Why Go Organic?
Many ask that question. If you’re growing tomatoes for yourself and your family, growing organically ensures your family isn’t ingesting harsh chemicals. You can be satisfied that the food on your table — in this instance at least the tomatoes — are free of food additives, colorings or dangerous and poisonous pesticides.
Many farmers have a second reason as well. Many of these folks take their extra fruit into town or to a flea market or a farmer’s market. They can charge a little more for their crop if they’re able to label it as organic.
How much more? Organic tomatoes normally bring 10 to 30 percent more than conventional tomatoes do. If this surprises you then you probably weren’t aware that tomatoes are one of the highest pesticide-sprayed vegetable in the world. So you can understand the potential demand for tomatoes that are free from such things.
There’s a trade-off here as well. If you grow organically instead of conventionally, you’ll discover that your crop yield is smaller. However, with today’s advances, even that discrepancy is being eliminated.
Now you’re just wondering how to start; you can start by knowing the most important points that every organic farmer follows:
Careful selection of tomato variety
Crop rotation
Soil fertility
Pest control
Weed control
Choosing Your
Tomatoes Wisely
If you’ve forgotten just how many varieties of tomatoes are available to you, reread the first chapter of this book and review the various tomatoes. This is only a small fraction of what you may choose from. You’ll want to choose tomatoes that are as disease-resistant as possible.
That being said, you also have a second consideration, if you plan to take your crop to the local market. It will do you no good to grow an exotic, high-resistant tomato if no one has really heard of it or the folks in your area don’t appreciate its taste.
Take into account that old-fashioned “market demand” Or you’ll just have a whole bunch left over after the growing season ends.
And thirdly, you need to consider what type of tomato fits the factors affecting your weather. You’re not about to buy a variety that craves heat if you live in the northern part of the country.
When all these factors fit together as well as possible, you’ll have less need for things like pesticides. Your tomatoes will be easier to grow in the natural way.
Here are some tips and great fun. http://www.squidoo.com/tomatosgrowing
