Organic Home Garden How to Grow Fruits & Vegetables Naturally

Breaking New Ground First Garden Almost from the moment I set trowel to earth I knew I had found something I loved to do. Suddenly a world of wonders opened up. It was 1973. My friend John Scanlan and I had access to the garden of a rented city house. Like many other people then -- and now -- we were concerned about the array of pesticides routinely used on food plants. A small yard meant that we could grow at least some of our own food free from chemical residues. From the start, it never occurred to us to garden any way other than organically We knew that freshly picked vegetables and fruits are at their nutritional best, and we soon learned how delicious they could be: vine-ripened tomatoes, peas fresh from the pod, a crisp head of cabhage or lettuce mere minutes from garden to salad howl. We also discovered the simple pleasure and satisfaction that come from working with the soil, sowing seeds, tending a garden, bringing in the harvest. The soil in our first city garden was dense and full of cinders, probably the dumping ground for years worth of coal ashes. But optimistically we dug and planted. Results were mixed. Tomatoes spread into a wild tangle, half their fruit lost under leaves; zucchinis swelled overnight, apparently blown up by some unseen squash fairy Marigolds bloomed among the vegetables and morning glories crawled over everything, Unwittingly we spread fungus on the Swiss chard by watering every evening. Not knowing better, we transplanted small pea vines from the shade to the sunnier front yard; the peas, not knowing that they "resent transplanting," attached themselves to strings and began to climb. Cucumbers soon joined them to veil the front porch in green vines hung with fruit. Squirrels helped themselves. It was not a completely successful garden, but in a season we were smitten. And we had learned the gardener's perennial refrain: "Next year...." Our homesteading instincts were roused. That winter we pored over copies of Organic Gardening magazine in preparation for some "real" gardening next spring. Seeds arrived in the mail. From bits of scrap wood, we knocked together shallow boxes for seedlings that sprouted under a bank of florescent lights in the basement. Gardening articles had convinced us that the key to good growth lay in adding quantities of organic matter -- manure, compost, rotted leaves and such -- to the soil. Dutifully we looked around for sources. As it happened, this was shortly after the downtown zoo had closed. One day, while walking through the deserted grounds, we saw a heap of manure on the other side of a high chain-link fence. The sign on the fence read "Yak," but there was no yak (or any other creature) in sight. Longingly we looked through the fence. "If we could get in there," John said, "with buckets or bags and a shovel..." Early next morning we were back, with two burlap potato sacks and a spade in hand. Up and over the fence we climbed, and in no time had two bags full -- and heavy. With considerable effort we hoisted the bags over the fence and dragged them to the boulevard. It was going to he a long haul home. There had to be a better way. And there it was, coming down the street. We were soon settled comfortably on the streetcar with our bags of soggy yak dung -- and no one the wiser. It was the first of several excursions to collect what is now sensibly composted and sold as Zoo Poo. Eager to experiment that second season, we grew a little of almost everything. Adding organic matter to the garden made a noticeable difference. Spaghetti squash trailed along a wire fence, dangling yellow fruit on both sides. Brilliant Scarlet Runner beans coiled up a tropical looking sumac tree. Cabbages and romaine folded into proper heads, while yellow crookneck squash cascaded down a hill of compost. Tomatoes, staked and trained by the book, grew red in the sun. To our delight, the small city yardLima, Patrick is the author of 'Organic Home Garden How to Grow Fruits & Vegetables Naturally', published 0007 under ISBN 9781552979242 and ISBN 1552979245.