Just asking....

Hi

Thought I would ask how long has everyone here been Organic Gardeners?

I have been a true organic now some 12 years. I pretty much started the change over 14 years back. I still remember the reason I changed.

I was growing some corn. I could not spray it enough to keep out the worms. One day I to myself: Self there got to be a better way.

Now I don't grow a lot of corn. Some years none at all. The last time I grew it my sister told me that there is just too much Polish in me. (we are half Polish) As I was growing the corn in the front yard! (I live in a city and growing areas are slim for me.)

Anyway, once I made the full jump to OG the next time I grew some corn I just inserted the ears in side pieces of panty hose....no more worms!

What was the factor that caused you to turn away from the DarkSide (sic.)
Olds

BTW I noticed that there is not a lot of action on the OG board here. I take it then we are vastly out numbered by the believers of Chemical Man? (heh he he)

There was no single "defining moment" why I am an organic gardener. In all but a very tiny bit, I am strictly organic. We have a small amount of grass lawn, my dad insists that it be kept, and he applies chemical fertilizer twice a year. I spread 1" of compost on it once a year, or every other year, depending on my health. It gets corn gluten pre-emergent (or did, but now I can't find it locally.)

I have severe health problems, and being a scientist (microbiology major with chemistry minor in college), I am very aware of the knowledge and lack thereof about how different systems interact with each other. It was almost a no-brainer for me to do my best to keep my immediate environment as healthy as possible. For me, that includes not exposing myself to substances that have a lot of danger notices on them.

I also am an Herb gardener; I am a volunteer at a local Herb Garden, and was trained by the director, who was a university instructor in Landscape Architecture. The Garden is public, full of edibles, and of course that means that nothing toxic can be used -- lots of small children sample some of the accessible plants (the toxic plants are far beyond arms' reach).

I grow heirloom vegetables,and about 5 years ago got into it pretty seriously. It seems against my principals of preserving these old varieties that I go and dump chemical pesticides and fertilizers on them.

In my opinion,chemical fertilizer alters the taste....(wondering what else it alters if you can taste the difference....hmmmm).

These old varieties have been around for sometimes hundreds of years...I'f I'm going to preserve the germplasm by proper isolation practices,I feel that I ought to grow them as my ancestors did.It is more historically accurate.

Another reason for being organic...I'm very sensitive to food additives..MSG and the like.Anything that I can do to keep anything 'foriegn' out of my system,I'm going to do.My sister has MS,and she has changed her diet completely.She won't even eat a potato chip or a can of soup.Everything is prepared freshly,and she hasn't had a episode in 2 years.

The fewer chemicals I can put into my body,the better I like it.We get enough poision out there in the world in just daily living anymore...why add to it?

When we bought the house 9 years ago there were earwigs everywhere. There wasn't a lot of yard to work with (a lot of concrete) but what there was of it was infected really bad. Well I had a pest control friend come out and spray and after I when I was working around the yard and noticed many good bugs died also. I felt just terrible and said I would never put any chemicals out there again.

I've learned a lot since then (like earwigs can be good) and have even gotten my pest control friend to look into organic methods to treat problems.

Now I mainly do the squish method and anyone who is not a gardener I talk to gets pretty grossed out by this, but I think it is better then all the bugs going. I know that I can't kill them all, but there is usually a lot of food to go around and I really enjoy seeing the birds and a lot of the good bugs around.

My change to OG has been pretty gradual over the last 23 years, but took off in the last 4 as I began to garden in earnest. My interest started as a political ideology years ago, and moved to reality in my own garden now. A change to buying only organic foods recently (as much as I can, anyway) and seeing how much better I feel helps.

