Chemical or organic?

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by HYDROGEN86, Nov 30, 2011.

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  1. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    I haven't got an allotment Dai:what:
     
    Phil A, Dec 1, 2011
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  2. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    Or a vegetable plot, or ANY alleged organic garden.:dbgrtmb:
     
    daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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  3. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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    See your point, Dai.:D I'll put it to my friend.........who won't like it:heehee::loll:
     
    ARMANDII, Dec 1, 2011
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  4. Phil A

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    Soil association have got it all wrong then Dai?
     
    Phil A, Dec 1, 2011
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  5. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    Sorry Zig, but yep.:dbgrtmb:
     
    daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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  6. clueless1

    clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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    You can get your ground certified as organic. You pay some money to a bunch of people who then come to your site and test one little bit of it for certain chemicals. If the half a cup of soil the test, out of your hundreds (or thousands?) of tonnes of soil are free of such chemicals at that time, then your ground is organic, and remains so no matter what you do to it until the organic authority people find out otherwise.
     
    clueless1, Dec 1, 2011
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  7. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    But do they test the important bit, that is, the plant tissue?
    :dbgrtmb:
     
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      daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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    • Phil A

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      Bless you Dai.
       
      Phil A, Dec 1, 2011
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    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      I think Cluless's point is, Dai, that testing a extremely small portion of your soil for chemicals is pretty useless and doesn't really make their certification of your soil being organic really worthwhile or authoritive.:D:WINK1::rolleyespink::D
       
      ARMANDII, Dec 1, 2011
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    • daitheplant

      daitheplant Total Gardener

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      99 times out of 100 residual chemicals are going to affect the plants NOT the soil. So they CANNOT be organic.
       
      daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      True, Dai, I don't think anyone will argue against that. But if there are chemicals in the soil or humus from, as you say, wind drift or other causes then the plants will take those chemicals up when taking food and moisture via the roots. Which is why Clueless was making the point about testing as to whether or not an allotment soil could be certified organic or not.:D
       
      ARMANDII, Dec 1, 2011
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    • daitheplant

      daitheplant Total Gardener

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      Isn`t that what I`ve been suggesting? :scratch:
       
      daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      In a very kind of contorted, abstract, convoluted way, yes!!!!!!:D:heehee::loll::heehee:
       
      ARMANDII, Dec 1, 2011
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    • clueless1

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      I used to buy a lot of spices from an online supplier, because their spices were as cheap as supermarket stuff, but much fresher and more flavoursome.

      One day when making an order, I noticed that one of my usual items (Cayenne pepper) was no longer listed as organic. This didn't put me off, but I wanted to be sure it was still going to be the usual high quality so I emailed the supplier to ask why it was no longer listed as organic.

      The reply amused me, and summed up the bureaucracy of the world we live in. I can't remember the exact reply but it went pretty much like this:

      "Unfortunately we had to change our source of Cayenne pepper. The new supplier can not afford to pay to have his farm certified as organic, and therefore we are not allowed to list his produce as organic. However, like most of our producers in developing countries the farmer is also unable to afford chemical fertilisers, pesticides or any of the other products western farmers take for granted. If the farmer is lucky, he will occasionally receive a cart load of ox or goat manure to fertilise his land with. This manure is also not organic, because the ox farmer/goat herd can not afford to have his land tested and certified".
       
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        clueless1, Dec 1, 2011
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      • daitheplant

        daitheplant Total Gardener

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        How in a contorted, abstract, convoluted way? I said, if anyone within a half mile, used chemicals, the plot could not be classed as organic.:scratch:
         
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          daitheplant, Dec 1, 2011
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