gardens, because they sometimes prevent nutrients from reaching plants.
Tips
- Companion planting allows plants to organically benefit one another by providing nutrients, structure, shade or pest protection. In the classic "three sisters" combination, for example, corn, winter squash and pole beans share space. The corn provides a structure for pole beans to climb, while the beans add nitrogen to the soil for the other two vegetables. The winter squash, with its massive, spiky leaves, shades out weeds while discouraging raccoons from eating the corn.
- After planting your vegetable seeds or seedlings, be diligent about weeding, watering and feeding your crops. Vegetables need an average of 1 inch of water each week, so supplement rainfall with a garden hose or sprinkler as needed. Vegetables with a long number of days until harvest or that bear heavily for a period of several weeks thrive with extra feeding every two weeks or so. Add a 1/2-inch layer of compost or manure near such vegetables as tomatoes, pole beans, squash, peppers and corn, or water them with liquid fish emulsion, liquid kelp emulsion or compost tea.
- To further thwart damaging insects and diseases, look for certified organic sprays at the garden center or ask your extension office for cost-effective home remedies, such as setting out shallow trays of beer to trap and kill slugs.
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Horticultural Notes
- "Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening" ; Fern Marshall Bradley, et al.; 2009
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; Organic Production; Nov. 16, 2010
Ellen Douglas has been a writer for more than 20 years, both as a New England-based newspaper reporter and as an editor of nonprofit publications. She has written on health, education and the arts for both online and print publications.
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