Organic Vegetable Gardening & Farming - Techniques Guide
In agriculture, the word organic means “ food that is grown or raised without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides or hormones. ” According to the USDA National Organic Standards Agency, organic farming : is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activities; based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain or enhance ecological harmony; has the primary objective of optimizing the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil, plant, animal and human life. Organic Vegetable Gardening As a component of organic farming, organic vegetable gardening promotes and enhances natural diversity and biological cycles in agriculture. Rather than relying on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic gardening is based on making the garden self-sufficient and sustainable. The National Organic Program (NOP), http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOP, defines or...