Home / Blogs / Arden's blog

The dirt on organic gardening

The dirt on organic gardening

BY JON VANZILE | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
July 18, 2008

Maybe a "green thumb" is a misnomer.

Those who keep environmentally sound gardens should call it a "black thumb." After all, they're probably more worried about their dirt than their plants.

"Green gardening" doesn't start with fertilizers labeled "organic," herbicides made from kitchen products or pesticides that smell suspiciously like last week's fish. Green gardening begins with cleverly disguised manure, mulches and other organic things that are designed to improve soil.

Rose Koenig, owner of Rosie's Organic Farm in Gainesville and an adjunct professor in the University of Florida's organic-agriculture program, has simple advice for anyone who wants to go green: "Get a soil test."

The University of Florida and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, have a soil-testing service in conjunction with some of the county-extension offices. This service can tell you what nutrients your soil has, and what it lacks. This information provides a complete blueprint for an earth-friendly overhaul in your garden.

"The better your soil, the better your plants will grow and be resistant to diseases and predators," Koenig says. "Building soil is really important." Once you know your dirt, you can improve it. This usually means adding soil amendments such as compost, composted cow manure or other organic material. The point isn't necessarily to "add fertility" to your soil but to add organic matter.

"A lot of these products have much higher carbon," Koenig says. "They don't have a lot of nutrient value, but they build the soil so it will hold nutrients better."

Once you have improved your soil, green gardening is a snap. All that remains is to apply the right nutrients at the right times, in the right amounts — all information provided in a basic soil sample.

It helps also to understand the difference between "organic" fertilizers and synthetic fertilizers. Essentially, both kinds of products deliver the same nutrients. Nitrogen is nitrogen, whether it comes from a lab or a pile of bat guano. The main difference, says Koenig, is the speed of delivery and strength. Synthetic fertilizers tend to be available much more rapidly, at much higher concentrations, than organic fertilizers. This makes it easier to burn your plants with synthetic fertilizers.

However, it is also possible to cause serious damage to your garden with "natural" products.

"Some of them are very damaging," Koenig says. "The best idea is to know your product and follow the label."

Knowing how to read labels is also critical for herbicides and pesticides. Many natural herbicides are made from vinegar. The product simply burns the plant to death. However, these natural herbicides will not work very well on established weeds, and they can alter the pH of the soil.

"Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's necessarily safe," Koenig says. "Whether it's a natural product or a synthetic product, you should know what the active ingredients are."

The same is true of pesticides. In a healthy garden, planted with lots of different species that are suited to the area, bugs are kept naturally in control. But sometimes even the best gardens will have an outbreak of pests.

Know what bug you're dealing with and treat with the minimum amount of chemical needed to kill it. Follow directions, whether you're using a synthetic pesticide or one based on cayenne pepper.

Ultimately, says Koenig, the movement toward environmentally friendly gardening is merely a return to the past.

"Before the invention of synthetic fertilizers, most growing practices were based on sustainability," she says. "You grow the best variety of plant in a well-prepared garden. Build the soil and get those weeds out. That's how people grew plants for millennium, and it worked."

Jon VanZile is a freelance writer and home gardener who lives in Pompano Beach.

Soil test
Broward : The Broward County Extension Service will give you a list of commercial companies that do soil testing. Call 954-370-3725.

Palm Beach:

The Palm Beach County Extension Service, 531 Military Trial, West Palm Beach, has soil-testing kits that can be picked up and mailed to the University of Florida in Gainesville. Two tests are available for $3 and $7. Call 561-233-1750. The office is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

— CHARLYNE V. SCHAUB

[via http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Sun-Sentinel.com, FL ]