My dad gardens organically. He always has. I watched and learned from him and, as I am very sensitive to any kinds of chemicals anyway, I use organic methods wherever possible. I've even tried to limit use of chemicals in the house, too (all the different cleaners for the stove, the sinks, the toilets, etc. are pretty much GONE!) I also buy some organic produce and other products from the stores, as long as it's not TOO much more expensive (I do still have a budget to keep!). I think organic stuff is much healthier for you in the long haul. Besides, I was an environmental science major and active in a recycling club in college. Organic is in my blood :)

I come from the golf course business where if something doesn't look just perfect, spray the entire acreage for good measure. At least this was the motto in the early 70's before I knew better. Now if my entire garden goes south, I will find other plants to take their place. The chemicals used back then are all banned; most people wouldn't believe we actually used these poisons so carelessly, and without the proper protection. But is was very commonplace.

dog; sounds like you may be famaliar with Rachael Carson's book Silent Spring. After readin it myself,I was amazed at just how ignorantly folks went about usin DDT back in the 40's and 50's.

Olds; interestin thread ya got goin here, good info for those of us (me included of course) who need to be better educated in organic gardening. We try awful hard to grow all natural here!

TC...

I keep my garden totally organic, and have learned so much about "natural remedies' from the folks here on Dave's. Especially you Lupine, and I appreciate it so much. My DH had cancer 3 years ago and I make SURE that he eats all the right things, love him too much to take chances on chemicals. I am fanatic about my compost and think that that is what contributes the most to my garden.

I have gardened organically and recycled since 1972. I used to grow mostly vegetables, now I grow mostly flowers. I hate chemicals; my dad used them liberally and if the directions said use 1/4 cup he figured 1 cup would be even better. Our dog died from cancer in his paw which I am sure came from all the chemicals on the lawn. I used to be considered odd for composting and using organic methods - I sure am happy to see organic gardening becoming so popular. Like Joni Mitchell sang "Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees....Please"

Great last line there Candy!!

TC...

"Can you cook and sew, and make flowers grow?" Bob Dylan.

Thanks, TC. I sense a new contest coming up - best song lyric encouraging organic gardening.....lol

Dog; Another great last line there!

Candy; that's a great idea! I'll mull it over and might just start one!

TC...

I started gardening organically when I started gardening, about 1966. With a toddler in the yard it seemed dangerous to use chemicals (he's now 37).

The web site Organic Gardening, run by the Rodale folks who publich the magazine by the same name, is very busy, with lots of posts everyday. Check it out.

Here's a link to their site in case you might want to check it out.

http://www.organicgardening.com/

TC...

For years I recieve OG. Then a couple of years back they change it to Organic LifeStyle...right in the middle of my paid subscription. Why? Because my name is Raye and they thought I was a woman and as such this was more geared towards me! LOL! When I findly got someone at OG (on the phone--my expense) to talk to me they said sorry...you we can't change you back. Needless to say I explain what they could do with their LifeStyle.

I've gone ahead and re-ordered OG. However, ever since Mike McGrath (Editor-In-Chief) left IMO OG took a hit in quality. I will review this first OG mag to see if I will continue with it. However, if it is as shallow and weak as it was after Mike left I will discontinue it.

As far as I'm concerned they still owe me a year's worth of quality OGs!
Olds

Follow up:

If anyone has issues prior to 1994 of OG and wish to sell them I will give a fair price.(50 cents on the issued retail dollar) E-mail me if you do. (minor@tampabay.rr.com)
Thanks
Olds

Olds, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was purturbed when I was automatically switched over from Organic Gardening to Organic Lifestyle, or whatever that horrid thing was. I called them up and chewed them up one side and down the other and told them that if I wanted a "Martha Stewart Living Organically" magazine, I would have subscribed to it! I told the rep. to either switch me back or I was cancelling my subscription. They switched me back without a problem (after I gave them a piece of my mind) Sheesh! The nerve!!!

