Organic matter includes things like manure, leaves, lawn clippings, compost, straw and even shredded newspaper. You can start the vegetable garden in the fall, by layering lots of organic matter on the garden site. You continue by adding more organic material in the spring and mulching around the vegetable plants with organic material.

A foot of organic material on the garden in the fall and several inches in the spring and around plants in the summer is excellent. As the organic matter is broken down, add more. Organic matter that is in the process of breaking down will use some nutrients, especially nitrogen; however, it will eventually add nutrients to the soil.

Good organic soil will not need tilling each year. You don’t even need to till in organic matter, if layered on top, worms and other soil organisms will do the job for you. Layers of organic material will help keep weeds and grass from growing in the garden. Each time you till you disturb microorganisms working in the soil, and they have to start all over again. You also decrease pore space that holds oxygen and water for plant roots.

Arrange your garden rows so that you don’t have to walk on the plant beds. Compaction of the soil makes it harder for microorganisms to break down organic matter, and plant roots will struggle through it. Mounded rows or raised beds clearly define paths and allow you to concentrate your soil amendments to growing areas.

Organic Fertilizers

Organic vegetable gardens may also need some added nutrients for good plant growth, particularly nitrogen. Sources of nutrients for organic vegetable gardens include manure, bone and blood meal, fish and feather meal, alfalfa hay, cottonseed meal and seaweeds. Some of these things are easy to find locally and some are not. There are now organic bagged fertilizers on the market. While they are easy to use, they don’t add organic matter to the soil as natural sources often do.

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