Organics is more than just a label or a set of products or the food you eat. It is a holistic approach to growing everything, from simple plants to high value crops, herbs and flowers. The foundation of organic growing begins with an understanding that plant life depends on healthy soil. Plants and the soil they live in are inseparably linked. Once this relationship is broken, the door is left open for plant disease, insect infestation, opportunistic weeds, and inferior plants. This crisis in the garden has led people to seek a quick fix by buying into the deception that the answer is using deadly products containing carcinogens, mutagens, toxic heavy metals or endocrine disruptors.
University experts used to teach that arsenic was a cure for turf disease. They now advocate using fungicide, a carcinogen, to combat turf disease. Why disease prevention isn't taught is baffling. It really is very simple. Most of today's professionally managed lawns are like an athlete on steroids. They look good on the surface but now we know that such turf is a ticking timebomb. In contrast, well-nourished soil is healthy naturally and virtually disease-free or very disease suppressed.
Besides being personally exposed to the toxins introduced into the soil to try and fix disease and weeds, which can have a long-term effect on you and coworkers or family members, these chemicals can affect the whole community, bioregion, watershed, hemisphere and planet.
Here instead are vital and dramatic alternatives to toxic products: organic products and practices that promote health, restore life and detoxify affected soil and plants.
Turning a blind eye to these fundamental issues is comparable to ignoring or denying any holocaust, epic starvation or threat of annihilation. The poisons are here. We have all used some at one time or another. The genie is out of the bottle and the only way to put him back, heal the destruction and get back on course to health is with ORGANICS.
OK, so where do we begin? With feeding the soil! Why?
Through misuse, the soil often lacks the elements, conditions, and nutrition necessary for life, resulting in malnutrition for the plants that depend on a proper balanced diet. Missing elements won't allow plant genes for disease & pest resistance to get "turned on," nor those for color, taste, health or development.
What happens if my soil is MALNOURISHED?
Most soils are mal-nourished. When this happens,
- Plants don't look so good .......to humans.
- They DO start looking really good & tasty to insects & fungus disease.
- The plant neighborhood welcomes weeds.
- Poisons get used to shortcut nature and get plants "healthy looking" anyway.....at least for a little while.
The wrong approach to malnourished soil is to apply fungicides, salt fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. These toxins treat the symptoms not the root of the problem.....at a terrible hidden cost to you or others, sometimes in the short run, certainly in the long run.
The true answer is to use Organics and environmentally helpful solutions to feed the soil the natural organic material it needs to support life. Many options are available on the market now, as well as practices you can carry out yourself using the materials you have in your back yard.
What can I do organically to be environmentally beneficial?
Use all the tools and practices we have at hand. You can't overdo organics. Knowledge is power. This guide is an attempt to share some knowledge, introduce some products specifically and more techniques generally. Also, we hope to introduce you to some environmentally sound alternatives and resources.
How long will organics take?
This is a trick question! Forever. Organics is a way of life. There are many short-term results, such as imrpoved nutrient uptake, increased beneficial microbe activity, disease suppression, improved electrical conductivity, and monetary savings over using conventional gardening products.
How much does it cost?
As little or as much as you are spending now. Organics cost the same or less than conventional chemicals and pesticides. But the savings in the hidden cost of using conventional techniques is enormous. What is longevity and health worth? The average life expectancy of golf course superintendents and agricultural workers is less than 70 years. Women golfers are a high demographic for breast cancer. There is a connection.
Glenn Battin Mother Earth Organics motherearthorganics.com