FAQ

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DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE
Organic gardening gives me the comfort of knowing I have
adopted a healthy lifestyle on a journey towards a long and
healthy life. The true organic gardener becomes familiar with
the soil, plants and animals, getting close to the environment.
He is also inquisitive and pays attention to detail. Nothing gets
by him, as he has a keen eye for health.
Adopting organic methods has become confusing, because
we lack a true definition of organic gardening. What do we
mean when we say something is organic?
Stipulations on the Term Organic
There are a few stipulations to make in defining organic. To
chemists, organic refers to the presence of a carbon molecule.
Most gardeners get confused by the terms natural and organic.
Technically, all natural materials containing carbon are
organic, but not all natural materials are organic. Sand
particles are completely natural but are not derived from a
living source. Sand never contained carbon as an element,
so it is not organic. All things derived from a living source
that contained carbon meet the definition of organic. You
and I are organic by definition, because our every living cell
contains carbon.
Organic gardening refers to a smaller plot grown for personal
use. With this in mind, you may do anything you want to your
plants without breaking any laws or policies. You can freely
apply synthetic pesticides to your strawberries and say you
grow organically without any legal repercussions. You might
fool your neighbors, but you can’t fool your body.
Organic growing is gardening or cultivating intended to
bring food to the market place. All organic produce grown and
distributed throughout the U.S. must follow strict guidelines
set by the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) or private
certifying agencies like the C.C.O.F. (California Certified Organic
Farmers) and OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute). These
groups make sure farmers are not using anything that would
be considered unsafe for human exposure. Each farm must
be certified organic through a process that lasts for a defined
period. Growers who misrepresent and sell their produce to
others may face prosecution for fraud.
To qualify as organic, produce must not have received or been
exposed to synthetic (non-organic or non-natural) herbicides,
pesticides or fertilizers as well as any ingredients from genetically
modified organisms (GMOs). Organic versions of these
treatments do exist and must be compounds extracted from
plants or other natural resources. These compounds do not have
to be naturally produced in the local environment but may come
from distant locations. (Some exceptions to these rules allow
the use of synthetic chemicals. Where extreme environmental
conditions make it difficult to get a significant yield, the USDA
has allowed organic certification in the presence of some
synthetic chemicals, saying the chemicals it allows do not affect
the health of humans, animals or the environment.)
Organic From a Distance
With refrigeration and efficient transportation networks,
commercial agriculture supplies our grocery stores with all the
produce we can imagine, whether organic or not. Some is grown
locally; some across the nation; some imported from other
continents. (The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says
much of our produce travels 1,500 to 2,500 miles to get to the
table.) Thus, we can buy many produce items all year round. You
may ask, “What enables a farming operation to say it is organic?
How does that change the treatment of our food?”
Organic gardeners generally agree on avoiding synthetic
pesticides, fertilizers and genetically modified organisms.
Outside of those general conventions, you can find a variety
of gardening strategies. Some organic gardeners are quite
strict, believing that an organic plant cannot receive any type
of nutrient treatment other than what naturally exists in the
local area. Others take a more liberal approach by treating the
soil, feeding the foliage, and even introducing treatments that
control temperature and light availability.
Unless you know organic practices and techniques, you
cannot know the effects, positive or negative, the plants you
grow will have on people or the surrounding environment. It
helps to understand how and why “organic is good” before you
assume it. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into a trap of uncritically
trusting everything that someone somewhere says is organic.
My View on Organic Practices
I see organic gardening, growing and farming as a beneficial
cause that generates more good results than bad. A conventional
farm that adopts even some organic methods for the sake of
marketing its produce is better than one that adopts none at all and
continues to farm with artificial chemicals. Truly, every little bit helps.
Many progressive people who follow organic practices want
to conserve the beautiful biological diversity of our planet
that allows humans and animals to enjoy a comfortable and
healthy existence. However, some organic practices are not
necessarily beneficial to humans, animals or the environment.
Saying “Natural is good” is an oversimplification similar to saying
a synthetic pesticide that gets rid of bugs or weeds is good or
that genetically modified organisms are good because they
give the farmer a better crop. When we understand the effects
of our treatments, we can properly apply them to yield benefits
while avoiding the adverse effects. Most important is to
educate yourself on what goes into your body. We are what we
eat, and what we eat has consequences for our health.
ETHICAL & FAIR TRADE
ORGANICS
DISCUSSING
ORGANIC
CERTIFICATION
WHAT IS ORGANIC?
DEFINING WHAT IT MEANS
MARKET
GROWTH
The gains in the organic market have been so great that the
FDA in the US has had to institute $10,000 nes on growers or
manufacturers who intentionally mislabel foods as organic.