If you haven’t checked out the issue yet here are some cool select quotes from Michael Pollan’s interview. with Organic Gardening:

Pollan on what’s truly organic…

“Organic is in danger of being co-opted. I’ve been on organic factory farms, and if most organic consumers went to those places, they would feel they were getting ripped off. I think organic risks a real crisis of perception if the values that they’re selling don’t accurately reflect the practices they’re engaging in. They’re organic by the letter, not organic in spirit.”

Pollan on First Lady Michelle Obama…

“The future is [people] really making the connections between food and energy and climate change, and food and health care. Watch what Michelle Obama is doing. That’s really important stuff: her emphasis on fresh food. She talks about organic, but she [also] talks about fresh. Basically, getting away from processed food is key. And if you’re eating produce, and it’s not organic, it’s a big step up from eating processed food. All these partial steps are very important.”

Pollan on the question: Can organic feed the world?

“…Even if you can’t feed the world organically, and I don’t know that you can’t—there are very good arguments that you can—even if you just feed half the world organically, you’d be doing so much for the land, so much for our health, so much for the atmosphere, that it’s well worth doing. So the fact that you might not be able to get all the way does not damn the effort to try. And so I don’t think people should be discouraged by that.”

“But ‘can organic feed the world?’ is a question really up for grabs. The honest answer is, we don’t know. I’ve seen research that suggests with really smart rotations and cover cropping there is enough nitrogen to do it. I also think that if we changed our relationship to meat, we probably could.”

Pollan on if he prefers local foods to organic foods…

“No, I don’t. I support local, because in my experience here in California, local is organic…But if I were a supermarket shopper I would, because you can’t meet farmers face to face and you don’t really know what they’re doing, so to the extent people depend on the supermarket and are not interested in the farmers’ market, we need organic. If people are willing to put in more time and like the farmers’ market experience—because it is more than food that’s on offer there—[then] local, definitely.”

The whole “Can organic feed the world question” is a big deal right now with recent slams on organic by the media and Michael Mack, chief executive of Syngenta, a Swiss agribusiness giant that makes pesticides and seeds. Mack noted, “Organic food is not only not better for the planet… it is categorically worse.”  The piece on Mack was run in the New York Times and one of his issues was that organic can’t feed the world, which may have some truth to it, but is not 100% by any means and the theory hasn’t been tested. I like Pollan’s take on that – the whole we haven’t tried, and if we did it would so much better in the long run for the planet and our health and so on. Very cool.

Find the full article “A Conversation with Michael Pollen” in the November-January 2010 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine.

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Author Michael Pollan on Organic Food

Technically a big ol’ concrete leaf, one you can make yourself with a full and great tutorial! How cool is this project!?

Find out how to make re-purposed pots more antique and cool looking by growing moss on them.

A very nice DIY garden projects you can do for under $10 – adorable little natural plant markers.

Amazing Buddha shaped pears! I was amazed anyhow.

If you’re feeling uninspired lately, this beautiful collage of garden photos should perk you right up.

I’m loving these write and erase plant tags. Hip and reusable.

With winter almost here you may want to consider some winter greenhouse gardening.

And in keeping with the season growing your own Thanksgiving dishes – some nice fresh recipes from the garden for Thanksgiving.

[concrete leaf image via concrete garden leaves]

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Great Garden Links Galore

Genetically Modified Organism: More common is the abbreviation GMO. This term applies to any animal or plant that has been genetically engineered. Most folks who believe in organic gardening do not support GMO due to the fact that much more research is needed before it’s considered 100% safe. Also note, most GMO seeds are sold to commercial not home gardeners. Learn more about the GMO debate.

Heirloom vs. Hybrid: These two terms do not mandate organic or non-organic. Both can be organic or not. Heirloom simply means the seeds from a plant have been saved over the long term and grown for years. A hybrid seed is not the same as a GMO seed. Hybrid means a cross breeding between plants that results in a new plant with attributes of both; it does not necessarily mean that a plant is GMO. Hybrids can occur naturally.

Natural seeds: This is a bunk term. It could mean anything, it certainly does not mean certified organic, and should be ignored if your goal is actual organic.

