Kevin Hilton – You’ve likely heard of organic gardening and possibly aren’t entirely convinced of its benefits.  Perhaps you think the effort invested in growing a garden isn’t worth your while. This simply isn’t the case. There are huge benefits to starting your own organic garden, not the least of which is feeding yourself wholesome nutritious meals from your garden.

More Oxygen, Less Carbon Dioxide

Having a garden means you’re making a positive contribution to the total number of edible plants on the planet. This in turn translates into more oxygen and less carbon dioxide as plants and trees consume the latter for sustenance and convert it to the former.

By growing an organic garden you help tip the balance in the environment’s favor – if even just a little bit. The plants and trees you grow will help replace the environment’s CO2 with oxygen, a gas humans and other life forms breathe every waking and sleeping moment of their lives.

Organic Gardens Provide Natural Habitats

Growing an organic garden encourages small, occasionally endangered life forms like honey bees –  to ‘set up shop’ and reproduce. Ladybugs, praying mantis, beneficial nematodes, spiders, and bees are just some of the helpful insects you can attract in your garden. Birds like hummingbirds, wrens, bluebirds, and white-throated sparrows can also thrive in your garden. They are known to prey on harmful insects while leaving your produce alone.

These garden critters and tree-lovers play important roles in the ecosystem. They assist in keeping the environment in a healthy, balanced shape. Birds, for example, spread seeds that grow more plants. Insects prey on other harmful insects and may also serve as food for birds.

By planting an organic garden you create a self-sustaining habitat in your backyard which positively contributes to the balanced maintenance of the planet’s larger ecosystem.

Reduces Chemical Run-Off

Let’s be honest. Not all forms of gardening are helpful to Mother Nature. Those who use toxic chemicals and chemical fertilizers to speed up plant growth and production transfer harmful chemical residues into the soil which are then absorbed by plants. This is not helpful to humanity or the planet and should be avoided at all costs.

With organic gardening you won’t experience these problems as this approach is completely free from use of toxic chemicals.  In addition organic produce has been proven to contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals than those grown with the aid of chemicals.

Organic Food Consumption Is Good For The Entire Family

Organic foods are free from chemical additives that often result in unhealthy side effects. This is because correctly grown organic gardens are completely free of pesticides. This benefits the environment, reduces pollution and has even been known to conserve and reduce water consumption.

One of the biggest benefits, however, is cost savings. A study by a group of students from Colby College in 2011 found that store-bought organic food is priced 68% higher than its conventional, non-organic counterpart.  When you grow your own price is no longer a problem. In fact, if you have a bumper crop you may even be able to sell some of your extra produce at a local organic market or grocer.

The quality and output of your organic garden starts with soil

Before you buy your seeds and gardening tools there’s one very important step you must take, and that is to determine what type of soil is available for you to plant your organics. Not all soils are the same. Some are silty. Others have high sand content. And yet others are rich in clay.

Different soils have different characteristics, requiring different steps for tending and maintenance. In addition, some vegetables, flowers, and fruit prefer certain types of soil over others.  While all this may sound complicated it no longer is. Our friends at GrabCo. in England published a thorough and informative soil guide and chart. With it, you’ll learn how to determine the properties of your soil and more.  You should definitely check it out!

Kevin Hilton is a contributing writer to Shift Frequency. Please visit his blog for lots more excellent information about Organic Farming.

Published on Shift Frequency, June 25, 2015. This article can be re-published in full as long as you include full attribution to author and a link back to Shift Frequency. Thank you.