HAWLEY, PA — We all try to avoid pesticides and chemicals, not only in our food but also in our home garden. To help the Country Gardeners’ members accomplish this, “Organic Gardening Basics” was the lecture at last month’s meeting.

The guest speaker was Diane Diffenderfer, Penn State master gardener and home gardener vegetable trial coordinator in Wayne County. She mainly focused on integrated pest management (IPM), one of the basic tenets of organic gardening.

Although natural and organic pest management takes longer to provide protection for the plants, IPM avoids producing insecticide-resistant insect pests—plus it is more cost-effective and helps to balance the plant ecosystem. Therefore, its benefits surpass the inconvenience of waiting to reach full protection for the plant targeted and there will be less damage to the overall ecosystem around our homes.

The first layer of protection is disease prevention through the use of fertile soil, the correct amount of sun exposure, proper soil PH, proper watering practices and avoiding plant stress.

The next key factor is watching for symptoms of plant disease in the early stages and applying the right organic remediation.

Another basic protection is to sanitize stakes, plant cages and pots every spring, and rotate the location of vegetable crops. In addition, proper spacing between the plants is necessary to avoid overcrowding and to provide good air circulation. Pruning is also an important part of IPM—it allows the plant’s energy to bolster the growth of the fruit or flowers of a plant, instead of just the leaves.

Biological control of insect pests by introducing their natural predators into your garden is another useful tool. Various predators, such as ladybugs, can be easily ordered online through gardening catalogs. Milky spore is another useful organic product that can be spread in the area to be protected. Not only are these effective preventatives, but once you add the bugs or spores to your garden, you can let the predatory bugs and spore cells do the work for you. However, be forewarned: these methods might take one or two growing seasons to reach their full potential.