As to composting, I don't exactly compost. Not the traditional way, anyway. I just toss stuff out in the yard by the plants (banana peels, melon rinds, apple cores, coffee grounds, egg shells--I bake mine in the oven to kill any salmonella since I put them in the bird feeders in spring for the nesting songbirds. I haven't bothered to mess with building an actual compost pile. This may not be the best way of doing it, but it works for me. I'm just too busy to fuss with it. I've considered using the "black bag" method of composting where you put your stuff into a black trash bag, give it a quick spritz of water, punch a couple of holes in it, then leave it sit in the sun for a few months. That might be a little unsightly, though...

Butterfly...the black trash bag is a good method. YOu can really heat up the innards easily (with good sun/heat) and really do in the weed seeds and such. I used to make silage for my rabbits that way, as well as compost. (The silage is a great addition to your garden also...it brings wonderful azotobactor microbes to your life-soil.)

As for OG, I got fed up w/them also, for a while, but not because of the magazine switch. They became a bit too repetitious with their articles, and the ads in the mag out-numbered the "ad-vice"! I now, once again subscribe to them, but only about every other yr or so.

As for Old's original question...to quote a country song saying "I was country when country wasn't cool"...I have to say I was Organic when we didn't even know we were! I grew up growing 'organic'...to this day I can't tell you how much 10-10-10 to use, what chemical to spray for what, etc. Perhaps that may be a weakness in me cuz I can't discuss the man-made chemical world vs the man-made non-chemical world. (I can sure tell you about the Monsanto/Dupont BS re: Roundup, law suits, and side effects of some of their products tho!)

Our farm is nearly 20 yrs old, has always been "organic" ('scuse me mr. President for using that term...I didn't pay my money to you for that privilege!) and will be for as long as I insist on it. Long before I started this farm I was "organic", but have to admit, it was cuz I didn't know any other way to be, 'twas just how we grew up.

I grew up organic too. Either something ate it, like the chickens, or it went into the cans Dad had for compost. In fact, after it went through the chicken it went into the compost. Now there is a job I dont miss. I wish I had a big enough yard to keep bees. I do miss fresh honeycomb. Pasutrized just is not the same.
This year has tried my patience. Bugs abound.

I think I weigh in with many of you. I've always been organic. My dad was organic and just the idea of chemicals seems unsafe to me.

Has anyone read the recent David Pollan book called "The Botany of Desire"? There is a chapter in that book on how potatoes are grown commercially. Even if I wasn't already an organic gardener, that chapter would have cured me forever of the chemical growing habit.

Oldman, I have a good number of the McGrath years OG mags; nobody could pay me enough money to buy them! I agree with you: I mostly quit reading them when he left. Wouldn't even consider buying them or subscribing -- I read a little of the library's copies. They lost my interest with whatever editor took his place (Vickie something?) who tried to make it into a "Lifestyle" mag. Just didn't interest me...

That lady isn't the editor of OG, at least not anymore. I'm looking at the Sept/Oct issue an dit says Scott Meyer is Editor, Dan Sullivan is Senior Editor. I don't think that lady lasted very long!

I stopped with my OG subscription when they switched me over to the Living magazine, but I had lost a lot of interest when McGrath left as editor. I have bought a few magazines from the store and I know he contributes once in awhile, but it is not the same. I couldn't wait to read his editorial page and his comments when someone wrote in. I wouldn't give up my old issues, I still use them as reference material (or just good reading) every so often.

I learned to garden from an organic gardener in the early 1970's when it wasn't a popular thing to do, and the OGF was really good and Mr. Rodale was still editor. For those new to the organic scene that is Organic Gardening and Farming. I had several years of them but when we moved they went somewhere in a box I never saw again.

MaryE that is totally heart breaking. I personally believe that in rest of my lifetime those those type of mags. will never be seen again.

There are a few things in my life that matter. 1.) My Wife 2.) My Mother. 3.) My Dog 4.) My OG mags. 5.) My business.

In that order.

I just purchase a D-base program where I can take all of the information from the books, mags, and years of notes and enter it into it to include my photos. I figure at least 2 hour per day for 6 months if not longer.

