1. Organic Vegetable Gardening Methods for Success!
Fran Scher, Ph.D.
UME Master Gardener, Washington County
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2. ORGANIZATIONAL FLOW CHART
This flow chart represents how the UME Master Gardener program fits into the larger University of Maryland system.
The University of Maryland is the state’s flagship land-grant institution. It has 13 different Colleges and Schools. One college is the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) has three parts: Academics, Research, and Extension. Campus faculty in the College of AGNR spend their time teaching college students (Academics) and conducting Research. University of Maryland Extension field faculty (and some campus faculty) serve Maryland through outreach and education programs (Extension).
University of Maryland Extension has over thirty different outreach and educational programs spanning across Maryland.
In order to reach more people in their communities, faculty often teach volunteers, who can then share their new knowledge locally. One volunteer education program where this happens is the UME Master Gardener program. This program is supported by University of Maryland Extension and its mission is to educate Maryland residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices.

3. UME Master Gardener volunteers are typically involved in projects focusing on one of six main topic areas. Additional focus areas (e.g., Therapeutic Horticulture) do exist.
Ask a Master Gardener Plant Clinic: Outreach education about plant and pest problems. Residents get their questions answered at plant clinics typically held at libraries and farmers markets.
Grow It Eat It: Teaching and promoting backyard and community food production. This also includes demonstration gardens, Grow It Eat It Preserve It, and produce donations to food banks.
Bay-Wise: Better water and soil quality through smarter gardening.
Pollinators: Education around integrated pest management (IPM), pollinators, and natural enemies.
Composting: Also known as "Urban Nutrient Management" which includes education about backyard/community composting, soil testing and improvement, and fertilizer use.
Native Plants: Education and project work around native plants and invasive plants.

4. What You Will Learn Today
What “organic” means
Why organic gardening matters
Five steps to building a healthy organic vegetable garden
Ways to take action in your own garden
That is just one of the things I hope we will explore together today. …
Today we will learn what organic means and why it matters.
Then I’ll introduce you to five steps to building a healthy organic vegetable garden.
I hope you will be inspired with ideas for things you can try in your own gardens. I’ve created a handout (ask them to find theirs) where you can check off some of the things you would like to try and find resources to help you.

5. What “Organic” Means No genetically-engineered crops
No synthetic fertilizers or synthetic pesticides
Use of methods that promote ecological balance
When you buy organic food at the grocery store, you will see the USDA organic seal.
In 2000, the USDA established the National Organic Program for farmers that defines organic food, such as no genetically modified crops or irradiated food.
However, there are no regulations for what makes a home garden “organic.” The following are the most often cited elements of what makes a home vegetable garden organic and are very similar to the USDA rules for farmers.
No gen-eng crops: home gardeners will not currently find these;
No synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, not necessarily NO fertilizer or pesticides
Promote ecological balance—work with nature, not against her; create a garden that has a good balance of living things and is sustainable.
Source: Wikimedia commons

6. Why Organic Gardening Matters
Reduces pesticide exposure
Protects biodiversity
Protects the Bay
Encourages recycling
Saves money on groceries
Why does growing your vegetables organically, compared to conventional methods, matter?
It reduces you and your family’s exposure to pesticides, whether in the food or when being applied, stored, or disposed of. The Environmental Working Group released its newest shoppers guid eto pesticides last month listing the “dirty dozen” list of fruits and vegetables with high pesticide residues. Some of those on the list that you can easily grow are spinach, bell peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes.
Organic methods reduce the use of synthetic pesticides that kill many beneficial insects and soil microorganisms, therefore protecting biodiverstiy.
We are located in the watershed to the Chesapeake Bay. Organic gardening methods rely on slow release of nutrients for plants, not the fast rush of synthetic fertilizers that run off in to the waterways and end up in the Chesapeake Bay
Organic methods also encourage recycling of kitchen and yard wastes into compost, cardboard, newspapers, and grass clippings for mulch.
It saves money—cutting your grocery bill, especially if you garden in spring and fall and preserve vegetables. Organic vegetables cost about 50% more in the grocery store.
Strive to use local resources—straw for mulch, local compost

7. Five Steps to Your Organic Garden

8. Build the soil 1
The heart of organic gardening is understanding the need to build the soil and keep it healthy. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants.
Urban/suburban soils like the one on the left are usually of poor quality; in this area our soils are heavy clay like the soil on the left. Heavy clay soils become easily waterlogged and hard, making it difficult for roots to penetrate.
Ideally we want to have deep, loose soil, more like the one on the right, to allow for maximum root growth.

