Natural farming, a lifestyle choice or a common sense approach to producing food of a known quality. The natural farm movement has grown in popularity as people become disenchanted with the food quality found in the markets. Although natural food is getting easier to get at grocery stores people are concerned about the cost. The best way to control cost is having more farmers. If farmers were subsidized in the same manner as agribusinesses naturally grown food would be much cheaper.
By natural farming we mean no synthetic chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides are used. It is the same as organic farming but without the government requirements used in Certified Organic and is based more on an honor system. Not to say that government control is bad but too much regulation will price the food out of bounds for people that could benefit the most. We need a healthy populations with healthy kids. Massed produced food is bland and tasteless and we wonder why kids prefer food loaded with sugar and flavor enhancers with little nutritional quality.
Growers have fought with garden pests since the beginning of time, and many alternatives have developed over the time. After all, it's what people did years ago and they managed to grow their own food. You just need to think things through, like planting marigolds near your vegetable patch. Let nature do its part and gardening will be less time consuming.
A lot of people are worried, especially parents, about all the chemicals that are used in non organic food growing. Often times these harsh products can end up in our water and food. But, be aware some organic pesticides can be harmful. They just dissipate more quickly and are biodegradable. So use caution and common sense.
Backyard organic gardening will require compost if soil quality is questionable. You can either buy compost or make it yourself. It isn't difficult, you need to understand what you can use and that a large variety of inputs make for better compost. Quite simply, this is an excellent way of using kitchen and garden waste. You can use potato, vegetable peelings, and all the kitchen scraps you though in the trash. Rose punings will help with the texture and old coffee grounds will help it smell better! The key is to keep it moist and warn and let nature do it’s thing, just remember meat and bone tend to decompose through a different pathway then regular composting.
Organic gardening requires patience, keeping the soil moist, healthy, and weed free. To help you can make your own mulch by simply mixing up pine needles and fresh grass clippings. You can get rid of bugs using a mixture of water, dish soap, and cooking oil. As long as you water and do some basic garden care you will end up with produce of better quality then store bought but, remember the more diligent you are the more bountiful your garden will be.
Growing your own food, even if you only have a tiny patch of land, ensure you can have a natural relationship with food production and natures cycles. Somewhere on the way, we all pushed that aside, and we became accustomed to jumping in the car to go to the supermarket to pick up food. Most of us don't know where it originates and if a better way might exist. Your children can become involved with gardening too, teaching them to learn where and how their food is grown. They will be intrigued helping get the compost ready and thinking up ingenious ways to remove bugs. Best of all, they'll enjoy eating the delicious food that was grown via backyard gardening.