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Are you thinking about starting a vegetable garden? Today’s factory farming methods supply food to millions of people around the world. However, due to the massive global demand placed on farmers, they are forced to use growing systems that produce food quickly. Unfortunately, growers must resort to adding growth agents and pesticides to their crops to ensure they harvest a substantial yield.
Therefore, growing organic food is a sustainable means of providing you, your family, and even your community with fresh food. Growing vegetables allows you to control the production from seed to harvest, simply put; you know the nutrients contained in your plants.
Here are three methods of growing a vegetable garden. Choose the system that suits the climate and environmental conditions in your part of the country.
1. Outdoor Organic Gardening
This method of sustainable vegetable farming is gaining in popularity with each passing year. Organic gardens use no herbicides or pesticides in the production of produce. They rely on natural nutrients and minerals to produce 100% natural and organic vegetables, herbs, and fruit.
Starting an organic garden is relatively straightforward. Here’s the process you need to follow to ensure that your vegetable patch produces a sustainable harvest season after season.
Factors for Selecting the Ideal Garden Site
- Terrain: If your building your garden on a flat area, make sure that you allow for correct drainage so that it does not flood. When building your garden on a slope, make sure you orient the space to receive the proper sunlight.
- Sunlight: Vegetables require a minimum of 6-hours of sunlight every day to ensure maximum growth potential. It’s ideal if you live in a part of the country that receives 8 to 10-hours of sun every day. If you’re growing your garden in the Northern hemisphere, this means that you’ll only be able to produce outdoors in the summer, as the sunlight fades too early in the autumn and winter.
- Water: Position your garden close to a water source. If you can, arrange an irrigation system linked to a timer to ensure optimal watering efficiency.
- Wind: High winds can damage the stems and stalks of your vegetables. Position your garden in the lee of the wind. You can use a wall as a windbreak or erect a structure to create a lee that keeps your yard away from high wind speeds.
- Soil: Before you plan and plant your garden assess the growing medium. Plants will not grow in rocky terrain. Take a sample of your soil to the local organic farm store. They will provide you with all the nutrients and minerals you need to remediate your garden.
2. Hydroponic Gardens
This option is excellent if you live in a part of the world that experiences cold, harsh weather, and minimal sunlight. Hydroponic gardens require the following three factors to ensure their success.
- Light: Purchase a grow light from an online retailer. This light emulates the rays of the sun. The globe or LEDs must produce the same light spectrum as the sun.
- Air: Indoor gardens get hot. The heat from the light and other electrical components can damage your crop and reduce the yield if left unchecked. You’ll need an inlet and outlet fan that draw air into the room or grow box, and exhaust the hot air outside.
Water and grow medium: Hydroponic gardens use planter trays with specialist growth substrates, such as rock-wool and hydroton grow pellets, for your plants to spread their roots. The plants receive water from a reservoir mounted to a timing system. Organic nutrients are added to the water to allow for maximum nutrition for your plants and optimal yield.
Grow companies offer a specialized hydroponic grow box that comes complete with everything you need to get started on your indoor garden.
3. Greenhouse Gardens
Greenhouse gardens work with either hydroponic or organic soil-based mediums. All that’s required is for you to build a structure around your yard and cover it with light-absorbing plastic or greenhouse glass. Plastic is the preferred material as it does break and shatter, and it’s easy to replace.
You will need to make sure that the greenhouse is air-tight. After you’ve completed your inspection to your satisfaction, install a fan to draw fresh air into the greenhouse. You’ll need an exhaust fan that’s half the size of your inlet fan to ensure proper airflow throughout the greenhouse.
Wrapping Up
The most effective means of growing food is with a hydroponic system. Its fully automated and your cops are ready to harvest in half the time of a traditional outdoor garden. If you find you have too much food for your family, you can always start your own organic farmers market and sell your vegetables to the public, and it’s a great way to recover the costs of building and maintaining your hydroponic garden.
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This content is sponsored by Jamshed Chaudhary.
Photo by Agence Producteurs Locaux Damien Kühn on Unsplash