I want to start a chemical free garden

for fertilizers you can check your local health food store or look online for organic gardening books. Dealing with insects will be tougher though. YOu can buy lady bugs to control some insects, and there are natural substance that will discourage bugs as well. Try planting onions, chives or min between the ros of plants and around the edges. Most insects hate the smell and will not cross over those plants to get to the plants they find tasty. For weeds you can boil water and pour it on the center of the weed, nearest the main stem. Scalding them workes slowly so you have to repeat it everyday almost. Be sure not to pour any on the plants you want. For larger weeds you can use dark plastic to prevent photosynthesis. YOu can also9 put down a landscaping fabric tha tblocks wee growth. you leave openings for the plants to grow through. I am not sure how ell it works but its worth a try.

The best homemade fertilizer I know of is compost. If you make it yourself it'll take a couple of years to get a good steady supply but it's fantastic. The second-best cheap fertilizer is cow manure. If you have a dairy farmer in your area, ask him to bring you some manure that's been broken down. You don't want the fresh stuff. It'll stink and burn your plants. If you want to go low-chem for insecticides, be prepared to work your garden EVERY DAY. Natural products don't work as well or for as long or an indiscriminately as other products. You'll have to really stay on top of things if you want to stay relatively bug-free. Like the other responder said, talk to your local garden center. There's so much more available these days than there was even a few years ago. And DO follow her advice about preventatives like landscape fabric, etc. Good luck with your garden!