Subject: What exactly is "organic?"
From: psgst5+@pitt.edu (Paul S Galvanek)
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Date: 17 Aug 1997 14:53:26 GMT
Message-ID: <MOD$970817.15879@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
I'm a casual vegetable gardner who's been reading these groups for a short
while and I wonder if I could get some opinions on a question I have.
What is "organic" gardening exactly?
When I started gardening I never conscious made the choice to do so
organically, but reading along it appears I do (or don't do) things at
least most of the time that would fall into that style of gardening -
always hand weed, compost and manure for most of the fertilizer and resist
insecticides except in the most extreme cases of infestation (only twice in
15 years opting to use Sevin dust to control an onslaught of aphids when
other methods failed and once turning to slug pellets to keep from being
over run by the useless critters)
But I wonder where do products like Miracle Gro and Miracid (sp?) fall?
Does the use of any store bought chemical of this kind mean you're not
organic and if so why? Do they have an adverse affect on the environment
or is it more a violation of the spirit so to speak?
Paul