Become good gardener don't have to be organic
, healt soil, fertiliser, flower, garden, maintenance, treatment, vegetable organic, organic fertiliser, safety food, farmer, We all like the worms Some people imagine I must be ‘organic’ and then
read on to find I use ‘Roundup’. When they delve further they find me somewhat
scathing about organic mores and I suggest the word ‘organic’ to be the
territory of snake oil salesman and wide eyed innocence.
I write all the time about preserving a soil’s organic matter by such
as not oxidising it away by too much cultivation, by covering the ground with
plants all year round which helps to
maintain good structure and all things that encourage beneficial soil life. In
the case of the latter I am fascinated by the contribution of beneficial
mycorrhizal fungi and their production of long lasting glomalin that binds soil
particles together. Alas fertilizers inhibit mycorrhiza. There are many parts
of the garden that do not need fertilisers at all.
This goes together with providing healthy habitat for predators and
parasites and not slapping on insecticides all over the place. My cemetery
gardens have never been treated with insecticide or fungicide. I might get my
hand sprayer out in my own garden two or three times a year. Brenda sometimes
applies a few slug pellets very lightly under the hostas. In a diverse garden,
plant health is the norm. My frogs, other amphibians, birds and invertebrate
predators and parasites control most of my pests for me. I think organic
gardeners and I sing from the same hymn sheet.
If you do any of the following you are not.
, healt soil, fertiliser, flower, garden, maintenance, treatment, vegetable organic, organic fertiliser, safety food, farmer, We all like the worms Some people imagine I must be ‘organic’ and then
read on to find I use ‘Roundup’. When they delve further they find me somewhat
scathing about organic mores and I suggest the word ‘organic’ to be the
territory of snake oil salesman and wide eyed innocence.
It is not my purpose today to debunk organic growing. Indeed some of
the very finest gardeners are organic. It is more that I wish to find common
ground that
good gardeners share.
People used to ask why hostas in Bolton Percy cemetery garden were slug
free when in that garden I have never used insecticides, fungicides or slug
pellets
I must first briefly explain my own stance. I am no longer perplexed by
the ancient meaning of the term organic to describe some substance ‘that has
lived’ and to have been animal or plant. Even in the face of the organic movement
regarding certain inorganic chemicals ‘organic’ if they are ‘natural’ and dug
out of the ground! Organic in a kind of honorary way!
The modern meaning of ‘organic’ is to describe materials that contain
carbon and are the ones you might have studied in organic chemistry at school.
(It might appear on the syllabus as biochemistry today!)
Most of the vast array of modern
chemicals of everyday life are organic when defined in this way. Perish
the thought - if you are an organic gardener - that glyphosate is an organic
chemical! We have as gardeners learned to deal in both currencies of meaning.
Cathi’s neglected rose would qualify as organic if I did not use
glyphosate
I refuse to accept that modern synthesised chemicals are less safe or
less effective than those naturally derived. Frequently the reverse. Take
fertilisers. A modern balanced fertiliser containing almost all the plant
nutrients in balanced proportions and sometimes slow release is far superior to
such as bonemeal. Even useful ‘organics’ such as seaweed extracts need to be
inorganically fortified to be really effective - and don’t get me going on to
scouring the natural environment to find commercial organic products for the
garden.
If you use a complete fertiliser like this not only will your soil
build up its nutrients from year to year so will your perennial plants
I fail to understand why people who are happy to use a whole array of
modern chemicals, not all safe ones, in every aspect of everyday life, refuse
to accept the same in their garden. Thousands of manufactured chemicals are
used to cover our bodies, ingest, clean our houses, maintain our cars, provide
recreation and keep us alive. Some people actually smoke.
You might be surprised the hear about chemicals I don’t use! Not that I
fear them although for example certain cosmetics that you might plaster over
your body to make you smell or look nice are almost always far less safe than
manufactured chemicals you might use in the garden.
Both organic or inorganic insecticides are bad for the bees
With my little rant over I now want to examine what might constitute
natural and ecologically/culturally sound ways to manage a garden. Labels as to
what kind of gardener you are mean nothing to me.
What good gardeners share
Soil health
All good gardeners care for their soil and many organic gardeners lead
the way with the notion that the best way of doing this is to leave soil alone
and adopt minimum cultivation. We both agree that bulky organic matter will
vastly improve soil structure. We agree that organic matter produced on a site
should be preserved and recycled. Eve Balfour that great founder of the organic
movement was adamant that other than her crops no organic material should leave
her farm. Our own gardens don’t share a traditional farm’s diversity but in my
opinion everything entering the green disposal bin is a mark of failure. It is
not necessary to buy in manures and bulky organic material - but it does help.
