Poll

How organic are you (with regard to vegetables & fruit)

I obey all organic guidelines and never use artificials
I am pretty organic but sometimes use artificial fertilisers
I am pretty organic but often use artificial fertilisers and herbicides
I avoid using herbicides and pesticides unless I have to
I think organics is good in theory but not too practical
I think organics are nonsense and use whatever help I can get

Organic Gardener, Chemical Gardener or in between?

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smithyveg

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« Reply #60 on: August 10, 2007, 16:00 »
I quite agree....there's plenty of room on this great big onion for all of us whatever our creed, religion, colour or opinion.

Live and let live I say.


Apart from Liverpool fans who should be shot of course.
Oh....and Arsenal fans....not too keen on them either.

Errr.....and the French....goes without saying.......i reckon we could do without the Germans too.

And chavs obviously.

But apart from them.......everyone has a useful part to play.

Oh forgot about the Italians......

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WG.

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« Reply #61 on: August 10, 2007, 16:07 »
My mother was a French Liverpool fan & my father founded the Rome branch of the Arsenal supporters club.  Both gardened organically & went to Germany on their holidays.   And, tell me, do you have any kind of a problem with that Mr Smith ???  :wink:  :wink:

I have a serious question for you though.  Does taste play any part in the judging of veg / fruit at shows?

In truth, my mother did show veg & did not grow organically.  :)

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smithyveg

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« Reply #62 on: August 10, 2007, 16:13 »
Blimey...you really have had a terrible start in life haven't you ? LOL

Seriously though......taste plays no part in the judging of veg at British shows....it's more about the spectacle. However, I can assure you that all show veg tastes superb. Quality is paramount in anything that is entered onto the showbench. The National Vegetable Society has a motto.....'If you wouldn't eat it you shouldn't show it'.

However, at shows in the Republic of Ireland it is slightly different as they cook one of the spuds from each dish I believe......weird people those Irish.

« Last Edit: July 10, 2011, 12:16 by John »

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love-my-plot

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« Reply #63 on: August 10, 2007, 16:17 »
Quote
weird people those Irish.


Ahem! Nothing weird in wanting to know if the "showpiece" tastes
a good as it looks!

Personally, I don't care what the veg looks like, I'm only interested in
the taste  :D

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Bernard

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« Reply #64 on: August 30, 2007, 22:31 »
I would like to be organic but can't, mainly because of slugs and raspberry beetle.
Derris dust more or less controls the latter but where slugs are concerned,
NO SLUG POISON = NO GARDEN.

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jaycee

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« Reply #65 on: September 02, 2007, 09:38 »
In the veg plot I am totally organic and try to go by the biodymanic principles.  My roses in the beds however are all covered in blackspot so I succumbed and bought some stuff to spray on them. Horror of horrors when I read the instructions it said that it killed bees so back it went to the shop for a refund. I am probably going to take out the roses and go for something else.
P.S. A vet friend of mine tells me that the greatest cause of poisining in dogs in the UK is from slug pellets and it`s an horrific way to die.

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jaycee

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« Reply #66 on: September 02, 2007, 09:47 »
Quote from: "Bernard"
I would like to be organic but can't, mainly because of slugs and raspberry beetle.
Derris dust more or less controls the latter but where slugs are concerned,
NO SLUG POISON = NO GARDEN.


I don`t think that you have the problem that I do here on the damp West Coast of Scotland. It` slug heaven. Have picked as many as 300+ in one evening in under an hour a few of years ago.
Now however we have (almost) learnt to live with one another and we get the most fantastic veg....and raspberries without useing any chemicals. Ok you have to give up the odd cabbage to the butterflies but....

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WG.

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« Reply #67 on: September 02, 2007, 09:51 »
Quote from: "jaycee"
My roses in the beds however are all covered in blackspot

JC - I found this & thought it might be of interest http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1885774.htm

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Bernard

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« Reply #68 on: September 02, 2007, 11:35 »
Quote from: "jaycee"
slug heaven. Have picked as many as 300+ in one evening in under an hour a few of years ago.
Now however we have (almost) learnt to live with one another  

A few years ago I was given about 50 fairly mature French marigolds. I planted them and the following morning not as single one was left. I have tried to grow delphiniums many times. The last time I grew then in pots for a whole year to make them as mature as poss, and planted then late following summer. Next year, they did not appear. Some years later I found the reason when I used liquid poison in February. Small grey slugs which normally remain under the soil surface eat the new shoots of perennials so that they never see the light. These slugs are the reason why nematodes won't work, because the temperature at that time is too low for them. (Also I can't afford the nematodes).
A few years ago there was one TV programme wher A Titchmarsh tested several of the traditional organic ways of controlling slugs. He gave the only honest assessment I have ever seen on TV - that for each of the ways, it did not work. The point is, of course, that partial control is no use. Stopping 99% of the slugs is of no value if no. 100 eats the plant.

