Insect and disease control in an organic garden starts with the soil. The soil needs to be of a good structure full of organic matter and nutrients for your plants to thrive and produce a healthy productive crop. Plants have the ability to change there chemistry naturally to defend themselves from their natural enemies. They do it all the time as when a branch gets broken a plant defends the wound by creating a protective coating over it to prevent pests from attacking it and when an insect starts to nibble a plants leaves a plant can have the ability to change it’s leafs chemistry to be less appetizing to the insect . They can only do this if they are strong and healthy. Diseases and insects thrive off of weak or injured plants.Soil structure is very important in having a healthy soil. Healthy soil is a proportioned mix of minerals, organic matter, air and water that creates an environment for life. The life in an organically active healthy soil consists of insects, bacteria, fungi, microorganisms and other organisms. This life works the soil by eating the organic matter and turning it into a nutrient rich humus for plants to thrive.The location of a garden also plays a part in insect and disease control. The placement of plants out of there natural preference will do more harm than good. Plants don’t like to be forced to grow in an environment that they are not happy with like soil conditions and sunlight. This is a good cause for a plant to preform poorly and be weak and vulnerable to disease and insect infestation. Study the location of where you want to plant and choose plant that are suitable to the conditions.Companion planting is a benefit in having a healthy productive garden. Arrange plants near each other that are beneficial to each other. The planting of strong smelling herbs in a vegetable garden will mask the odor of plants and hide them from insects. Then there are herbs that can be planted that will repel insects.Crop rotation will help prevent the recurrence of the same insects or disease in a location year after year. When one crop is planted in the same area and there is a disease or insect problem the organisms from that disease can overwinter in the soil as well as eggs or pupae of a insect. The planting of the same crop in the same location only creates a new generation of the same problem. The removal of the host plant from that location wont give the disease or pest the opportunity to feed and reproduce the following year.Keeping your crops healthy is the best prevention for disease and insect control in an organic garden. The use of pesticides will only do more harm than good. Pesticides are only a short term solution to insect control. They will not only kill off pests but beneficial insects too.

1) Disease can be viewed as a disturbance of the synchronization between one’s life-rhythm and the eternal cycles and imperatives of Nature.In the 1930s, famed Swedish health teacher Are Waerland began his Sun Viking movement. Many of his students experienced greatly improved health and even recovery from serious illnesses. Waerland taught that disease was a disturbance of a person’s life-rhythm, established through millions of years of biological evolution.He told his students to look outside the body to environmental conditions as primary factors that create health or disease. Waerland felt that health could only be produced, and disease eliminated, by restoring the original human life-rhythm which depends upon an unhindered relationship between the human body and the external factors of Nature.2) Disease: the body’s attempt at self-cleansing and regeneration in order to self-heal.The human organism is designed to strive toward health, not disease. Disease is often a defensive reaction brought about by poor lifestyle habits. Therefore, the power to cure disease resides only within the patient’s body, but that innate power cannot fully prevail until wrong living habits stop and the fundamental elements of life and health, in necessary measure, have been set in place, namely: proper diet; pure water; fresh air; sunlight; adequate exercise, warmth, rest and sleep; emotional harmony; proper posture.3) If a substance is not fundamental to the health of the body, it’s also not fundamental to disease treatment.From this view comes the most important therapeutic principle of traditional naturopathy: Disease treatment must be based upon the use of the fundamental elements of life in accordance with the needs and abilities of the patient. Accordingly, Paracelsus, the renowned 15th- to 16th-century alchemist and professor of physics, medicine and surgery observed: “The physician should pass Nature’s examination.”4) “Through your stomach come all your ills.”–PlatoIn 1904, noted traditional naturopath Adolph Just wrote in Return To Nature: “Those who no longer listen to the voice of Nature become the victims of a thousand different diseases and miseries…Humankind can recover and again become happy only via a true return to Nature… [by choosing] the food that Nature has laid before them from the beginning and bringing themselves again into relation with water, light and air, earth, etc. which Nature originally designed for them.”Adolph Just was not suggesting that human beings forsake the comforts of modern existence, only that they reestablish their primal relationship with the life-sustaining elements of the natural world. For instance, instead of viewing diet as a form of entertainment, it should be seen primarily as a means for optimal survival.5) “…disease is but the expression and result of a disturbance of the conditions natural to life. The only useful office of the physician is to restore those conditions.”–Emmet Densmore, M.D., from his book How Nature Cures, 1892.In the 19th and early-20th centuries, naturopathic doctors developed many creative, highly effective therapies using Nature’s life- and health-giving elements. Originally, many of these therapies were applied within the setting of the numerous naturopathic health spas of those days which featured sunbathing, hiking in the fresh air, hydrotherapies, deep breathing, pure water, nourishing food, massage and lots of rest and sleep. However, with the introduction of “miracle drugs” came the misconception that simple naturopathic therapies were somehow quaint and outdated. And the hectic lifestyle of our era popularized a demand for the “quick-fix.”The use of surgery and drugs (even natural medicines such as herbs and homeopathy) can only act upon the superficial symptoms of the underlying disharmony in an individual if the fundamental elements of life are not restored. And such disharmony may eventually manifest in some other, and perhaps more threatening, form.Hippocrates maintained that disease must be treated in accordance with natural laws. Also, when the great 17th-century physician Thomas Syndenham (renowned as the “English Hippocrates”) lay dying, he told his weeping pupils that he was content to die as he was leaving behind three physicians greater than he ever was. One of the pupils eagerly inquired, “Three great masters? Who are they?” Syndenham replied: “Water, air and exercise.”

