The continuing rise in popularity of gardening and in particular growing organic vegetables has lead to lots of people seeking information on how to get started.

Folks are realising that buying vegetables from the local store, whilst convenient, has the downside that these vegetables are grown using chemical fertilisers and spayed with pesticides.

What happens is that the chemicals from these intense growing methods stay in the food. This means that you and I are eating food containing harmful toxins in it.

Because of this and other factors including the increasing cost of food people want to grow their own and eat fresh home grown produce that looks and tastes great. Growing organic vegetables is actually the answer, free from chemicals and full of flavor.

Listed here are 4 basic steps to getting started:

1: The Soil

Before beginning you have to invest some time in making your soil healthy to grow your vegetables. This can be a slow process but it will benefit you and your vegetables in the long term. There are lots of methods you can use such as chemical free fertilisers, natural composts and even introducing earthworms.

2: Compost

Fast composts are wonderful to make use of when you first start out as they are quick to get your soil into shape and whilst this is occurring you are able to begin building your own home grown organic compost for future use.

It is very easy to accomplish and takes just a little effort on your part, but again is going to be well worth it. Most fast composts can be found from the local gardening store; just make 100% sure there are no added chemicals.

You should be sure that any organic fertilisers and composts are mixed in together with your soil at the least three to four weeks before planting.

3: Tilling the Soil

Once your soil is prepared to be used and your getting wanting to plant your first crop then you are able to till the soil. Sounds a bit quaint , doesn抰 it?

What exactly is tilling anyway?

Well basically it抯 like ploughing, you should dig and turn the soil to get the conditions for good organic growth. It's going to aerate the soil, and loosen it to permit for the growth of micro organisms that are so good for your organic garden. It also helps keep the fertiliser active and spread well throughout the soil.

Once tilling is complete you are ready to sow your seeds.

4: Weeds and Pests.

Control of weeds and pests will also be helped by tilling the soil. You will find organic pesticides and herbicides available on the market. But I feel the most effective method of control would be to learn to grow part of your crop that pests actually do not like and therefore will steer clear of your main crops. There are many plants and herbs that will do this for you.

5: Water

One key element is going to be making sure you water your vegetable garden on a regular basis. Plan to do this not less than once a week and give it a good quantity of water. Obviously if it is raining a lot this can be reduced but you will have to pay attention to just how much rain your garden has received.

This is certainly where a water butt will turn out to be useful especially in hot summers where you could possibly be subject to a water restriction. Plus collecting rain naturally should always be used over using mains water for the garden.

There will always be things to understand when you set out on your journey growing organic vegetables, but once you have the fundamentals the rest is fun and pleasure for the whole family.

Children can learn a lot from growing simple garden vegetables organically, and the additional benefit is they get to consume something fresh, wholesome and that they have grown for themselves.