by The Long Island Gardener

Created on: May 02, 2008   Last Updated: August 12, 2008

Organic vegetables have more flavor and pack a higher vitamin content.

But there's more to growing chemical-free corn and carrots than laying off pesticides and weedkillers. Recent discoveries about soil, plant disease and insect behavior have re-written the rules about organic gardening. It's not just about "plant food" and "insect control" anymore.

What are these rules?

1. It is imperative that you have your soil tested at least annually. In labs around the world, scientists are delving into ways to make soil more productive - and cure world hunger. Order a test run from a soil scientist with high tech training and equipment at your local Extension Service. They'll do a complete, state-of-the-art analysis for a modest fee.

2. Study "Green Mulches" - and use them. Green Mulches begin as chlorophyll-colored organic matter - straw and grass clippings. What's new about mulch? Even after a Green Mulch turns brown, it still contains sugars that important soil microbes thrive on. Recently discovered: Avoid wood based mulches for vegetable plots; they cultivate the wrong kinds of microbes.

3. Got Earthworms? These wiggly Oligochaetes are a big key to soil fertility. Scientists just learned in 2001 that Humic substances boost Iron uptake in some crops - and digestive enzymes in an earthworm generate Humic acids by the mega-ton. Keep your earthworms happy.

4. Topdress with compost. Not only do you pour nutrients into your soil, but you build bigger, better microbes: beneficial fungi, nematodes, bacteria, which scientists have found are skilled disease-fighters. For vegetable-growing, avoid twigs and woody stems and focus on kitchen scraps, grass clippings and dead leaves instead for best results.

5. Switch to organic "fertilizers". In the organic world, you don't fertilize - you "amend". Champion amendment: Alfalfa meal, ideal for jump-starting vegetable-friendly microorganisms. Other favored choices: Humus, kelp, cottonseed meal.

6. Grow lots of birdfood. When University of Florida researchers planted sunflowers at organic farms, they had a surprise. Insect-eating birds flew in all season, with little interest in crops. Reason: Most birds are strict carnivores in summer months, hungry for aphids, beetles, grasshoppers and other pests. Give your birds a water source and a place to perch, and watch them flock to your garden.

7. Discover your insect friends. Integrated Pest Management ("IPM") lures - or imports - natural enemies to the front lines. You can attract some just by

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