What an amazing plant! Garlic (Allium sativum) has been around for more than 3,000 years. It’s not that surprising really when you look at the culinary and medicinal purposes it boasts. Garlic is not only a staple in the kitchen, but its health benefits are outstanding as it is a natural antibiotic and has antiseptic properties. In the organic garden it is often used as the base for various insect deterrents and it also has anti-fungal properties. Garlic is also a very useful companion plant. This is a follow-on from my Part 1 article.

6. Maintenance. Garlic needs very little attention. Through winter you will need to water only if conditions are extremely dry. Pull any weeds as they come through.

As the weather gets warmer through spring and summer, water accordingly. If weeds

are becoming a problem or your layer of mulch has started to break down, add a

further layer of mulch (leave a few inches from the foliage free of mulch to prevent

rotting the stems).

7. Harvesting your Garlic. Your garlic bulbs should be ready to harvest when the foliage starts turning brown at the tips. Don’t leave them in the ground til the foliage has completely withered and died back or the bulbs may become over-mature, start splitting or even burst apart.

Wait for a hot, dry day to harvest. Use a hand fork or digger to loosen the soil, then carefully pry them from the ground. Pulling from the stems can cause damage. Shake any loose soil from the bulbs and leave them to ‘cure’ for a few weeks. Hang them by their stems in bunches in a dry, well ventilated area. Your garden shed is ideal.

They can also be dried on racks. Either way, you want to prevent mould or mildew from forming. You must never wash your bulbs. If they don’t dry out properly they may rot. Cut off any mouldy stems immediately as it can spread very quickly to your precious bulbs.

After several weeks you can cut off the stems and store the bulbs in a string or hessian bag, using as you need them. Or you can plait the stems together as has been done traditionally for many centuries and add some cottage charm to you kitchen. You just cut off each bulb as you need it.

Preserving your excess. There are many ways to preserve any excess garlic you have grown. Do some research before choosing a method as the beneficial properties of garlic change with various preservation methods. You can pickle garlic in vinegar, freeze it, dry it. There is a risk of botulism if you preserve garlic in oil – even refrigerated – for more than three weeks.

Health benefits. Garlic has been used medicinally throughout history. Many scientific studies have been completed that show beyond reasonable doubt that eating garlic improves your overall health. More specifically garlic:

* Can lower blood pressure

* Lowers or helps regulate blood sugar

* Helps remove heavy metals from the body

* Is a potent, natural anti-biotic

* Has anti-fungal and anti-viral properties

* Dramatically reduces yeast infections

* Can help prevent blood clots from forming

There are probably many more health benefits to regularly including garlic in your diet. It has also been shown that garlic tablets are less effective than ingesting live garlic. I just love it and use it as a base – along with onions – in almost all my savoury cooking. And just for the record, I hardly ever get sick.

Weeds compete with other crops and convert many productive land into unusable scrub. Weed is also often poisonous, distasteful and interfere with the use and management of desirable plants by contaminating your harvests.

Many weed control strategies have hence been developed in order to contain the growth and spread of weeds. One of the basic methods is ploughing which works by cutting the roots of annual weeds. Another commonly used technique is by using chemical weed killers known as herbicides. However, these cannot be used in an organic garden. So what can you do?

First and foremost, you will need to identify the kind of weeds that is found in your garden. You can then use the appropriate method to get rid of them. We will now look at a few of the most commonly found weeds and how to get rid of them.

You should always pull them up with a hoe before they flower. And you can spread corn gluten over the areas you wish to remain free from dandelions in the early spring. This will help keep a lot of the seedlings from growing.

Crabgrass is a major pest in many yards and gardens. It is very tough to pull up, and especially difficult to get rid of. You must pull up the entire plant, including all of its roots. To suppress further growth, you can spread corn gluten in the early spring. You can also mulch to prevent the seeds from germinating.

Poison ivy is one horrible plant that causes severe rashes even with a very mild exposure. You should always wear gloves when handling poison ivy and do not ever let in come in contact with any part of your skin.

To get rid of poison ivy, you must cut the plant at the base and then let it dry out completely. Bury the vines or throw them away in the trash. You must never ever burn them because even the smoke can be fatal! Do not compost poison ivy either.

