Organic Gardening – gigantic con?
We all know how precious time is. Our lives are hectic – and, I confess, I haven’t even found time to cut back my raspberry canes. And it does take more time to garden organically. You can’t just spray for a quick fix or add instant soil conditioners. It takes time to create wonderful compost full of organic matter that has been broken down slowly by worms, water and warmth. Maybe you even make your own natural fertiliser of fermented nettles. Then there are the white butterflies to chase away with the tennis racket and the snails to catch out before they decimate your seedlings. Sure, it takes time. But, to me, this is the only ‘con’ of gardening organically.
The rest are all benefits. What organic gardening really does is stimulate the senses. The sight might not be perfect, with your broccoli a little holey and your lettuce munched around the edges, but it is always a wonderful and satisfying sight. Touching a bit more money in your pocket is another bonus – no expensive pesticides and fertilisers. Then, hearing the dulcet tones of buzzing bees and busy birds are the priceless sounds of pollination. So, is there an organic smell? Absolutely! Sometimes pungent but always productive.
Finally, taste. I recently bought a supermarket cauliflower. It was huge, very white, immaculately formed and cheap (I think I paid $1). I was delighted with my bargain and promptly made a cauldron of cauliflower soup. It was, of course, disappointingly watery and flavourless. I say ‘of course’ (and I kicked myself for being sucked in by the girth of such a specimen) because it was just too big to have any true flavour, just too white to be truly organic and just too immaculately formed to be true. I suspect this cauliflower was grown in soil seeped in artificial fertilisers, sprayed with chemicals to keep the bugs off and stored in freezers to keep as long as possible. How can we even question the taste?
Organic gardening is not a gigantic con. The proof is in your senses.
On a serious note – herbicides, pesticides, artificial fertilisers are all chemicals used in non-organic gardening. Research is showing more and more risks to our well-being by using these chemicals. Even if you’re not worried about yourself, there is a responsibility to our environment and our planet – really!
11 Comments
Tags: Con, Fertiliser, Fruit, Gardening, organic, Pesticides, Vegetables
anna says:
Added 23 Jul 10 — 9:38 am
I agree the ethics of what we eat are super important. But some organic retailers charge ridiculous prices for their produce which puts me off the whole current fad tag ‘organic’
Frankie says:
Added 25 Jul 10 — 5:27 pm
Even more reason to have a go at growing your own! Try growing some lettuce in a pot. Keep it organic and you’ll have your own ethically sound veges.
muse says:
Added 26 Jul 10 — 9:58 am
Definitely agree it tastes better. We grow our own silverbeet and cauliflower and both are delicious. When we buy them from the supermarket (which we have to do everynow and then) the taste just doesn’t compare.
BTW I love the image of someone running round their garden chasing white butterflies with a tennis racket – gave me a chuckle!!
amymel says:
Added 26 Jul 10 — 10:58 am
Not sure I’ve ever tasted organic produce that’s better than the rest, and its so much more expensive. Impossible to ask a family to live off organic, really a niche product for those who have the time and resources.
fridge says:
Added 26 Jul 10 — 12:20 pm
I think organic is good, we should all try and be a little more organic, put it this way who doesn’t wash their fruit beofre they eat it..why is that hmm????
wggt says:
Added 27 Jul 10 — 9:05 pm
Ever walked around the vege dept in the Melbourne Victoria market? The fruit and vege in the organic section look as if they are second hand. To me a large part of food enjoyment is the visual aspect and I haven’t yet seen organic that cuts the mustard in that department.By the way, what is the TRUE definition of organic?
wggt
fruitdog says:
Added 27 Jul 10 — 10:10 pm
I read a while ago that it took 14 different sprays to grow a crop of onions – how can that be good for the environment? I grew some red onions on compost only – they may not have been huge, but they were tasty, handy (.001 food miles) and left no chemical residues!
brent.c. says:
Added 27 Jul 10 — 11:21 pm
I have been growing red onions, beetroot and silverbeet on my patio. For those with limited space (like me) try using a 40kg bag of garden compost. Cut a rectangle hole slightly smaller than the bag and puncture a few holes in the bottom side of the bag (for drainage) Then plant your veges straight into the compost. Add a bit of nitophoska blue every month or so. One bag will grow about twelve plants. After harvest discard the compost bags and start again with fresh bags of compost. I have found this far easier than digging a vege plot, far less weeds and close to the house so I only need to look out of the kitchen window to keep an eye on things.
sylvester says:
Added 28 Jul 10 — 10:08 am
Big UPS to Organic growing and DoinG IT YourSelf Yeah!!
The feelings of total satisfaction as you place your hands into the earth and connect with the of kumara you only just planted 4 months ago, which have grown from such a small miniture version of what they are now. I love harvesting my own kai, and you definitely enjoy tasting and eating it even more, knowing you played a part in growing the kai.
I only used a little water from washing the dishes to spray the small amount of aphids on the leaves, and it worked wonders.
Looking forward to planting more kumara soon.
Try it, it’s very rewarding xo
brent.c. says:
Added 28 Jul 10 — 11:38 am
Little sis in Hamilton owns a blueberry farm. They export most of their crop to America.They grow their blueberries Organicly so can not use fertilizers like nitrophoskas. They are also prohibited from using flyspray in their home (is on the blueberry farm)
MAF test their property monthly and issue compliance certificates which accompany their produce to the States.
No certificate and their blueberries are rejected.
Bit of a double standard really. The Americans are so into saving the planet ORGANICLY yet they have millions of gas guzzling cars as well as an army who is bombing the crap out of Afganistan and fast food outlets on almost every block selling burgers and fries swamped in fats and cholesterole.Nevermind their industry spewing tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.
bjb says:
Added 31 Jul 10 — 6:37 pm
I find it just great, growing our own vegies, in our garden. Which we trying to keep it close to organic as possible. They taste much better than the supermarket bought.
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