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Hopefully this will provide you with more information on how organic farming works to keep the balance of nature. The practice has a number of things that it has going for it that helps the environment and also us maintain our health and well-being.

• Maintains soil life
• Reduced water pollution
• Food taste
• Crops are drought tolerant
• Nutritional quality
• Increased micronutrients

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When one gives the body what it needs, the body will naturally do what is was designed to do. Giving the body organic food is will help it function more optimally. Organic food can best be described as food which is farmed in a holistic, ecologically-balanced manner. This is in contrast to food which is farmed using primarily chemical farming methods. Other signs of non-organic foods are those grown using chemical fertilizers, genetically modified organism (GMO Foods) or synthetic pesticides. For people desiring the highest quality, most nutrient rich foods on the planet, identifying organically grown foods is a good first step.

Consuming organically raised foods is not only ideal for a healthier body, but also ideal for a healthier planet. Organic farms help sustain diverse ecosystems. This is beneficial for insects, plants and animal life. These farms also use much less energy and minimize waste. Because these farms release zero synthetic pesticides, they create a healthy environment for the farm workers, wild life and soil.

Field of organic vegetables near Harlingen

All this can easily be remedied through education. People, when they start to understand how their bodies respond to certain foods, will then been equipped to make the best food choices. Organic food is one of those good choices. Knowing that an apple is an apple, or that a tomato is an tomato is crucial to a healthy body. More and more stores are beginning to recognize that the number of consumers choosing organic foods is rising. It is much easier today to locate stores or farmers markets where organic food is available.

People will often use the higher cost of foods grown organically as their reason for buying otherwise. In truth, the cost to their health in the long run will far out weigh any short term cost. As the consumption of organic foods increase, prices will naturally decrease.

Enjoying fruits and vegetables the way nature intended, is one major reason many people buy organic. Helping to preserve the environment is another reason many select organic foods. These foods also have another great benefit, they taste better. The body will more easily recognize organic foods and more easily digest them. Today, even some of the big chain grocery stores are carrying organic foods, making shopping for them much easier. Ultimately, eating these high quality, environmentally conscious foods will help individuals, families, communities, cities, states, countries and the whole world.

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Field being prepared for organic farming

The following are some shorthand notes that I made as part of a powerpoint presentation I did to a group in Harlingen earlier this year. I think you can get from the points themselves the gist of the various means that one can use to naturally deal with insect pests. Under the banner of “integrated pest control” are measures that someone can take to deal with both insect and weed control issues in a natural way.

While it might be more time consuming, the end product is a better, richer and preserved environment and better quality fruit and vegetables.

Integrated Pest Control

• Crop rotation
• Nutrient management
• Sanitation to remove pest habitat
• Provision of habitat for beneficial organisms
• Selection of pest-resistant crops and animals
• Physical barriers (row covers)

Biological Pest Control

• Big-eyed bugs
• Ladybugs
• Minute pirate bugs
• Lacewings
• Praying mantis

Naturally Derived Insecticides

• Horticultural Oils
• Aromatic Plant Oils
• Pyrethrum
• Spinosad
• Neem
• Rotenone

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Organic fruits and vegetables

Here are some basic points on this very large subject.

Organic weed management promotes weed suppression rather then weed elimination.

There are two methods of planting that can help naturally suppress weeds.  These are:

• the rotation of crops with weed suppressive cover crops; and
• planting crops with dissimilar life cycles to discourage weeds associated with a particular crop.

The following are mechanical and physical weed control methods.  Some are very traditional and others are more modern.

• Tillage
• Cultivation
• Mowing and cutting
• Flame weeding and thermal weeding
• Mulching (with organic materials, plastics or landscape fabrics.)

There are also some naturally-sourced chemicals for herbicides that organic farmers can use.

• Vinegar
• Corn gluten meal
• Essential oils
• Bioherbicides (fungal pathogens)

However, organic herbicides and bioherbicides play a minor role in organic weed control.

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Organic farming
(click on for larger image)

Here are some techniques that you can use in organic farming to provide the nutrients you need for optimum growth:

1. Green Manure
A green manure is a cover crop grown to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. These can include cowpeas, soybeans, annual sweet clover, vetch, sesbania, and others.

2. Intercropping (pest control)
Intercropping is when you grow two or more crops the same field close together.

3. Manure

4. Mineral powders

5. Crop Rotation

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My organic orchards

I am very interested in organic farming and have had an orchard for the past 13 years. About 10 years ago, I attended an orchard management seminar and asked about how one goes about doing farming organically. Nobody I talked to at that time knew anything about it and their only response was that it didn’t work.

Well, I didn’t want to use chemicals on my plants and orchard. I had talked to a lot of farmers and even though they used the pesticides and herbicides, they knew it was toxic and didn’t like them. One farmer even told me that he saw his cat drop dead after he licked his paw while he was out in his orchard. The chemicals are that strong.

Organic Farming is a technique used in farming without the use of any chemicals or synthetics. The aim is to produce crops which have the highest nutritional values with least impact on nature. It relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control. For the last ten years I have been using these techniques.

Some very tasty organic oranges!

I am now cultivating 18 acres of oranges, both navel and marrs, tangerines and grapefruit. While organically grown fruit is not as pretty as chemically treated fruit – because rust mites brown the outer peel – but it is the best tasting fruit you will ever eat!

I sell my fruit to local truckers and to patients at my dental office. Unfortunately cooperatives won’t buy my fruit because of its look. But I constantly get compliments on the incredible taste of the fruit. And this is basically why you eat fruit – the taste and the nutrients. And that is why I grow organic fruit for my family and friends and those that know it is a better product.

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