Why I garden organically

Why I garden organically (Photo caption: organic red and gold raspberries with a touch of sugar)
Well, I am going to start by parsing out the sentence “why I garden organically?” First, why do I garden? (I guess we could go further aback in the sentence to just “why?” but that is a question for philosophers). I garden because it gives me peace of mind and deep personal satisfaction. I can think of nothing I like more (except my son and husband) than building a bed and filling it with flowers, fruits or vegetables and standing back and watch it take off (most of the time). I can find no greater pleasure than getting my hands in the soil. I love to eat and love to harvest my own fresh produce and cook dinner with it, even if it just a few snips of fresh herbs to add to a soup or some lettuce for the salad. When we bought our first home, I was so excited to get in the garden, that I was outside digging that first day, despite the unpacked boxes and unhung curtains inside. The previous owners had a small patch with one, sad tomato plant in it. I expanded that patch and planted fall vegetables. I remember my husband commenting “If I’d known you liked dirt so much, I would have bought you some a long time ago.” That fall, I had my first home grown broccoli and greens and the garden just got bigger and bigger.
I started gardening when I was a child, with no guidance and little idea of what I was doing. I got stuck on the idea that roses were the thing to grow, so saved my pennies and bought roses on mail order. I had no clue that hybrid tea roses were incredibly fussy and often looked just awful as the season progressed, due to attacks by Japanese beetles and black spot, plus other fungal diseases. I actually bought and used something called “rose dust” until I re-read the precautions on the label. It was scary then and these were the days before major product labeling requirements. My other brush with chemicals was when we were planning to put our first house up for sale and I could not get rid of persistent weeds. I went to the hardware store and looked at the weed killers. Again, the warnings that it will kill fish, to use a respirator, and indications of carcinogenicity (ability to cause cancer) scared me. I did not buy any of these products and, by the way, our house sold just fine, poor lawn and all.
Other experiences convinced me that organic was the way to go. I did a lot of reading about the effect of yard chemicals on human reproduction, child development, endocrine disruption and cancer. I read about the effects of these chemicals on the environment, on pets, on wild animals and on soil dwelling organisms. I learned that many yard chemicals were developed after World War II from stocks of leftover nerve gas. Nerve gas on my yard? I was convinced. Organic, though not a perfect solution, was the way to go.
I learned more and more as I read and talked to other gardeners. I learned how traditional gardening with chemical depletes the soil of nutrients, and of soil-dwelling creatures that help soil fertility. For example, we are just beginning to understand the positive effect of soil fungus and various bacteria on soil fertility, as well as plant growth and nutritional value of the food crops grown on it. I felt good about gardening without man made chemicals- it seemed better for me, for my neighbors, for animals and for the garden.
Why did I say organic gardening is not a perfect solution? Because there are just some fussy plants that organic care cannot help or these plants require too many organic inputs of time, effort and material. Hybrid tea roses come to mind, though there are other, more durable landscaping roses you can try. Grass is a fertilizer and water hog and needs lots of inputs to sustain it (though there are organic lawn care companies in our area, check them out). And sometimes, with organic methods, the bugs win. But as I read somewhere (and wish I knew who to quote), a gardener, upon picking up an cooked ear of corn to eat and finding a newly deceased corn earworm in it said “Oh good. If the bugs won’t eat it, neither will I.” I agree.
Happy gardening!