I recently purchased two lorry loads of bark mulch for my borders…
I am not sure the meaning of organic gardeners desire to ‘feed the
soil’ but I emphasis that the organic content of organic fertilisers (as
distinct from bulky manures) is far too small to make any difference to the
soil store of organic matter. I don’t understand anyone’s objection to adding
valuable nutrients as fertilisers (organic or inorganic) that feed healthy
plants which in turn return organic matter and nutrients to the ground. Either
as compost or directly returned.
I write all the time about preserving a soil’s organic matter by such
as not oxidising it away by too much cultivation, by covering the ground with
plants all year round which helps to
maintain good structure and all things that encourage beneficial soil life. In
the case of the latter I am fascinated by the contribution of beneficial
mycorrhizal fungi and their production of long lasting glomalin that binds soil
particles together. Alas fertilizers inhibit mycorrhiza. There are many parts
of the garden that do not need fertilisers at all.
Neither of my cemetery gardens ever receive fertiliser
Healthy plants resist pest and disease
Some pests and diseases are so virulent that this is just not true. In
the majority of cases however if you are a good grower and can ensure that your
plants are well grown with avoidance of stresses such as inappropriate
nutrients, excess or insufficient water, too much or too little heat and light,
I firmly believe that your plants will resist weaker pathogens such as aphids,
moulds and mildews.
Organic growers sometimes claim they never get aphids with their highly
organic soil. Neither do I - except perhaps on a stressed house plant in Winter
and I don’t grow lupins and...
Maintaining plant diversity in a garden increases natural control of
pest and disease
This goes together with providing healthy habitat for predators and
parasites and not slapping on insecticides all over the place. My cemetery
gardens have never been treated with insecticide or fungicide. I might get my
hand sprayer out in my own garden two or three times a year. Brenda sometimes
applies a few slug pellets very lightly under the hostas. In a diverse garden,
plant health is the norm. My frogs, other amphibians, birds and invertebrate
predators and parasites control most of my pests for me. I think organic
gardeners and I sing from the same hymn sheet.
Let them get on with it
Cultural pest and disease control
I have written before about the huge array of cultural wrinkles such as
pruning out aphids for example on broad bean tips. No quarrel with organic
gardeners here.
Green manures
I have my own take on this and include retaining plants on my vegetable
garden all the year round. I agree with organic gardeners that plants are good
for the soil
Naturalistic Gardening
It's been a poor year for butterflies
Many folk imagine me to be organic because of my naturalistic methods
that allow plants to establish themselves and generally seed and vegetatively
spread around. ‘Take care of the weeds and the plants will take care of
themselves’ is my motto. A weed is a plant in the wrong place and many
traditional weeds are also wild flowers. I completely agree. There is too much
to say about this for my article today but I emphasise that in my opinion
naturalistic gardening is not the exclusive domain of organic gardeners
Are you organic?
Many gardeners casually claim to be so.
If you do any of the following you are not.
Use proprietary liquid feeds such as tomato feed on you house plants.
Spray or water your house plants with generally available pest killers
Use insecticidal, fungicidal or bactericidal domestic products in your
home
Use growmore
Use lawn weed and feeds. Especially those that kill lawn weeds!
Use harsh chemicals to clean stone surfaces
Treat path and road surfaces with proprietary herbicides to clear weeds
Use slug pellets (be aware that the none metaldehyde types are NOT more
environmentally friendly than the normal kind)
Buying Vegetable and Fruit produce
A small grower in the next village has polytunnels in which he grows
fabulous strawberries and raspberries - the latter, I imagine mainly outside.
Other fruits and tomatoes too. Through the Summer he has a covered ‘help
yourself stall’ at his gate. His strawberries come in a wide range of delicious
varieties, are blemish free and taste vastly superior to the ‘turnips’ at the
supermarket.They come over a very long season and other than cheap supermarket
‘offers’ are priced the same.
The small-farm lady in the village buys-in vegetables from local, or
not so local, producers to sell at her little farm shop. Her onions are firm
and huge and far superior to anything I could ever grow. Her very large almost
red ’dirty carrots’ are superb. The grower sells most of his carrots ‘for
processing’ but those she buys-in have
not yet been harmed.
Swedes never do very well for me and I can’t really be bothered
although I really do love to eat them. Rejected by supermarket grading systems
they come to my lady in a wide range of sizes but priced per ‘turnip’. You will
divine that I buy the huge ones. The cauliflowers are fresh and come over a
very long season. Those in my garden all come together and tend to be misshapen
and blemished.
None of the above vegetables are claimed to be organic. Nor are they or
do they need to be.
His produce is perfect
A few weeks ago I was shopping in Sainsburys and noticed that cucumbers
were 35 pence each. Next to them were organic ones at £1.10 which looked
exactly the same. The organic ones were imported and carried several air miles.
Had I had not prolific home grown ones you can guess which I would buy.
My home grown tomatoes are wonderful and have never been sprayed
Some of my very early posts are still relevant today
I had aphid on my peppers
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