When I'm done I'm going to set up a web-site where anyone can access this info. I will do it in such a manner that no copyrights will be walk upon. This is how important organic is to me.

If you look around the net...you get pieces here and there only. I want to create a free one stop organic D-base.

As I move along in this area I will accept OG information from other gardeners providing that data can be proved to be truth. When that time come closer I will post concern the same.
Olds

BTW It makes me proud to see so many Organic Gardeners here!

We're just doin' what comes naturally Olds! Plus...there's a pretty hefty population of 1960's refugees here too!

I didn't know that Organic Magazine became so crummy; however, this might help lift your organically inclined spirits and FOR FREE!! Go to The New Farm site and read your wonderful little hearts out. There is something in there for everyone. You can subscribe to their free newsletter that will arrive by e-mail. Enjoy... http://www.newfarm.org/
SL..

Thanks for that link, it looks like at least a whole evening of good reading there. Bookmarked it for winter if not before.

Seems I'm late to this little party! Stan and I both grew up on small family farms. Thrifty is what we called it growing up. when we raised corn, I must admit that we used chemicals - no choice if your growing 30 acres of corn for silage or to pick. We quit doing that 18 years ago and went to all grass. We do spread urea on the hayfields, but in some circles that is allowed as organic. What the cows put in the gutter goes on the fields. If the feds hadn't decided to put out rules for organic farming, we'd be organic except for the purchased corn and protein feed. According to organic certification, we would have to let our calves run around unfettered year round - sounds like a really good choice as compared to the evils of keeping them tied in a warm barn with fresh bedding, milk to six weeks, clean water, hay and grain.

ANYWAY, the gardens are organic, I have a lovely pile of old woodchips, another of heifer manure and sawdust over an old pile of weeds, one of chipped bark from an Amish sawmill and all the barnyard soil I can haul with my wheelbarrow or get someone on a tractor to bring me in the loader. Yes, I put up with a lot of strange weeds, but I'm small time now and it's not really that hard to pull them through the mulch.

I've been allmost entirely organic since i moved to this location 8 years ago. There was nothing here except sagebrush and grass. I did have a couple of bad years a few years ago with a really bad grasshopper problem, ate almost everything. But not many last year and only saw a couple this year. I have several compost piles and containers. i posted pictures of them earlier. I also use Planters 2, Bio-Grow, and Endomycorrhizal Inoculant in all my planting holes before planting anything. Also use lots of composted manure and my own compost. Donna

I was a child during the period the "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson came out in the 1960's...I was just learning to
garden and my parents owned a Health Food Store. Therefore
I have never used a garden chemical. Too much goes into the ground water and affects the hormonal health of all species including ourselves. We have to be responsible to the land we are using.

Also my body is really sensitive to all chemicals so
we just don't use the stuff.

Count me a lifelong organic gardener.

I miss Mike McGrath too. OG is not the
magazine it once was nor is it what I think
its founder intended

But we have each other.

http://www.newfarm.org/index.shtml
I found this posted here yesterday and thought now if they let these people take over the mag we might have something close to what Robert Rodale put out in the begining this comes from the folks at the Rodale farm You don't think we were spoiled the early organic gardener and MEW'S do you

What does MEW's mean?
SL

Mother Earths News

I am a new gardener, and new to organics. I just put my garden in last Fall, and have tried to create a butterfly and hummingbird habitat, along with all the other wildlife. I was interested in organics before, but especially now since you can hardly have a wildlife habitat any other way. I love nature and wildlife and want my garden to reflect that. I just bought some cornmeal gluten for the lawn, and some Texas Tea granules for the perennials, but need some advice on the shrubs and trees - I forgot to ask about those when I bought the other stuff. I will learn as I go, asking questions along the way I'm sure...I was excited to have butterflies last year as soon as some of the plants got in the ground, and the earthworms appeared suddenly out of nowhere. How did they get there? We hauled in 18 cubic yards of compost and tilled it in with our clay, and there they were....It is fascinating :)

they know when they are welcome