When you think of organic garden
products, usually the
first thing that pops into your head is either compost or cow
manure,
right? That's a common and easy mistake to make. Natural garden
products can include fish
emulsions,
Milorganite (treated sewage product), composts and any of the other
organic non-chemical additives such as animal and green manure's.
But stop and think about products like
name-brand
fertilizers, weed sprays, insecticides, or edging solutions. What would
you call them? Certainly not
organic garden
products by my
definition,
nor anyone's for that matter. Typically nearly all commercial lawn and
garden products are laced with synthetic chemicals. That's where the
health and environmental
problems
begin. With most synthetic chemical ingredients.
It's
Your Choice
Often it's just easier for you to run down to the
local
lawn and garden products supplier or superstore, and buy the stuff off
the shelf. Then, on the weekend or after work, you load up the spreader
and put down a nice even shot on the lawn or in the flower beds.
You wait for the rain to come or rotate the sprinkler
around the yard and flower beds, or just let the sprinkling system to
do its job. Wash it down into the plant or grass roots and sit back and
watch everything get green and healthy-looking.
But Wait
Why is that patch of grass over there yellow? You did
everything right. You made sure the entire lawn got enough watering
afterward. And you mulched the flower beds, using that "organic
garden" compost from your compost bin out back. It looked so
rich--black as all get out--even smelled composty like it's supposed to.
You moan, "Earthworms were living in it, for cryin'
out
loud!" You sprayed the beds, mixing the liquid fertilizer in
the proportions exactly like the label instructed. So why are your
plants dying?
Read
The Labels
The non-organic product labels most often list
the
basic
fertilizer mixtures as an n-p-k base, with N=nitrogen, P=phosphorus,
and K=Potassium. Minor ingredients include: Magnesium, Calcium, Sulfur,
Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Boron and Molybdenum. Questionable in their own
right.
The manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet
(MSDS) advises that one chemical promotes foliage growth or something
else. Another one stimulates the immune system for disease resistance.
And so on.
Here's where the big corporate BUT comes into
play. Nearly all non-organic commercial fertilizer
manufacturers recommend using Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) while
handling and applying their products. The chemicals used in the
ingredients are that hazardous! Why? Because they use synthetic
chemicals like imidacloprid
and bifenthrin. Chemicals you don't learn about in school labs.
Think
About This
The manufacturers recommend wearing
eye-goggles,
rubber
gloves, and in some cases, a respirator. They also tell you to wear
clothes that can't be penetrated by the dust, and to take a shower and
wash up really good afterwards.
Are they saying we should wear one of those hazardous
materials suits? The ones that make you look like a banana-skinned
alien? Then run through a decontamination shower as a safety precaution
later?
What are we doing here... cleaning up after a toxic
spill? Or just fertilizing our lawn or garden?
Easy
for you to say
What they're not telling us is that these two
synthetic
chemicals can have extremely harmful effects on humans, animals,
insects--and the environment. Lab testing has shown that imidacloprid
causes thyroid
lesions in rats. It also kills bees--and it's banned in France for
that very reason! So what's it doing to humans?
Our third grade science lessons taught us that our
foods
depend for the most part on bees. As a matter of fact, all organic
plant life
depends on bees. As for the rats, their physical make up is very close
to
humans... hence the toxic warning labels for humans on garden products.
Let's not forget about fish. Non- organic garden
products in general are very toxic to several species of fish. The
sediments are carried off by storm water into our rivers and streams.
They also get in the groundwater, and can't be
removed by filtering systems!
There's
More
Think of all the farms and growers and other folks
like
yourself who are using commercial fertilizers on crops, lawns and
gardens or vegetable patches. It's enough to make you ill. It probably
already has,
but on the surface, you just don't think about it. Maybe you should...
for the sake of your health and
your
family's health.
Maybe we all need to think about it. Seriously pay
attention to a growing health problem. What we're doing to ourselves
and the environment.
After
all, if farmers are treating their crops with this stuff, that
ultimately means we're putting it in our bodies with every bite we
take... and that's scary.
Learning To Think Organic Garden
Although there are many organic lawn and garden products out there, you may not be in the habit of searching them out and buying them. Let me save you some valuable time.
Organic Gardening Advice from GrowingAnything.com
Organic landscaping and gardening advice, including vegetable garden tips, herb garden plants, fruits, nuts and grains, indoor and greenhouse gardening and how to grow flowers, grass, plants and trees for landscaping.
Or, watch this short video on how to get started in organic gardening:
