photo: Free Digital Photos.net
Cost Savings
Growing organically means not spending money on expensive fertilizer and pest control.  You can use your veggie trimmings and coffee grounds for your compost heap and there are many inexpensive home-made pest control recipes. 

Taste

Organic food tastes delicious and promotes better health.    We know from experience that food grown organically tends to have a richer, better flavor than conventionally grown food.  Organically grown foods are higher in cancer-fighting chemicals than conventionally grown foods.  Vegetables and Fruits grown organicaly show significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants than their conventionally-grown alternatives,  according to a recent study appearing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 


Reduce Health Risks
Growing Organically reduces health risks.  The EPA currently considers 60% of herbicides (weed killers), 90% of fungicides (mold killers) and 30% of insecticides (insectkillers) as potentially cancer-causing.  Many others have yet to be tested.  Growing organically keeps pesticide residues off the food we eat and also lessens the exposure of farm workers to higher amounts of these dangerous chemicals.  Pesticides are not excreted by plants or animals; they become concentrated as they move up the food chain.  People are usually at the top of this chain, and therefore consume much heavier concentrations.  Children are particularly vulnerable, ingesting,  on average,  four to five times more cancer-causing chemicals from foods than adults, which can lead to  various diseases later in life. 

Organic livestock production prohibits the use of antibiotics in the animal feed, reducing the growing resistance to dangerous pathogens.  Added hormones are also prohibited, which again can be transmitted to the consumer. 

Organic gardening promotes healthy living.
 


Promote Healthy Soil
Building up soil by composting increases organic matter in soil and reduces erosion.  Better soil also conserves water and provides more drought resistance. 

Biomass
Organic gardening maintains soil biomass, which is the total "mass" of plants, animals, insects, and bacteria and microorganisms living in an area.  This increases the nutritional value of the food grown organically.  The level of vitamins and trace minerals are increased.  Vitamin B-12 is actually not produced by the plant, but by the bacteria in the soil, which is then absorbed by the plant.

Conversely, chemical fertilizers sterilize the soil to the point that much of our commercially farmed land cannot grow anything on its own anymore without adding fertilizer because all the the natural bacteria has been destroyed.

Ground Water Protection
Pesticide and fertilizer runoff contributes to the serious problem of pollution in our ground water. 


                                                                              photo:  Free Digital Photos.net


Rotate Crops
Plants of the same variety should not be grown in the same place year after year.  This prevents build up pests attracted to that type of plant and also soil depletion.  Different plants will have different nutritional needs from the soil.

Companion Planting
Increasing the variety of plants you plant in a small area acts to deter pests.  You can increase the effectiveness of this by planting specific plants that have natural resistance or repellent qualities for specific garden insects and bugs.  Following is a list of some common garden pests and some plants that can act as a deterrent:

• Aphids - Anise, ,Basil, Chives, Coriander (will also attract bees), Garlic, Nasturtium, Pennyroyal, Spearmint 

• Ants - Lavender,, Pennyroyal, Tansy, Spearmint

• Asparagus Beetle - Pot Marigold

• Bean Beetle - Nasturtium, Rosemary, Marigold
• Cabbage Maggots - Pennyroya, Thyme 
• Cabbage Moth -  Oregano,  Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Mint 
• Cabbage Worms - Thyme
• Cabbage Worm Butterflies - Wormwood
• Carrot Fly - Leek, Rosemary, Sage
• Cucumber Beetles - Nasturtium, Radish, Tansy
• Flea Beetle -  Mint, Thyme
• Fleas - Pennyroyal
• Flies - Basil, Tansy 

• Fruit Tree Moths - Chives, Southernwood

• Japanese Beetles -- Garlic,  Tansy, Soybeans

• Potato Bugs - Horseradish

• Mosquitoes - Basil, Rosemary
• Moths -  Lavender 
• Moles - Allium
• Mosquitos - Rosemary
• Nematodes - Marigold
• Slugs - Rosemary
• Squash Bugs & Beetles - Nasturtium, Tansy
• Ticks - Lavender, Pennyroyal, Sage 
• Tomato Horn Worm -  Basil, Borage,, Chives (good for many tomato pests)  Pot Marigold
• Wasps - Anise
• Weevils - Allium
• White Cabbage Flies - Celery
• White Flies - Nasturtium

Garlic, Marigold and Onion deserve a separate endorsement as they each repel a large number of insects and pests. 

Biological Pest Control
Introduce and encourage beneficial insects such as Lady Bugs, Praying Mantis, Lacewings  and natural predators such as birds and frogs by adding shrubs for shelter, water features and plants that attract beneficial insects and bees.