Going organic

[Trellum]

Since there are many gardeners over here and people who love growing vegetables and stuff, have you ever considered going organic and eating mostly what your land produces? I know this isn't an option for everyone, but I've read a few members over here have managed to do that I think that's just amazing! I know I would if I could... at least grown my own lemons, tomatoes and lettuces

 

[Kansas Terri]

I LIKE eating organic, but there is a fair amount of effort and expense involved, isn't there?

I am no longer an organic gardener, as a 5 pound bag of fertilizer is lighter than an armful of mulch and it goes farther, but I try to avoid using pesticides as much as I can. I am aware of all of the safety regulations but I simply dislike pesticides!

I use the bacteria insect controls on my vegetables, but if that does not do the trick then I generally accept losing the plant. That usually means that I only get two pickings of cucumbers before the beetles kill the plants, but by that time I have other vegetables that I can eat. The cucumbers in the store will have been sprayed but at least I did not have to handle the chemicals myself!

On a good summer I will not have had to buy hardly any vegetables at all, as the vegetables in the store are inferior to what I can grow. I would rather eat my own fresh pepper than a pepper that has been held for a couple of weeks: they TASTE better!

 

[firelily99]

On the whole I am organic with my gardening, it has to be a major problem for me to use any type of pesticides in my flower and veggie gardens. A few years ago I worked at an organic veggie farm and I can tell you that the quality of the produce is vastly superior to veggies that aren't organic.

 

[Trellum]

I LIKE eating organic, but there is a fair amount of effort and expense involved, isn't there?

I am no longer an organic gardener, as a 5 pound bag of fertilizer is lighter than an armful of mulch and it goes farther, but I try to avoid using pesticides as much as I can. I am aware of all of the safety regulations but I simply dislike pesticides!

I use the bacteria insect controls on my vegetables, but if that does not do the trick then I generally accept losing the plant. That usually means that I only get two pickings of cucumbers before the beetles kill the plants, but by that time I have other vegetables that I can eat. The cucumbers in the store will have been sprayed but at least I did not have to handle the chemicals myself!

On a good summer I will not have had to buy hardly any vegetables at all, as the vegetables in the store are inferior to what I can grow. I would rather eat my own fresh pepper than a pepper that has been held for a couple of weeks: they TASTE better!

Yeah, this post was meant for people who where thinking on going organic (diet) and aid that lifestyle by gardening. But as you said that lifestyle is really expensive! Unless you live in a zone with a good farmer's market, I heard you can make it that way. Not sure tho since I have never tried that myself.

From your post is easy to tell you have plenty of space to have your own veggie and fruits garden. I don't think is that bad you use fertlizer, I mean... doing this at home is still way better than buying them from the store. I mean, only G-d knows how much and what kind of pesticides they use on our veggies and fruits!

 

[Trellum]

On the whole I am organic with my gardening, it has to be a major problem for me to use any type of pesticides in my flower and veggie gardens. A few years ago I worked at an organic veggie farm and I can tell you that the quality of the produce is vastly superior to veggies that aren't organic.

Yeah, I can tell! Too bad they are so expensive I heard the farmer's markets are a good place to get nice quality veggies and fruits, but some of us don't have access to that kind of markets

 

[gata montes]

Trellum - am not sure what you are asking here, but think it is probably, would you if you could, grow all your own fruit and vegetables rather than buying them, in which case I think you know my answer to that, in that I do grow all my own fruit, vegetables and nuts and rarely if ever have to buy them
However, if you are asking do I garden organically, I would say that I try to, by not using pesticides and the like, but wouldn't say that my fruit and vegetables were entirely organic, because where I live, there is a lot of commercial agriculture and they of course use tons of pesticides, which land up in the water courses and floating around in the atmosphere, which without a doubt, at some time or another - land on my fruit and vegetables, but either way, everything I grow is still much healthier and a whole lot tastier than anything bought from the store.

 

[Kansas Terri]

everything I grow is still much healthier and a whole lot tastier than anything bought from the store.

That is what I tell myself every time I bring in a bag of produce. If the cucumber is bought and pesticides were used, but there was no pesticides used on the tomatos or the salad greens, then I am eating far less chemicals than the non-gardeners do!

 

[Trellum]

Trellum - am not sure what you are asking here, but think it is probably, would you if you could, grow all your own fruit and vegetables rather than buying them, in which case I think you know my answer to that, in that I do grow all my own fruit, vegetables and nuts and rarely if ever have to buy them
However, if you are asking do I garden organically, I would say that I try to, by not using pesticides and the like, but wouldn't say that my fruit and vegetables were entirely organic, because where I live, there is a lot of commercial agriculture and they of course use tons of pesticides, which land up in the water courses and floating around in the atmosphere, which without a doubt, at some time or another - land on my fruit and vegetables, but either way, everything I grow is still much healthier and a whole lot tastier than anything bought from the store.

I actually have a thread on organic gardening, this was more about going organic (dietary) since this is the general chat,but I now realize I should have been a little more specific I just mentioned gardening too because buying organic is sooooooo expensive! So planting some stuff on your own can be helpful, plus you know what you add to the soil and so on. Only G-d knows what we eat over here everyday.

That's amazing, I actually didn't know you grew all your fruits and veggies! I assumed you had a big garden, but didn't assume you actually planted and harvest most of the things you guys eat That's quite an accomplishment, and not something everyone can do

 

[gata montes]

I actually have a thread on organic gardening, this was more about going organic (dietary) since this is the general chat,but I now realize I should have been a little more specific I just mentioned gardening too because buying organic is sooooooo expensive! So planting some stuff on your own can be helpful, plus you know what you add to the soil and so on. Only G-d knows what we eat over here everyday.

That's amazing, I actually didn't know you grew all your fruits and veggies! I assumed you had a big garden, but didn't assume you actually planted and harvest most of the things you guys eat That's quite an accomplishment, and not something everyone can do

Somehow I seem to have managed to miss your thread on organic gardening, how I'm not exactly sure - so my apologies on that one, but now I get what you mean - more along the lines of being self sufficient but without the animals

Thank you for your compliments and do agree with you there, that being able to produce everything we eat and more in terms of fruit and vegetable is quite a task, as well as being something, that not everyone is able to do or even has the room for, and often think myself very lucky that I am able to do so, even though it is often extremely hard work and sometimes especially so, as I mostly do it all myself.

 

[zigs]

I use Glyphosate in moderation and Bordeaux mixture against blight, but otherwise i'm organic.