Where to find the dirt on organic
gardening
Barbara Kinnie
The Calgary Herald
July 2, 2004
A growing number of resources and
products are now available for mainstream organic
gardening. One simply has to do a search on the Internet
to turn up a plethora of sites offering information on
everything from organic gardening advice to books,
products and tools.
Many garden supply stores now carry
compost, organic fertilizers and non-toxic alternatives to
pesticides . These include safe pest controls such as corn
gluten meal, Neem products, Tanglefoot, Bt and Safer's
products, such as insecticidal soaps. If you can't find
these at your favourite store, request them.
Canadian Tire stores across the country
have jumped on the bandwagon and are now carrying
Turfmaize, a non-toxic pre-emergent weed control.
Formulated from corn gluten meal, it
inhibits broadleaf weed seeds, such as dandelion and
crabgrass seeds, from germinating. It also acts as a
fertilizer, as it contains 10 per cent nitrogen.
Corn gluten meal is a popular and
successful weed management tool being used across Canada
and the U.S.
However, Turfmaize doesn't kill existing
weeds, so you'll still have to hand dig those dandelions,
the only way to truly eliminate them. And Canadian Tire
carries just the tool to do this, The Weed Hound, a digger
that really works. It is designed so you don't have to
bend down and it takes out the entire taproot.
Lee Valley Tools has promoted organic
gardening for years. They carry a variety of weed
eliminators, including an assortment of dandelion diggers,
a water-powered weeder and a weed torch. As well they
carry liquid organic fertilizer.
Bumper Crop is another store dedicated
to organics. Not only does it carry an array of products,
including OMRI certified organic fertilizers, safe pest
controls, hydroponic and irrigation supplies, the staff is
very generous with expert knowledge and advice.
Popular products carried at Ornamental
Garden Supplies are Dog Spot, an all-natural product which
restores burn spots in lawns caused by salt in dog urine,
and Clay Doctor, which effectively breaks down the clay in
our soil, allowing more efficient use of water and
nutrients.
Websites on organic gardening and
alternatives to pesticides are popping up like, um, weeds.
Many cities, such as Toronto www.city.toronto.on.ca/pesticides
and Halifax www.region.halifax.ns.ca/pesticides
) have informative websites providing expert information
and encouraging homeowners to have pesticide-free yards.
PANNA, Pesticide Action Network North
America, has a helpful resource page on its web site, www.panna.org.
Its Pesticide Advisor helps with specific pest and
pesticide problems.
Closer to home, www.pesticidefreeyards.org
educates people on why it is important to have a
pesticide-free yard and how to achieve one. It provides
information on organic gardening, including where to buy
alternatives such as Turfmaize, insects for biological
pest control, and native species plants.
Dr. Elaine Ingham's website www.soilfoodweb.com
supplies the science and research behind the soil food
web.
This site demonstrates the success of
analysing, building and nurturing the multitude of
organisms that keep soil healthy.
The Society of Organic Urban Land Care
Professionals (SOUL) believes organic land care practices
go beyond integrated pest management and use of so-called
organic fertilizers and pesticides .
Its practices arise from the
understanding that, to have healthy plants, we must foster
the health of the entire ecosystem. Check their website, www.organiclandcare.org.
The popular book Dead Daisies Make Me
Crazy by Loren Nancarrow and Janet-Hogan Taylor is highly
recommended by Lee Valley.
The book contains a wealth of
information on controlling insects, diseases and weeds
without resorting to chemicals, as well as providing tips
on how to avoid problems in the first place.
Carole Rubin has written two books, How
to Get Your Lawn and Garden Off Drugs and How to Get Your
Lawn Off Grass, both of which are packed with great
information.
The organic gardening industry will
continue its rapid growth well into the future.
As people become more informed about the
risks associated with pesticides and as our desire to
manage our yards in an environmentally sustainable way
grows, the quest for safe and healthy ways to nourish the
land will only gather momentum.
-- This is the final instalment in a
series on natural gardening.
Barb Kinnie has practised organic
gardening for over three decades and has an interest in
community, environmental and social justice issues. She is
chairwoman of the Chinook Group of Sierra Club of Canada.
Mike Christie
(613) 228-7499 / bus.
(613) 228-7487 / fax.
mikechristie@rogers.com
/ e-mail
The Laws of Ecology: "All things are interconnected.
Everything goes
somewhere. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Nature
bats last." - by Ernest Callenbach
© The Calgary Herald
2004
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