This article will discuss five of the medical conditions and diseases affecting large breed dogs.There are many ailments and conditions that are more prevalent in large breed dogs. Until further medical studies can be conducted and a pattern of inheritance established for these ailments and conditions, dogs that have a risk for these diseases will be said to have breed predisposition. If a breed of dog is known to have an inherited condition each animal should be tested before breeding with another. The only way to prevent the spread of known ailments or condition is to not breed a carrier of the disease. Since some ailments or conditions may skip a generation or two before appearing in the breed, there is no fool proof way to stop a genetic disorder from being passed on.One of the most common heart defects found in large breed dogs is congenital aortic stenosis. With aortic stenosis the heart must work harder to pump an adequate blood supply because of an obstruction to the flow of blood. Just as in humans, dogs can have mild to severe aortic stenosis. With mild stenosis a dog will most likely show no signs of the disease and have a normal life expectancy. If the dog suffers from moderate to severe stenosis, their activity level will be greatly reduced due to the heart not pumping enough blood to the rest of the body. Over time the disease leads to the thickening of the heart muscle and this can eventually lead to an early death.Getting medical check ups for your pet and catching aortic stenosis in the early stages may aid in the treatment.Gastric Dilation Volvulus (GDV) or as it is commonly known as bloat, is predisposed to the deep-chested large breed dogs. Be aware that any dog can fall victim to this condition and unfortunately it is usually fatal. There is no definitive cause of GDV but over eating or drinking has been linked to some cases in predisposed breeds. During GDV, the stomach rotates (the stomach of a dog is securely fixed at the top in one spot) making the stomach distension painful and stretching the blood vessels reducing circulation to the stomach. This can damage the lining of the stomach which may lead to bacteria entering the bloodstream. Also the blood flow to the heart may be interrupted due to the pressure of major veins from the distended stomach. Receiving immediate medical attention is imperative as surgery is the only hope of the dog surviving.Feeding your dog smaller meals three times a day instead of one big meal and limiting the amount of water they drink at one time may help prevent GDV. Also, placing their water and food dishes on an elevated food stand may aid in the digestion of their food.Hypothyroidism is a common condition usually found in mid to large breed middle age dogs. This condition is caused when the thyroid gland is damaged or destroyed and not enough thyroid hormone is produced. The resulting effects of low thyroid production can be:o Lethargyo Weight gaino Hair losso Anemiao Slow heart rateo Dry coatThere are blood tests the vet can run to diagnose this condition and once diagnosed the condition is easily treated with a daily dose of synthetic thyroid hormone which will need to be administered for the rest of the dog’s life. Canine hip dysplasia is one of the most common inherited diseases in large breed and giant breed dogs. This orthopedic disease may affect smaller breed dogs as well. When obtaining a puppy or dog from a breeder, make sure you ask for and receive hip certification on the parents and ancestors of the puppy or dog. Hip dysplasia results from abnormal hip joint development in a dog. It may or may not affect both right and left sides. The hip joint is a ball and socket joint, the ball (femur) fits into the socket (acetabulum) and rotates freely. Ligaments and tissue hold these bones together and cartilage cushions the movement of the bones. With hip dysplasia the bone slips partially out of socket and the ligaments are loose. As this continues to happen other degenerative changes take place in the joint. Over time your dog will find it painful to stand and walk and will have difficulty climbing stairs.Making sure your puppy doesn’t gain weight too quickly and not letting your older dog carry excess weight reduces the chance of hip dysplasia. If you do suspect your dog may be showing signs of hip dysplasia, get them checked out by the vet and find out what you can do to relieve them of pain.Osteosarcoma or bone cancer generally affects large and giant breed dogs. This is a very aggressive cancer and is more frequent in older male dogs. Medical research has yet to find the cause of these cancers. Most bone cancers are found to develop below the elbow or near the knee of dog’s limbs. Usually a swelling of the area and pain in the joint is a first indication of a medical dilemma. Unfortunately by the time medical treatment is sought, the tumor may have already metastasized to the lungs. Treatment of this cancer is usually amputation and chemo. Even with amputation and chemotherapy, the life expectancy of a dog is approximately one year. There is no preventable treatment for Osteosarcoma.