Taking the time to set yourself up properly in your organic gardening efforts can make all the difference between success and failure. Your first step is to decide on the location of your garden – while some cool weather plants will grow better in a partially shaded area, most crops needs as much sunlight as possible. Ideally, crops that need sunlight will require a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight a day. Ignoring the sunlight needs of the crops you plan can result in your organic garden being a failure. Also keep your water requirements in mind – are you prepared to carry buckets of water up and down if there is no water source nearby for you to attach a garden hose to?

Always start small and never plant more than two crops in the beginning. As every guide to organic farming will tell you, mistakes will be made in the beginning and the fewer plants you have, the fewer mistakes you will need to correct. It is tempting to get carried away when there is a large area to use as your organic garden but keep in mind that the larger the area, the more potential problems for a beginner. Spend some time reading up on the various crops that interest you and find the ones that require the least care and maintenance – these should be your first crops.

An essential part of any guide to organic gardening is getting the plot ready for planting – in most cases autumn is the best time as you can care for the soil over winter before you actually plant. If you are going to have your garden in a grassy area you should use a shovel to slice off the top layer of earth and invert it. This will allow the grass to decay in the soil and provide it the nutrients it needs to support your crops. In the case of weed filled areas, the weeds too will provide the compost you need - the seeds will have to be pulled out and placed in a compost heap to decay; if they are allowed to remain, your garden will be plagued with weeds in the future.

An essential component of any guide to organic gardening is understanding the kind of soil you will be working with. Soil can be divided into three types – sandy, clay or loam and each one has different properties and will need to be dealt with is a different way to enable you to grow your organic garden successfully. Keep in mind that some plants are not suitable for some types of soil and planting crop that needs loamy earth in sandy soil will never work, even with the best of preparation and care. Following these basic steps of a guide to organic gardening will ensure that you start off in the right way and are not inviting problems in the future.