Organic

Is my garden "organic"? Not really. My goal is to grow plants that are healthy and healthful. I do not use any form of pesticide, insecticide, herbicide, or fungicide. They are all toxic to humans in varying degrees, even the "organic" ones. Further, none of them are truely selective. Insecticides, for example, kill beneficial insects as well as pestiferous insects, and this is true even for insecticides from natural sources, pyrethrins, for example. In this respect, I am 'more organic' than many true organic gardeners.

On the other hand, I do use some chemical fertilizers. Chemically synthesized urea is chemically identical to urea in cow piss. No plant in the world is smart enough to tell the difference, and you aren't, either. You may believe that it is kinder and gentler on the old planet to use the cow piss. On the other hand, a cow releases far more green house gas (methane) per ounce of urea produced than a chemical factory does. I raise horses - so I have an infinite suppy of manure. I use lots of manure - it is fantastic for increasing the tilth of my soil - something that chemical fertilizers certainly won't do. But for my poor soil, from which every nutrient has been leached by our incessant rains, the manure will never supply enough nitrogen or phosphate or other essential nutrients. Sure, I could apply fish fertilizer - but haven't you heard, over-fishing has depleted the ocean of fish.

So, let's not get all religious here. The important thing is to use the right amount of fertilizer, and no more. Too much nitrogen, whether from a bag of urea, or from a biodynamic baby trout buried in a cow's horn at moon-set, will leach into our rivers and pollute them. Too little nitrogen, and the plants will barely be able to keep themselves alive, let alone you.

Here endeth the lesson.

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