Is Organic Gardening A Myth, A Dream Or Just Trendy ?

Lotus-eater

Two good posts by JWF and A.Badger.
I must admit when I started growing I was very pro organic, now I'm not so much although I don't use any extra chemicals on the garden at all, apart from glyphosphate weed killers and soft soap, sometimes you need a weed killer, although I try to use it as little as possible.

I am a bit sick of seeing the word organic on so many things, I wouldn't be the slightest surprised if a range of organic garden tools was bought out. I am a bit sick of seeing the word green as well.

JWF

I must point out (and I forget to mention earlier!) that I do use weedkiller, pesticides and fertiliser, just that I try to use as little as possible.

The use of the words organic and green are more marketing now than having a real meaning - Greenergy for example, use as much electricity as you like because its Greenergy (or maybe try to be sensible with your energy and it will be cheaper too!)

Mojisola

JWF wrote: »

The use of the words organic and green are more marketing now than having a real meaning

"Organic" as applies to food is a legally defined term and anything labelled as organic is very carefully controlled.

Davesnave

Mojisola wrote: »

"Organic" as applies to food is a legally defined term and anything labelled as organic is very carefully controlled.

Yes, in theory, but my local green waste site produces material which is Soil Association accredited, yet no one 'controls' what goes into the crusher...Joe Public being as he is, I wouldn't be so confident.

Also, when people obtain dung, horse manure, or whatever, do they always know what the animals have fed on, or what hormones may have entered the natural cycle? At least with a sack of Osmacote, you get what it says in the blurb on the side.

I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate here because, like others, I prefer to keep things simple and natural, but as a former grower of ornamentals (for which there is no organic standard) there have been times when I've had to reach for my chemicals.....or starve. However, I've done so much of that, my red spider mite 'cure' is still only half used and it was banned (along with hundreds of others) eight or nine years ago, simply because it was cheap and not economic to place in EU safety tests. I'll take my chance...:rotfl:

I'm with JWF and A Badger on this one.

BUBBLES_3

farmers demand 100% from the field in which they grow and that they must grow more or less the same thing in the same area year after year at such densities that chemicals must be used to supply nutrients and control bugs etc if not then arguably food will cost much more and be not as plentiful as the yield will be lower. This is an argument that goes beyond ideals. 6 billion people to feed and growing. If certain sectors of the public see fit and good reason to pay more for organic food then let them but lets not preach to the people who dont belive or cannot afford to go organic.

When it comes to growing your own, spend as little on your crop to achieve the maximum yield. Use minimum amounts of fertilizer, pick off caterpillars and rub out aphids, keep the garden clean so slugs have limited habiat. use the hoe instead of paying £s for weedkiller.

As for taste,we gardeners can choose veg types bred for taste first and foremost but the farmers choice is different. He wants all the cabbages, peas etc etc to be ready at once for efficient harvesting, or his lettuces to have flat bottomes so they stack in boxes better. Its easy to see why peple think that organic may taste better if comparing with shop bought mass produced but what about comparing non organic home grown to organic. No difference I believe. The ethicical argument is OK provided is doesnt become another anti smoking campaign where non organic gardeners must use part of the garden centre which is away from public gaze.

olly300

BUBBLES wrote: »

farmers demand 100% from the field in which they grow and that they must grow more or less the same thing in the same area year after year at such densities that chemicals must be used to supply nutrients and control bugs etc if not then arguably food will cost much more and be not as plentiful as the yield will be lower. This is an argument that goes beyond ideals. 6 billion people to feed and growing. If certain sectors of the public see fit and good reason to pay more for organic food then let them but lets not preach to the people who dont belive or cannot afford to go organic.

A farmer, unlike you or I who garden in our spare time, are business men and women so they need maximum return from their investment.

If organic produce produces this maximum investment return from the minimum amount of effort and money put in then you would find lots of organic farmers.

The same is true of commericial flower and plant growers.

Cut flower growers could be seen as being more destructive to the envirnoment then crop growers as they can use vast qualities of water that people need to survive for something that is ornamental.

BUBBLES wrote: »

When it comes to growing your own, spend as little on your crop to achieve the maximum yield. Use minimum amounts of fertilizer, pick off caterpillars and rub out aphids, keep the garden clean so slugs have limited habiat. use the hoe instead of paying £s for weedkiller.

I didn't realise keeping my garden "clean" would limit the amount of slugs and snails I got last year whent the weather was very wet. Also I didn't realise hoeing was an affective method off getting rid of pernious weeds that grow into my garden from my neighbour's garden.

The majority of gardeners I know personally will use the easiest methods in regards to time and effort, and the method which they think is less likely to poison them and their families when growing things to eat. Which is why they are reluctant to spray bug killers on their edible plants and use slug pellets.

Again with flowers and ornamental plants most of the gardeners I know choose varieties they can grow to fit in with the amount of time they have to garden. However as they are generally not going to eat these depending on the circumstances (wild life and pets) there is less reluctance to use chemicals.

BUBBLES wrote: »

As for taste,we gardeners can choose veg types bred for taste first and foremost but the farmers choice is different. He wants all the cabbages, peas etc etc to be ready at once for efficient harvesting, or his lettuces to have flat bottomes so they stack in boxes better.

A farmer normally has one or two retailers who buys his/her product of them directly. These retailers particularly if they are supermarkets dictate the variety of the crop they want and the size of the end product. There is no point a farmer growing a variety that the retailer doesn't want as they won't get paid.

BUBBLES wrote: »

Its easy to see why peple think that organic may taste better if comparing with shop bought mass produced but what about comparing non organic home grown to organic. No difference I believe. The ethicical argument is OK provided is doesnt become another anti smoking campaign where non organic gardeners must use part of the garden centre which is away from public gaze.

If you are paying a preimum for a product then it's human nature to think it tastes better. I watched a show where they cooked chicken kept in different conditions and did blind tastings. The chicken that all the guests who where members of the public, agreed tasted the best was actually the battery hen.

Anyway part of this debate is whether people understand what "organic" means, and
I personally guess people don't as if they did they would find out:
1. How their seeds they had sown where produced.
2. Where the plants - whether tomato/strawberry plants, trees, bedding plants or ornamental plants - came from, and what conditions they were grown in.
3. Where their cut flowers came from and what conditions they were grown in.

Fidget21

It's definately trendy. I work in the horticultural industry and see people buying their Organic Veg seed and paying a premium for doing so. However, if you speak to them about their soil at home they have no idea if it has had chemicals used on it in the recent past, therefore in most cases the seed they use may be organic, but the plants they grow won't be. So they could have saved themselves some money and bought non-organic seeds.