Gone are the easy days when gardening means just making a short trip down your favorite gardening centre, buying a couple of chemical sprays and God-knows-what’s-in-there pouches of brightly colored particles they call fertilizer. The only painstaking effort you need to exert is making sure they stay out of reach of hungry children and curious pets, which I came close to both disasters before I gave up gardening—or slowed down for a bit. I settled to potted, window sill type of gardening from then on since organic gardening, back then, was still a concept of the past, or future—your choice.

So now, I am, yet again, venturing to once familiar path of gardening. What sparked my snoozing interest, you might ask? Well, the answer would be an interesting trip to a Sunday market, only to find overpriced green leafy vegetables with the letters O-R-G-A-N-I-C screaming at me. A little troubled on how an “organic” be priced double as compared to a “non-organic”, I did my research. My conclusion: At this day and age, growing an “organic” is harder and more expensive than “non-organic”. My solution: grow my own!

First rule of course, is never, ever introduce anything chemical to your plants or else, it won’t qualify as organic—I know you know what I mean! However, knowing you are eating something that is both chemical-free and grown with your own hands makes it all worth while. Aside from that, growing organic plants involves a more holistic approach which means you also have to prepare and maintain a soil that is also chemical free and somewhat healthy—worms and all!

Since you won’t be using chemical fertilizers, your best buddy would be organic compost. Let me tell you this, unless you have a certain fondness of all things smelly, organic compost can be bought by the sack at your friendly neighborhood gardening center, ready for use. Otherwise, and if indeed you’re quite fond of bad smells, go buy a compost bin to make your own.

Be wise in choosing your plants since not all plants will suit your soil and climate. For this, you can seek help from organic planting professionals in forums and test it first in small quantities to make sure it will grow. Bear in mind that organic gardens need constant inspection. It is most vulnerable to the harshness of weather, bugs, insects and even animals. Furthermore, don’t expect a trade fair worthy, it takes some time for you to get the hang of it and an organic produce can never be perfect—well, that’s the beauty of it.