9. Organic Matter is the Key
Improves soil structure and drainage
Increases good microbes and earthworms
Holds, then releases nutrients slowly
Organic matter helps soils whether they are sandy or clay. Addition of organic matter loosens heavy clay soils and improves drainage.
Regular additions of organic matter will improves soil structure and water drainage and create a reservoir of slow-release nutrients.
May require large additions at first, then one inch every year for a long-term nutrient reservoir

10. Sources of Organic Matter
Compost—make it or buy it
Recycle food scraps, grass, paper, and leaves
LeafGro brand is locally made
Composted manure
Organic mulches
So if organic matter is key, where do you get it?
Organic matter comes from once-living things. Three easy ways to get organic matter are from compost, composted manure, and organic mulches.
You can make your own compost from plant matter and food scraps or buy compost. Compost provides nutrients to plants slowly and for a long time, so builds soil health.
One brand of compost to consider is LeafGro. It is made locally by the Maryland Environmental Service in Montgomery and PG Counties by composting leaves and grass clippings that would have normally been disposed of in a landfill, converting organic wastes into a valuable resource.
Animal manure is a great source of organic matter, but must be used wisely due to the microbes in manure that can cause sickness in people, such as E. coli. est for most home gardeners to use composted manure, which has been heated to destroy the pathogenic microbes.
Organic mulches, such as chopped leaves, grass clippings, or straw, provide weed control and break down over time into organic matter in the soil.

11. Is Your Soil Healthy? Crumbly loam Optimum pH of 6.0-6.8
Organic matter ≥ 4%
Not sure? Test your soil!
U. MD Extension can help.
A soil test will give you information on the texture of your soil, the pH, the amount of nutrients and organic matter it contains. This information is very helpful to get for a new garden, before you plant, so that you can adjust the soil, or as an ongoing checkup. Getting a soil test can tell you what fertilizer is needed, so you don’t overapply.
How many of you have had a soil test in the last five years?

12. Right plant, right place and time2
Right plant, right place and time

13. Choose the Right Plants and Seed
Healthy seedlings
Seeds:
open-pollinated, heirloom
hybrid
organic
If you are new to gardening, planting seedlings may be easier than seeds, which are sometimes hard to get to germinate and take longer to grow.
Open-pollinated are the classic plants that breed true, so you can save seeds from these plant. Plants will produce plants with
characteristics or “traits” like the parent plant from which the seeds were harvested.
Hybrid plants are created by breeders who cross pollinate plants to combine desirable traits, such as to improve disease resistance. You may see “F1” on the label of seeds to know that they are hybrids. Don’t save seeds from hybrid varieties.
Organic seeds: not genetically engineered, do not have pesticides on them, and are from plants grown under organic conditions.

14. Plant in the Right Place
Containers, in-ground or raised beds
Six hours of sun
Access to water
Protected from critters
Conventional gardens tend to have crops in rows with lots of space in between. Raised beds or block planting designates permanent walkways and prevents compacting soil where plants grow. Plants can be grown closer together in wide rows to help shade out weeds.
Plant taller crops to the north of shorter crops so they aren’t shaded.

15. Plant at the Right Time HGIC Planting Calendar
Plant at the right time. Cool season crops like lettuce and broccoli in spring and fall; warm season crops like tomatoes and squash in summer.
HGIC planting chart—follow recommendations when to start seeds inside, sow in the garden, or set out transplants.

16. Fertilize wisely 3
Healthy soil does not require as much fertilizer; don’t over fertilize or you might get LESS yield.
Best to refer to your soil test to determine what fertilizer is needed.
Note: muriate of potash is a potassium-bearing mineral.

17. Three Main Plant Nutrients
N = Nitrogen
Leaves
P = Phosphorus
Roots, flowers, fruits
K = Potassium
Overall health and disease resistance
Explain that NPK is lower for organics and released slower.
Some fertilizers contain one ingredient and some contain many nutrients. Read the label. Garden tone example.
Example: All-purpose organic fertilizer (Garden Tone)
N-P-K: 3-4-4

18. Why Organic Fertilizers?
May supply a wide range of nutrients
Usually provide nutrients slowly
Some are supplemented with beneficial microbes
Organic fertilizers are not as strong as their synthetic counterparts
Organic fertilizers may contain micronutrients as well. Some are supplemented with beneficial microbes.
Garden Tone contains feather meal, pasteurized poultry manure, alfalfa meal, potash, etc... Plus good microbes
Some soil amendments, like compost and manure, supply plant nutrients, improve soil structure, and enhance soil microbial lif.e
Applying any fertilizers to soils depleted of organic matter does not work well—organic matter is needed to hold and then slowly release the nutrients.

19. Manage problems organically4

20. Destroy Egg Masses of Bad Bugs
Colorado Potato Beetle
Fun activity for the kids (wear gloves)
Also mention dropping adults into jar of soapy water
Know pests and their cycle. HGIC has a diagnostic web site.
Squash Bug
Stink Bug

21. Exclude Pests with Row Cover
Row cover is a lightweight fabric that can be used for insect and frost protection. It comes in various weights. (Pass around a lightweight for insect protection and a heavyweight for frost protection)
Can put directly over plants (left) = floating
Or on hoops.
Cabbage butterflies/worms on broccoli, cauliflower; Colorado potato beetle on potatoes.