Treated seeds: Some seeds are treated with chemicals in order to make the seed more resistant to disease, fungus, or to make it more likely to germinate successfully. Since organic seeds can not be treated with chemicals (see below), treated seeds should not be considered organic.

Certified organic seeds: True USDA organics must, by law, be grown without the aid of synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, pesticides, or herbicides.

Note, organic certification is different than the organic label. For example many seed companies carry the USDA organic seal, but have different certifying parties. If you want to be sure that a company is carrying seeds that meet your standards, you should look for the USDA label but you can also look up information about the organization who certified them and look up their GMO statement. Reputable organic seed companies will list all of this info at their website, in their catalogs, or tell you about it if you call them up.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Organic Garden Seed Terms

I like the idea, because not only are the Dirty Dozen list items more pesticide ridden, but if you buy them in stores in the organic form, it’ll cost you. Some organics are far more expensive than others, and so growing them yourself is one great way around both pesticides and all that money you’d spend at the store.

Basics:

Container Gardening for Health offers complete guide to growing the twelve fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues according to USDA testing. The list items include, Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries,Cherries, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Pears, Spinach, and Potatoes. There is info on how to grow these and organic gardening methods. This is one gardening book I’m adding to my must read list, so hopefully I’ll get a review up later (if I can find it at my local library).

Have you read this book? What did you think – a good read or no?

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Growing the Dirty Dozen

• 45% admit they have fewer cooking skills.
• 47% say they are less able to grow their own food.
• 48% have lost the rural craft skills that make self sufficiency possible.
• 51% say they would have no idea how to rear animals.

However, the same research noted that an amazing 92% of people in the UK say that self sufficiency and traditional skills like growing your own food, crafting and rearing your own livestock have become more and more important during the financial crisis. That’s where the Organic Farm School courses come in.

The Organic Farm School offers hands-on courses in growing your own food, rearing animals, cooking and rural crafts. Participants can learn practical and fun self sufficiency skills direct from organic farmers, growers and producers with personal experience.

Organic Farm School courses are based around growing skills, kitchen skills, smallholding skills and a range of seasonal & specialist skills throughout the year. Seasonal and specialist courses include:

• wild food foraging
• hedge laying
• cider making
• bee keeping
• cheese making
• preserving
• butchery and game preparation
• seasonal cookery demos
• willow weaving
• dry stone walling

If all this and way more sounds cool to you check out the Organic Farm School.

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UK Based Organic Farm School

1. Save your old seeds (check to see if they still work).
2. Compost for homemade soil – even if your yard is small you can compost. In fact, you can compost indoors if you want.
3. Don’t buy new – garden tools, gardening books, pots, and so on. Most gardening supplies can be easily found at thrift stores. You can also borrow from or share garden tools with friends. It’s also super easy to check out books about gardening from the library.
4. Try some easy DIY landscaping instead of paying someone to do it for you.
5. Always use reusable items and recyclables such as egg cartons for starting seeds or reuse the plastic seed pots you used last year (clean well to avoid disease). You can also make your own growing pots with recycled materials.
6. Be water aware. Build a rain barrel, water at night, only give plants the actual water they need, and so on. Using less water can save you big time.
7. Make homemade weed killer -Mix one ounce orange oil and 1 teaspoon liquid soap with 1 gallon of 10% white vinegar. Shake it up and use it to spot treat weeds.
8. Use the least evasive pest control methods first, which are often much cheaper than advanced pest control supplies.
9. Buy seeds locally from the farmers market or a local farm store. You can often buy just what you need vs. a whole packet. at the local farm store.
10. Swap seeds and plants with neighbors.
11. Plant a garden that will naturally thrive where you live. Plants made for your climate will thrive better with less care than exotic plants.
12. Use what you’ve got such as leaves and newspaper as mulch.

[image via stock.xchng]

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12 ways to garden on the cheap

• Earthworms like to crawl around in the dirt (well, or at least they slither about) and while they move they loosen soil and condition it as well.
• They leave their little worm droppings all over the place – which is a lovely thought I know, but actually their droppings carry some of the same characteristics of fertilizer (yay).
• Worms are cheap. Compared to other garden amendments, worms are inexpensive and practically trouble free.

You may already have earthworms a plenty in your garden. After the next rain, look around and you should see worms. If you see them, that’s awesome, because it means that your soil is already in decent shape – or headed that way.

