Just had a thought.

[Snadger]

Chicken pellets are only an organic feed if they come from an organic chicken farm!
Using the same logic.......Blood fish and bone meal can only be classed as organic if it is made from animals and fish that are farmed organically, surely?

A big thing is made of ORGANIC chicken pellets but as far as I know you can't buy TRULY organic BFB?

[jacob marley]

Has it all been a big con job we will never know ,
The only way to be truly organic is grow all your own plants to make all your own fertilizer .
And not forgeting to grow all your own seeds it could get a bit tedious ..jacob

[zazen999]

My feelings exactly.

I was thinking about this yesterday whilst cycling to the lottie; coffee grounds are only truly organic if the original plants were farmed organically. I don't use BFB anyway, being a weirdo [sorry, veggie].


I guess you've just got to go with the flow and do what you can.

[Two_Sheds]

It depends on your meaning of "organic".

Organic really means that it once came from something living, as opposed to being man-made from chemicals.

[bluemoon]

We try to be organic, but if you become too obsessed it can drive you insane. Like Zazen we don't use BFB, not because we are veggie, but because I do give lots of produce to my best friend who is. (vegan, in fact). We mainly use our own compost and sow a nitrogen fixing manure (field beans) in autumn on the bed that has had legumes that year anyway, then dig the plants in in spring. Now we have chickens I'll be using their manure - they're organically fed - and we've been composting our rabbit's droppings for years. Vegan friend says she's OK with that, but I wouldn't import say farmyard manure out of respect for her. This system has kept our plot beautifully fertile without needing much else.

[FionaH]

Funnily enough was having the same conversation with my vegan friend yesterday. I took her some seedlings which was fine but she wouldnt want anything grown on with BFB
Bit off topic but what do you give your vegan mate when she comes for lunch Bluemoon?

[zazen999]

rice, potatoes, felafel, salad, any veg, tomato and bean chillis, curries, soups, breads, pastas, yada yada yada...lol

[teakdesk]

Has it all been a big con job we will never know ,
The only way to be truly organic is grow all your own plants to make all your own fertilizer .

When I make my own "organic" compost from garden and kitchen waste I do it by rotting down plants etc that have been growing and living.

Coal is similarly formed from trees that were once growing and living in just the same way, so are the chemicals, weed-killers and insecticides made from coal Ok to use in organic growing?



From the same thought comes bio-fuels. Since the world now produces bio-oils from rape and other plants, are the chemicals, weed-killers and insecticides made from bio-fuels Ok to use in organic growing?

It seems to me that extracting chemicals from bio-fuels must be just the same as extracting juices from rhubarb or comfrey leaves.



Confused !!!!!!

[Nicos]

It's just as confusing as whether a veggie should wear leather shoes- or wear synthetic ones and pollute the planet...as other peeps have said- you just need to do what you're most comfortable with!

[Snadger]

....................you just need to do what you're most comfortable with!

I totally agree Nicos!

I am comfortable with using blood fish & bone meal but not comfortable with growmore.

I don't use poultry pellets but if I didn't have my own poultry I would use them, even if they were'nt the organic type.

I won't use any weedkilers including Glyphosate on the area I am growing veg.
I will only use soapy water as a pesticide preferring to squelch pests
I won't use any inorganic granular or Miracle grow type products.
I will feed with Comfey tea or manure water.
I will add as much organic material as I can possibly get to my land including home made compost and any animal derived farm yard manure.
I won't use carpet for paths (Damm stuff blows away anyway!)
I intend using more straw as mulching material
I try not to use peat derived composts but do use peat for making my own John Innes type compost as I find other stuff pretty carp for this and my feeling are that the air miles cancel out the peat bog argument to some degree.

Each to there own I say, and I certainly wouldn't try and sway anyone else to my possibly false logic!

[bluemoon]

Funnily enough was having the same conversation with my vegan friend yesterday. I took her some seedlings which was fine but she wouldnt want anything grown on with BFB
Bit off topic but what do you give your vegan mate when she comes for lunch Bluemoon?

This is a real problem as she refuses all animal products and I refuse to use rice due to air miles/disenfranchised peasants and I don't think a vegan recipe exists that doesn't contain rice. We've sort of agreed never to eat together... though we did take a camping trip together about three years ago and almost killed each other with frustration every meal time. Now I just tend to do a boring salad and she brings her own dressings.

[HayleyB]

OMG OMG OMG

I will only buy free range chicken, duck, turkey and so on even though it's a struggle to afford them at the moment but cannot let go of those principles...... but............

I've just thrown 3 boxes of Chook manure pellets over the paddock and used them on various veggies without even giving it a second thought...... OMG

[snakeshack]

what's the problem with horse manure? ,they are not bred for food (well not here anyway)