Lamba Quarters is an edible wild green. There are some who grow these for food but most people think of them as common weeds. Removing them can be quite a task. You can hoe or pull up the plants when you seen them and then mulch heavily to suppress the seedlings.

Ragweed is one weed which many would want to extricate. It is a very common allergen, and its pollen is a major cause of hay fever. There are several ways to get rid of them. You can try to hoe up the seedlings, and use a mower to mow down the full-sized plants. You can also mulch to cover the areas where it grows. Thirdly, you can also compost ragweed if it has not yet gone to seed.

Purslane is an edible plant which can be removed by hoeing them individually. If you pull the plants, do not leave them lying on top of the soil because they can re-root themselves. Do not compost them either as the seeds of this plant can mature after the plant has been pulled. You can mulch to prevent them from growing.

Prickly lettuce is an annoying little plant which causes itching and burning if it comes in contact with skin. Always put on your gloves when you handle it. You can pull or hoe plants, or cut the taproot below the soil. You also might wish to leave it alone, as it can attract beneficial insects. However, be sure to keep it away from your lettuce patches as it can carry lettuce diseases.

Cocklebur is poisonous to livestock, so you should be sure to keep it away from your animals. You can hoe or pull plants beneath the soil line. You can compost it if it has not yet gone to seed.

Another method of weed control includes covering the ground area with several layers of wet recycled paper for several weeks. In the case of using the wet recycled paper, the multiple layers prevent light from reaching all plants beneath, which kills them. Saturating the recycled paper with water daily speeds the decomposition of the dead plants. Any weed seeds that start to sprout because of the water will also be deprived of sunlight. It will be killed and decomposed.

After several weeks, all the germinating weed seeds present in the ground will be dead. Then the recycled paper can be removed and the ground can be planted. The decomposed plants will help fertilise the plants or seeds planted later.

Are you interested in Organic Gardening? Do you want to share your views and ideas with others? Would you like to be kept updated on the latest equipment, fertilizers and more? The why not join an Organic Gardening Forum? It’ll keep you updated. It ill bring you in contact with similar minded people. It will allow you to expand your horizon. It may not be as fast as a chat room or instant messaging services. But it’s more concrete and is a brilliant platform to bring people together. It will help you interact with countless like-minded individuals. It’s the perfect place for both a beginner and an expert. For those who are starting out, it will become the invaluable source of information and guidelines. For those who are experts, it will provide, newer ideas and a scope for betterment.

If you are not familiar with the concept of how a forum works, here is a brief to get you started. A forum is like a community. There are members and interaction takes place through threads. However, unlike IMs it might not yield instant results. However, these are immensely helpful because of the symbiotic relationship that forms between the members. For example, on an Organic Farming Forum, you can post a quarry for a certain product that you had been searching and were unable to get. And the next day another member might tell you exactly where it’s available. How convenient! You can share tips and methods too!

If you join an organic farming forum, then it will probably be of more help than any individual around. Firstly, it is collective effort that makes a forum work. In fact, if the forum is active, merely joining and reading earlier posts could become largely beneficial for you. Please remember to skim through the immediate few posts before asking a question inorder to make sure, the very same question has not been asked in the recent past. But even then, chances are that you will get your desired answer quickly and easily. If more than one person responds, you have the benefit of many points of view. In a situation when you cannot find a person or a book to come to your aid, a Forum always will! The forums are available 24hrs a day. And is accessible anywhere as long as you have Internet connection.
The joining process is quick and easy. It hardly takes any effort. It keeps you one click away from the answers to any problem.

New to Organic Gardening? Just starting out and don’t know where to start? Need a question answered immediately? There are several places that you can turn to for correct and concise information. Organic Gardening is a simple form of gardening. However, one needs to know where to start from, or it can become a horribly unpleasant experience. So get your information from a reliable source.

The quickest and easiest of these is of course the Internet. It’s ensured that you are a click away from any query that you might have. It’ll draw up results in a matter of seconds. You need not wait at all. If you require a hard copy then you can always print out the pages. The Internet draws up searches from around the globe and various sources which won’t be available in any library. It basically offers more options than all other sources put together. But of course, the entire process of logging into the computer and the Internet and searching through thousands of results will get very tedious when one is in a hurry.

