1. Choose the right plant for the right place. Do not try to grow something that is not suitable for your particular soil or cultural adaptation. Sun, shade, soil pH, drainage, and temperature must be considered. This fact is easier said than done and will require endless experimentation. This endeavor is part of the challenge and fun of gardening.

2. Feed your soil. Constantly add organic materials such as compost, shredded leaves, dried manure, straw, sawdust, etc. And as they decompose, they will provide an environment for the incredible number of microorganisms that contribute to healthy soil and healthy plants.

3. Use diversity in your plantations. Include those plants that have been scientifically proven to attract beneficial insects and pollinators and those that can potentially repel garden pests.

4. Recycle all your organic material. Kitchen waste, leaves, pruning remains, fallen fruits, etc. they all need to be composted and returned to your garden soil.

5. Do not use pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers. They will instantly kill beneficial insects, bacteria and fungi, destroying the soil’s natural, healthy food web.

6. Do not compact your soil. Establish paths and raised beds so that no walking or kneeling is done on planted areas. The pore space in the soil where water, air, roots and microorganisms live in harmony must be preserved to support plant growth and health.

7. Do not till your soil. Rotational tillage and continual “turning” of the soil cause loss of organic matter, destroy soil structure, and wreak havoc on microorganisms that provide a healthy food web for the soil. Add organic matter to your soil in the form of mulch.

8. Rotate your crops. Provide a rotation of at least three years, and if this is not possible due to space limitations, plant a cover crop for one to two years to enrich the soil.

If all the organic gardeners in the world had one trait in common, it would be that they all compost. It could be said that the addition of compost to the soil of any garden is the essence of the organic garden. All garden soils benefit from the addition of compost whenever it is available. Compost helps aerate the soil, providing a home for millions of living organisms that aid in a plant’s ability to absorb necessary nutrients. In that sense, it acts as a fertilizer. The compost could be used as a mulch, spread over the existing soil as often as possible, and certainly mixed into the existing soil when installing new plants.

Compost is easy to make. It’s simply the end result of a pile of organic matter breaking down into a rich chocolate brown material that looks good, smells good, feels good to the touch, and is often referred to as “black gold.” Technically, compost will result from a combination of whatever organic material was ever alive, whether animal or plant. Everything broke down in time. Today’s compost pile uses no animal material, and due to the antibiotics and other medications given to many farm animals, manure is not always recommended. If manure from organically raised farm animals is available, it can be safely added to any compost pile.

A compost pile or “pile” can be created anywhere a three to four square foot section of soil is available. It can be located in the shade, in the sun, in a dry place, in a humid place, practically anywhere. Just dump your organic material on the ground, build up a four-foot-tall pile, and given enough time, you’ll find compost underneath it all. Herbs, leaves, kitchen scraps (do not include meat or dairy), coffee grounds, overripe fruit, tea bags, walnut shells, seaweed, pine needles, sawdust, human or animal hair clippings and the list goes on and on. Everything will break down into a perfect compost.

If a neater look is desired, an actual container can be built, preferably two or three adjacent to each other. Any material that keeps your organic “waste” contained will work. A wire cage, scrap lumber, concrete masonry blocks, old pallets, just about anything will work. Modern compost bins can also be purchased in many designs and configurations.

Some tips on composting would be:

1. Try to chop or shred your debris as small as possible. The smaller the particles, the faster the decomposition.

2. Try to overlap the material as much as possible. Cover kitchen scraps with a layer of shredded leaves, for example. Even a little dirt works as a layer. Rotate material within the pile as much as possible.

3. Keep the pile moist, not soaked. The moisture of a wrung out sponge is adequate.

4. Aerate the pile from time to time. Flipping it over with a pitchfork or shovel will work and moving everything to another adjacent space works great. This is the reason for having two or three containers next to each other.

5. Anything not fully decomposed and still recognizable (like avocado skin or pits, eggshells, etc.) should simply be thrown back into the pile. They will all disappear in due time as the compost forms.