Besides sunlight and water, you can mix together leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure using a compost heap and then spread it throughout your garden to help the crops grow. Many people are grossed about by manure but you don't have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores and if you keep Chickens then they are great to have - just let them roam around in the garden. You can't put dead animals or meat products in the soil which is what some people use. However, leave them for a couple of weeks in the bin and maggots will soon appear which is what you use to help fertilize your garden.

The earthworm digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface and providing better drainage, making it is another helpful creature. The casting left behind by this long pink colored creature is, according to experts, five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. Again, this can be purchased from almost any gardening store or garden center.

Unwanted guests including army worms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs make organic gardening a challenge. In an organic setting the best weapon is the toad which is known to eat more almost every type of insect despite the fact that at one time people used fertilizer to kill them. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because this is not in the toad's diet.

A toad or a bird may come in to your home as long as you set the ideal environment for them so you don't have to buy one from the pet store. Your garden will have some new occupants protecting it within days if you can put up a bird house or a small pond. Insect killers such as the preying mantis and the ladybug, mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain so they will do the job.

For example, the rosemary, sage or thyme is an effective deterrent against butterflies whereas marigolds are effective against nematodes. Crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile, despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer. Alternate between the kind of vegetable planted for this season and another then return to the first after this one is harvested. you just have to be practice it so you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.