Another good option is the store where you usually get your supplies from. Any standard store will have their share of books and pamphlets at the least. They are a good source of quick information. When in a hurry you can always call up a more experienced gardener or the owner of the store. However, individual opinion can be tinged with various personal quirks, prejudices and the like. Hence, make sure of the information is reliable and trustworthy. If the person is, then however, you can benefit from experience, which is he best teacher of them all.

Another possible option would be any library. Before getting your membership make sure the library is well stocked. It’s not worth the trouble if you can’t get substantial use out of it. But a well stocked library is more useful than the internet. A book well read will give you all the information you need and help you remember it for a lifetime. However, the use of the library is only efficient when you have enough time to spare. Also, if it’s a standard book that you seek, then it’s best to buy it, for it will always be handy. A few pages can always be photocopied.

Self-help books on Organic gardening, a trustworthy store, a well stocked library, a honed gardener and the infinite Internet are all fabulous sources of information. So what are you waiting for? Take you pick and get started today.

The word “mulch” comes from the old English word “melsc” – meaning rotten hay. In today’s language it has come to mean any material that covers the soil to preserve moisture content, prevent soil erosion and inhibit weed growth. For organic gardening I choose materials that will break down over time, feeding my plants and contributing to the amount of humus in the soil.

Many materials are suitable to use as mulch, such as: leaves, straw / hay, sawdust, gravel / rocks, paper / cardboard, grass clippings, carpet underfelt and even plastic. Each one has its own benefits and disadvantages.

Dark mulches warm the soil, whereas light coloured mulches will keep the soul cooler. In a cool climate a light straw mulch will hold back the development of many hot season vegetables – so take care with your choice of mulch and the time of year you apply it.

I’ve heard it said that mulches can be a refuge for problem garden pests, but nature balances this with enough predators to consume any rise in pest numbers.

Leaves are the most natural mulch of all. However most of the nutritional content has been taken from the tree before the leaf falls to the ground. Many leaves contain tannins and some have growth suppressants (eucalypts & pine needles for example), so it’s better to either add them to your compost heap or place them in a wire container and allow them to decompose for a year or so and become leaf mould, them use as mulch.

Straw / Hay is my preferred method of mulching in my organic food garden. The main advantage over many mulches is that it slowly releases nutrients to feed the plants it surrounds. One disadvantage is that hay may contain weed seeds, but they are usually easy to pull. That is why I prefer pea straw – usually the only weeds are peas and they add nitrogen to the soil. Another problem can be that it may become water repellent. But this is not a problem if you trickle or flood irrigate your food plots.

Sawdust is probably best used by composting it before laying as a mulch as it may rob the soil of nitrogen if your soil is poor to begin with. Also, it can become water repellent. However if you have a good supply it makes an excellent soft, natural looking covering for pathways.

Gravel / Rocks are best used outside of your veggie garden unless you live in a cool climate area and use them around warm climate plants, such as pumpkins and tomatoes. Rocks store heat from the sun during the day and slowly release it through the night.

They can also be used in arid areas around larger plants and trees. Water condenses on the underside of the rocks as they cool during the night helping to keep plants moist.

The disadvantage with rocks is that weeds will grow around them.

Paper / Cardboard are both quite useful as mulches. I often use thick layers of newspaper (which I wet before laying) underneath pea-straw or pine bark. The layers need to overlap about 15cm to prevent weeds from coming through. Don’t use pages with coloured ink as they may contain heavy metals.

Cardboard can make a great mulch under young trees. You can secure it with rocks in a decorative way in addition to straw or bark. Using cardboard beneath sawdust for your garden paths will prevent most weeds.

Grass clippings can be utilised as a thin mulch under trees and shrubs that will feed your plants as it breaks down. Take care not to pile on too thickly though as you will end up with a water repelling, smelly blob!

Carpet underfelt makes an excellent mulch in your organic garden. It won’t blow away, it’s easy to cut to insert your seedlings, it allows air to penetrate and it holds moisture very well. You must make sure that it is the older underfelt though, not the modern foam type.

Black plastic has the advantage of being cheap, easy to install and a great weed suppressor, but its disadvantages are many. It doesn’t feed the soil, it deteriorates with direct sunlight and doesn’t allow the natural gas exchanges between the air and soil.

Whatever your choice of mulch, your organic garden will be more productive and well balanced if you choose a feeding kind of mulch. Remember too that mulches should not come into contact with the stems of you plants as this may cause them to rot.