If you don’t see worms you can pick some up at your local garden center; heck you can even buy some online. Put the worms in your garden and wait. If your worms die off, then most likely your soil is lacking some vital component – i.e. some sort of organic soil amendments which you can then add.

Make a homemade worm bin.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Got Worms in Your Garden?

Creating a rain garden is something you can do on your own, although it is an involved process and you may want to check with a local landscaper or your local community extension office before proceeding. One excellent guide to building a great rain garden is the FREE rain garden how-to guide and booklet – although as noted local sources are really useful.

Basic rain garden tips:

• It’s easier to build a better, more efficient rain garden when you think small. A large rain garden usually won’t fare as well.
• Locate your garden site close to a runoff source/s if possible.
• A well designed rain garden will withstand moisture extremes and the nitrogen found in runoff water.
• Your rain garden should be slightly depressed so that rain water can be soaked up efficiently.
• It’s nice if you have slope to your land/yard for a better rain garden, but it’s not a total necessity. You can always make changes to the garden space you have.

More resources:

Rain Garden Design Templates
Rain garden tips
Build a Rain Garden

[image via stock.xchng]

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Building a rain garden

When the 2008 Environmental Lawn and Garden Survey asked U.S. households, “In your opinion, how important is it that residential, commercial, and municipal lawns and landscapes be maintained in an environmentally friendly way?” 89% of said households responded that they felt eco-friendliness in the garden is important, and the majority noted that eco-friendly gardens are “extremely important” or “very important.”

The NGA also asked folks why natural gardening matters to them. Most households (73%) feel natural gardening is better because they want to be environmentally responsible and also talked about keeping it natural due to concerns about health and well being. Other reasons included a drive for a reduction of chemical exposure, reducing water pollution, way of life, and the ability to grow safe and fresh produce.

The 2008 Environmental Lawn and Garden Survey also estimates that the number of households using all-natural methods in the future could grow by 42 percent to 17 million households or more in the near future.

Do you use natural gardening methods or not? How come? Do your reasons match up with the reasons notes above? For me it’s an eco issue; I don’t like to see gardening methods that harm the planet if you can help it. I guess it’s probably also a health/chemical issue related to my son. I don’t buy conventional carrots at the store for my son, so why would I grow non-organic carrots for him to eat?

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How popular is organic gardening?

Here’s how to say see ya to lawn pesticides and still have a healthy and great looking lawn…

1. Water is not all it’s cracked up to be: Lawns really only need about one inch of water per week. Anymore and you’re just overly soaking the lawn which can ruin it, increase weeds, and waste water. Note, in rainy areas, you’ll need to water even less.

2. Sunshine rocks: A naturally shaded area won’t grow grass as easily and may just grow moss. Too much shade is not perfect for grass landscaping. If your lawn is shady, and you can’t fix the shade issue you may want to consider shade loving ground covers or flowers instead of grass.

3. Would it kill you to pull some weeds?: In a word no. BUT spraying them with harmful pesticide poison could affect your health negatively. Instead of weed killer try pulling weeds out. Use a trowel to dig out deep weed roots, and overseed any bare spots the weeds may have created on your lawn.

4. Quit raking: If you mow your grass, then leave said grass on your lawn, it’s sort of like composting naturally. This is called Grasscycling and it improves your soil making it nutrient rich.

5. Aerate annually: Each year you should use a core aerator on your lawn then overseed with grass seed. Afterwards top dress with 1/2 inch of fine compost.

6. Grow native plants: Native plants are made to survive much better in your location than exotic plants. They’ll need less watering, less care, and yup, fewer chemical additives to grow well.

7. Big lawns can be a drag: Keeping a smaller lawn healthy is easier and more efficient when it comes to resources like water. Instead of a huge lawn, make your grass area smaller and put in a nice cedar deck, mulch and add a play set for the kiddos, or grow veggies. Another perk for tree and shrub owners is that both trees and shrubs grow better when their roots remain grass-free. If you mulch over the soil atop the roots instead of grow grass the grass and trees and shrubs won’t be fighting for the same nutrients. mulch instead, so that grass and your trees aren’t fighting over nutrients. In fact some people go totally lawn-free and manage just fine.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Seven tips for a pesticide free lawn