Dear Garden lovers,
Today at DIGS we were talking about organic seed and organic fertilizers.
There was much confusion about the term "organic" so I went home and looked it up, and guess what?
It's a hugely confusing word.
Organic when applied to vegetables and fruits can mean
a) grown without pesticides, and/or
b) grown without chemically produced fertilizer
And note that there are fertilizers made from pulverized rock, so they are not "chemically produced" in a lab, but mined and simply pulverized, like limestone for lime or Potash for Potassium.
What you'd be environmentally conscious of would be the soundness of the mining practices.
What we all also wanted for our DIGS garden was definitely also non-GMO as in:
c) grown without genetic modified organisms (GMO)
d) sold through a non-supporting-of-Monsanto seed company
(not supporting GMOs and not linked to Monsanto who've bought up many seed companies but left their original brand names in tact so you can't tell they're "Monsanto").
a) b) c) and d) we've achieved! (Yay!)
But now, what about organic seed?
Oganic Seed
We've managed to purchase all our DIGS seeds from companies that do not support GMOs nor Monsanto, but since we often pick veggie varieties by their best veggie qualities (like Blue Lake Green Beans, for example) the varieties we pick are not always certified "organic seed."
Organic seed is certified not to have been treated with pesticide, but it does not guarentee better flavour, stronger plants, or higher yields. It is not always clear whether or not the crop for seeds has been treated with organic fertilizer only, and that also leads to some confusion.
So does buying organic seeds matter?
Yes it does matter if you want to generously support all the organically certified farms that produce that seed without pesticide use. That's the way to insure they can continue to thrive. Conventional seed crops often receive more pesticide sprayings than the same varieties grown for eating.
But the pesticide does not stay on the seed, which is cleaned before packaging.
To the best of my knowledge the pesticide is not inside the seed itself.
So buying "organic seed" fully supports future research and development of organic/sustainable farming practices. And we do want to support that. So, so good so far.
But there's more "organic fertilizer" confusion to wade through....
Organic fertlizer:
There seems to be confusion in the general talk about "organic" fertilizer and none of my online reading has really cleared this conundrum up. (see links below)
Fertilizer replenishes the plant food in the soil. Besides trace mineral/elements, all plants also need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (K), and despite putting tons of well-composted organic manure on a home garden, it's still possible that you're cropping so intensively that your soil is short in N, Ph, or K.
So even if you add lots of perfectly gorgeously ready-to-fertlize-your-veggies manure (and remember uncomposted manure is too "hot" and scorches plants) that you can still be short of N, Ph, K and those trace elements and may have to amend by using some organic fertilizer.
So we'll do our best at DIGS, and remain 100% pesticide and GMO free, and will try to keep up on the copious Organic reading.
Good luck. It's one confusing word that's still being defined even as we speak!
Best, Jen
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Reading
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What organic means - source for info. on a complex topic:
What food production processes can be called "organic" in Canada?
What substances are permitted and prohibited for use in organic agriculture?
CAN/CGSB-32.311, Organic Production Systems – Permitted Substances Lists, includes the following substances lists:
•Crop production including fertilizers, plant foods, soil amendments, crop production aids and materials, and weed management
•Livestock production including feed, feed additives and feed supplements, health care products and production aids
•Processing and sanitation including organic ingredients, non-organic ingredients and with organic ingredients, processing aids, cleaners, disinfectants and sanitizers, and pest control substances
read more from: http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/programme-program/normes-standards/comm/32-20-agriculture-eng.html
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What is organic seed?
http://houseplants.about.com/od/propagatingyourplants/a/What-Are-Organic-Seeds.htm
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What is the definition of organic farming?
(2001) Organic farming is based on a simple principle, namely strict respect for the links and natural balances between the soil, plants and animals (animals nourish the soil, which nourishes plants), to which is added the constraint of a prohibition against synthetic chemicals.(2)
From this principle and this constraint follow a number of agricultural practices which distinguish organic from conventional farming, including:
a prohibition against chemical fertilizers and pesticides, plant and animal growth regulators, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, etc.;
a prohibition against genetically modified organisms;
a prohibition against soilless culture (which does not exclude greenhouse growing);
the requirement, in the case of animal production, to allow free ranging, to use organically produced feed, to limit animal density in buildings, etc.; and
the requirement to observe conversion periods in crop production before any “organic” commercial exploitation, etc.
The supporters of organic farming add a social and ethical aspect to the definition of organic farming, because they see in it a means of preserving a human dimension in agriculture, one that is respectful of the environment and in touch with the consumer.
from:
http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/prb0029-e.htm
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What about organic meat, eggs, milk?
http://www.thestar.com/news/2008/04/27/what_is_the_meaning_of_organic.html
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Can manure substitute for organic fertilizers?
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/fertilizing-old-fashioned-way-with-manure.aspx
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1192.html
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What are the standards for organic manure?
http://www.cog.ca/faq/index.php?action=search&tagging_id=17
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10 years ago
