In the simplest of terms, raising an organic vegetable garden is the process of growing healthy vegetables without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. However, for a better understanding of what organic gardening really means, you have to consider the planted area as part of an overall effort of helping your slice of the environment. Beginning with the soil and replenishing the nutrients used during the growing season with natural products is all part of the effort required for an organic vegetable garden.

People have begun to see the effects that many of the commercial fertilizers and pesticides have their own area. Many plants require nature's help with germination and bees and other insects are recruited to help this process along. While many of those with an organic vegetable garden have learned that these insects are needed, others continue to use artificial means to turn them away, reducing the potential yield in their garden.

Using plants in your organic vegetable garden that grow well together as well as within the local climate can help. That is not to say that some vegetables that are not native to the climate cannot be grown in an organic vegetable garden, but they will require some additional help to reach their full maturity and potential.

Composting Offers Best Natural Fertilizer

For many with an organic vegetable garden, composting grass clippings, leaves and other organic matter is the most popular method of providing the fertilizer they need. However, their efforts can be interrupted if they use vegetable wastes from other sources that may not have been from an organic vegetable garden. Any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides used in the growth of any food item will remain in the food and subsequently in the compost in which they are used.

The same is true with your grass clippings and if any chemicals were used for weed prevention or to stimulate the lawn's growth, the clippings used in the compost and deposited in the organic vegetable garden will remain in the compost and grow into the vegetables being grown. Even meat scraps from the table that may be included in the compost pile will have to be from certified organically grown cattle in order to keep the organic vegetable garden free of chemicals.

For those hoping for a true organic vegetable garden, there is not only the work involved of treating the soil and pests in a natural way, but there is also a lot of research of the other products used in the home that can make or break the organic designation of the garden.