FAQ
4544
DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE
Growing everything organically benefits your health by
minimizing your exposure to unnatural chemicals. Your
minimal to zero use of synthetic chemicals and pesticides
also helps reduce the level of toxicity all around us. You
also help protect vulnerable species that are not the target
of pesticides. (Pesticides and other synthetics intended to
exterminate certain pests do not affect only their target
species. They also can injure or kill others in the process,
including livestock, pets and humans, further reducing the
essential biodiversity in our environment.)
Of the tens of thousands of chemicals agriculture and
industry use in the U.S. each year, only a few hundred are
tested for safety. For example, the pesticide DDT was banned
in the U.S. in 1972 only after considerable damage had
already been done. DDT is still produced and exported for
use in foreign agriculture, and we are vulnerable to exposure
since it infiltrates some foods we import. Therefore, buying
organics from overseas may also bring health benefits.
I advocate leaving our food pure and simple as the
most important choice we make several times a day.
Avoid additives such as preservatives and colorings. Food
processors use tons of synthesized chemicals to fabricate the
taste and appearance of what we eat. Read the label and buy
from a trusted source or grow it yourself.
Organic methods also support animal health. We can raise
animals without synthetic hormones and antibiotics and
feed them nutrient-dense organic food. Besides the nutritive
qualities of organic meats, this is the most humane way to
raise animals. They can enjoy their time under our watch
playing in nature rather than being confined to inhumane
cages for the sake of fattening them up.
Whether you eat produce that is commercially
grown organic or homegrown, you can better support
environmental conservation if you understand which
practices create and maintain soil health and fertility.
Feeding the soil feeds everything that comes out of it, plants,
animals and, ultimately, humans. Organic gardening is all
about creating and maintaining the natural circle of life
existing between growing plants, soil and living organisms.
By applying nutrient packed organic matter (compost,
organic fertilizers, soil amendments and seaweeds) and
eliminating synthetic chemicals, you enable microorganisms
to do what they do best: break down organic matter to
enrich the soil that surrounds the roots of our food plants.
The heart of organic practice is feeding the soil without
using artificial fertilizers or pesticides. It is also the first
step in preventing the loss of microbes and minerals, crop
contamination and water pollution.
We can grow plants that are highly resistant to diseases
and pests without using modern chemical treatments. While
organic control is more labor-intensive, the long-term health
of the environment and people is worth it.
My ideal is to stimulate the desire for everyone to develop
a “green thumb” and grow organic produce at home. Not
having to travel to the grocery store only to face a choice
among inferior veggies is terrific. Yet, I understand this may
not be practical for people living in small rented spaces or
those who work 50-plus hours per week just to make ends
meet. And shopping at the grocery store is more practical for
people who have many other interests.
Even if you shop regularly at a supermarket, you can
still support the values and ideals that organic stands
for. Converting to organic farming from less sustainable,
less healthy commercial practices requires an enormous
investment risk in both money and time. You can support
and motivate more of the people making these conversions
by purchasing as much organic food as you can afford from
local markets. While organic food costs a bit more than
non-organic, the short-term cost is more than balanced out
by the long-term gain of conserving our soil and providing
pesticide free produce to support our overall good health. As
we demand and support more organic foods and products,
even large-scale companies will have to respond and make
changes to serve the market demand. They will adopt
healthier practices provided we vote with our wallets. By the
sources you choose to obtain your food, you are voting for
how you want your food produced.
Why Choose to Grow or Eat Organically?
What Does Organic Growing Mean to Me?
By now my approach should be clear: To build soil naturally,
I rely on supporting beneficial soil organisms. I feed the living
soil organic materials using compost, planting mix and organic
fertilizers. These provide my plants nutritive sustenance for strong
and steady growth. Nutrient-dense plants are full of flavor and
have positive effects on the environment and human health.
I allow no synthetic chemicals of any kind in my garden.
Government agencies allow many synthetic chemicals on a
“certified organic” farm that I would not let within 100 feet of
my home. No synthetic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides
allowed! My goal is to maintain a safe environment for my
family and pets to enjoy.
Here is the rule I live by: If I can’t quickly identify the ingredient
on the label, I don’t use it. (Years ago I heard a health advocate
say, “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t use it. If you can’t spell it,
don’t eat it.”)
I attempt to recreate the indigenous conditions plants grew
in naturally before human involvement. (After all, if it grew and
reproduced, it had all it needed.) If I grow something not native
to my area that requires treatment, I use the safest possible
organic methods with ingredients I can easily identify.
I avoid harmful organic practices and urge you to educate
yourself on any ingredient you wish to use. I have said taking
one multivitamin is good, but swallowing the whole jar is
bad. This rule (more than the right dose is too much) applies
to organic gardening as well. Too much of a good thing can
be dangerous. Growth in nature is based on a balance in soil
organisms and nutrient cycles. Shoveling a bunch of organic
matter, microbes and treatments into dirt may harm the
environment. Also, if the balance is off, (a lack of some nutrients
and an excess of others) plants will not grow well.
For example, too many applied microbes in an organic
fertilizer make it act like a synthetic fertilizer. The excess
microbes digest the organic fertilizer too quickly. Infusing too
many microbes with an organic fertilizer makes the soil lose
nutrients well before the plant roots can absorb them. Similarly,
if you use inferior base ingredients, such as chicken manure or
dehydrated manure, (which naturally break down very fast) this
combination creates a fertilizer that works destructively too fast,
similar to a chemical fertilizer.
Inadequate and unwise products such as these come to
market from the drive to make profits off people’s ignorance
and misplaced trust. Many unethical companies try to outdo
each other by asserting they have more microbes in their
fertilizer blends, making them better for your garden. This is
deceitful marketing at its most cynical.
Organic growing follows nature’s perfection and beauty. While
people are clever and inventive, Mother Nature outwits us
with her experience and perfection. I love life and seek to work
within the guidelines nature has provided. In trying to push
nature to its limits, more is not necessarily better. I want organic
farms and my garden to promote human and animal health by
producing nutrient rich foods while doing no harm.
ORGANIC
PRODUCE
The 4-digit price look-up (PLUs) codes on produce indicate the type of produce sold.
For example, #4011 is code for a standard banana. The number “9” prex on a PLU indicates
an item is organic. For example, #94011 is an organic banana. The number “8” indicates the
produce is genetically engineered. For example, #84011 is a genetically engineered banana.
WHAT IS ORGANIC?
DEFINING WHAT IT MEANS
DISCUSSING
ORGANIC
CERTIFICATION