Central Virginia Organic Gardener

"And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes." - William Wordsworth, 1798

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wednesday Lagniappe: A Blog Entry on Hype

This is a nice (and short) organic garden blog entry the discusses the organic gardener versus the chemical garden industry mindset when tending your garden:

http://tendingmygarden.com/what-you-read-is-it-hype-or-right/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tendingmygardencom+%28tendingmygarden.com%29

It is a reminder for me of caveat emptor, which I will paraphrase as: let the organic buyer beware.  Large garden centers exist to sell you loads of products, including unnecessary, and potentially harmful, chemicals.  How many times have I gone to a large garden center and heard a customer ask a center employee "how do I kill bug X" and they are given a poison spray.  Instead, it seems to me, the questions asked should be "How do I safely control this pest?  What conditions exist in my garden that encourage this pest?  What are the costs of totally eradicating this pest?  Is the problem the pest or, really, the wrong plant in the wrong place/zone?" These questions reflect the organic gardener mindset.
Happy organic gardening!

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