22. Recognize and Keep Good Bugs
Lady Bird Beetle adult and larva
Learn to distinguish good bugs from bad bugs
Lady bird beetles chow down on aphids.
The larva is actually more efficient at eating bad bugs than the adult.
Immature lacewings eat leafhoppers.
Assassin bugs eat Japanese beetles.
Lacewing
Assassin Bug

23. Plant Companions Many flowers attract and feed beneficial insects:
Dill and parsley
Mint, thyme, sage, basil
Zinnias, marigold, daisies
Salvia and nasturtiums
Plant companion plants in or near your garden to attract the “good bugs” or beneficials. Only about 10% of bugs are “bad.”
Some example are …

24. Organic Insecticides Made from natural products
Safer for the environment
Examples:
Pyrethrins
Biological controls (Bt)
Insecticidal Soaps
Kaolin clay (Surround)
Just because insecticides are organic doesn’t always mean they are safe. Always read the label and follow directions.
Having said that, most organics are less toxic than synthetics.
Some examples include pyrethrins, which originate from chrysanthemums and are used against aphids, leafhoppers and stinkbugs.
Biological controls: BT: from bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis; produces a toxin that kills worms and caterpillars; very useful against cabbage worms on cauliflower and broccoli.
Bacillus subtilis (sold as Seranade) for tomato blight
Soap desiccates soft bodied insects, like aphids; best applied to young bugs before they become full adults. Doesn’t kill eggs; Need to reapply often. Can make your own.
Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides, like Sevin, as they kill both good and bad bugs.

25. Suppress Weeds Mulch to suppress weeds.
Space plants to shade out weeds.
Pull or hoe weeds.
Plant cover crops in open areas.
Weeds rob sunlight, moisture and nutrients from vegetables and host diseases and pest.
Herbicides are the most commonly used pesticides, so weed control is important. There are some organic herbicides; most are based on vinegar or garlic/clove oils. These will kill leaves, but not the roots of weeds, so have to be reapplied.
The best method of weed control is mulch. Mulch to suppress weeds, retain moisture, and encourage beneficial insects. Mulches made from organic matter are best because they break down and provide nutrients to the soil.

26. Manage Diseases Trim plants to let air in. Rotate crops.
Choose resistant varieties.
Remove and destroy diseased plants.
Trim plants to let air in.
Rotate crops.
Removing lower leaves that have disease lesions will reduce upward spread and increase air circulation.
Rotate crops:
Put deep-rooted vegetables where shallow-rooted plants were
Every three years, plant a legume, like beans or peas, to add nitrogen to the soil.

27. Observe and care for your garden5
Observe and care for your garden

28. Walk in Your Garden Observe. Manage weeds. Destroy bad bugs.
Fertilize if needed.
Succession plant.
Keep a log.
Be a plant detective…look at your plants every week—do you see holes in the leaves? Spotted leaves: Pests?

29. Water Wisely Water in morning, if possible; not in the evening.
Water the soil, not the leaves.
Water deeply, less often.
Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses.
Avoid wetting leaves (except a hard spray for aphids), as can lead to fungal disease.

30. As the Season Ends… Remove plant debris. Mulch bare soil.
Plant crops like garlic and shallots.
Plant cover crops.
Cover crops, also called green manures, are also a good source of organic matter. They can be grown when the garden is idle, such as in the winter, or tucked in around plants to provide weed control. Just be sure to cut and turn them into the soil before they go to seed. Buckwheat and oats die over the winter.
Buckwheat
Peas and oats

31. Five Steps to Your Organic Garden
1. Build the soil
2. Right plant, right place and time
3. Fertilize wisely
4. Manage problems organically
5. Observe and care for your garden
Have people refer to the handout. Ask them to consider what we’ve reviewed today and if there are specific actions they would like to take to enhance their organic gardening.
Review the 5 basics on the sheet, highlighting a few under each section. Ask them to check off the actions they plan to take and use this as a reminder when they get home.

32. Enjoy your organic garden!
Questions?

33. Resources
extension.umd.edu/hgic extension.umd.edu/learn/ask-gardening marylandgrows.umd.edu
extension.umd.edu/mg
Take a food gardening class
Find local community gardens
Learn about youth/school gardens
RESOURCES
The Home & Garden Information Center develops and delivers science-based, sustainable gardening and integrated pest management education for better human and environmental health.
Use their free Ask an Expert service to submit a plant or pest question to their Certified Professional Horticulturalists. Follow their blog at marylandgrows.umd.edu.
UME Master Gardener volunteers reach thousands of Maryland residents each year with their classes and events. To learn about the classes and events in your area, go to the Master Gardener website and click on Local Programs. You may also be interested in ordering the Maryland Master Gardener Handbook. It has over 600 pages of information covering a wide variety of horticultural topics.
Grow It Eat It is one of the six main topic areas in the UME Master Gardener program. A number of Master Gardener volunteers teach and promote the local, sustainable production of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
extension.umd.edu/growit

34. This program was brought to you by
University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Program
Washington County
Remember to put in the name of your county.
Created by Jon Traunfeld, Extension Specialist, UME; 2014; revised 2/15/15; revised 12/19/16; revised by Beth Bukowski 01/18/2018; revised by Alicia Bembenek 01/25/18