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Caddi fuller-teabags

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« Reply #69 on: September 16, 2007, 14:04 »
We have just taken over a plot and it has now been strimmed.  We intend to glyphosate twice and then rotavate.  From then on we should not need to use chemicals.  Ideally we would not use anything, but realistically, to get started, we need to take drastic action.  Getting a plot started from scratch is very difficult without using helpers of some sort.

I used to like snails but I have found out what they do to my strawberry patch (which we inherited) and gone off them  totally.  DIE, Snails!

Caddi
I get my kicks on Plot 66!

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WG.

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« Reply #70 on: September 16, 2007, 14:22 »
I don't actually see that the RoundUp is necessary in your plans.  Rotovate 2 or 3 times instead.  :)

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DD.

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« Reply #71 on: September 16, 2007, 15:14 »
Quote from: "whisky_golf"
I don't actually see that the RoundUp is necessary in your plans.  Rotovate 2 or 3 times instead.  :)


It also would not be of much use if all the green stuff has been strimmed off.
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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gobs

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« Reply #72 on: September 23, 2007, 07:43 »
I agree, you will get on just as well, without roundup, trust me and these guys.

John, I cannot find a slot, I could fit myself into.

I do not like to be called organic, as I'm not. I think organic toxins are as dangerous, sometimes more so, than synthetic ones: derris, cyanide, etc.

I do not put out anything, other than soap, water and manure and me rubbishy compost...I've given up on biodegradable slug pellets as well, a waste of time and money and harms other creatures, that you would like the help of.

Feed is also a confusing issue. Methinks, plants are wonderful: make life from dead things, convert all sorts of stuff into organic material.  So if they need K, or whatever, it does not much matter where it comes from.   if they get from some rocks in your soil, is that of organic origin? this part seems to me a bit of a daft argument.
So, kinda natural here...wouldn't mind pigeons and squirrels being killed though and rats and mice and slugs and snails and rabbits...
"Words... I know exactly what words I'm wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around." R Dahl

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love-my-plot

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« Reply #73 on: September 23, 2007, 17:06 »
Quote
Ideally we would not use anything, but realistically, to get started, we need to take drastic action. Getting a plot started from scratch is very difficult without using helpers of some sort.


Yes, it's difficult, & hard work, but worth it. We got our plot earlier this year, over 6ft high with all the usual weeds, couch, marestail etc. Nightmare! We strimmed it down, cleared it bit by bit & covered what we couldn't get to right away, with layers of cardboard. No chemicals at all. It's mostly cleared now and looking really good, so the glyphosate really isn't the neccessity you might think!
Best of luck with it  :)

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Joan Kennedy

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« Reply #74 on: November 09, 2007, 17:52 »
I class myself as always following organic "rules" - and I do aim to do so.  

But when I and a friend first got our plot in April, we used treated timber to edge our first 2 beds - without realising this is a no-no.  We are not so fanatical as to replace the boards, but will use untreated wood in future - preferably free recycled wood to keep the cost down.  

I do agree that it is a constant learning curve, this organic gardening stuff, but I'm keen to try the approach of looking after the soil and working with nature.  We managed to get veg this summer - potatoes, broad beans, french beans, peas, runner beans, salad leaf, spinach, sweetcorn, chard, carrots, beetroot, leeks, onions, courgettes and fennel - although in small quantities - and about 12 strawberries!  They did taste gorgeous though - hopefully we will have a few more next year.

Our plot was overgrown with all sorts of weeds - bindweed, dock, nettles, dandelions, marestail, brambles etc., But in April we double dug two new 1 by 4.2m beds to uproot as much as we could - including bits of metal and burnt wood! We then planted in squares (roughly 50cm by 50cm) rather than rows and did our best to kept on top of the weeding amongst our plants.  

We covered most of the the rest of the plot to keep the weeds down elsewhere.  Local supermarkets have been happy to give us waste cardboard and we inherited some tarpaulin and weed suppressing membrane.  Lots of bricks and stones keep the covers in place and we have found, when digging more beds this autumn, that the green weedstuff has gone, but we do still need to dig out the roots of all those pesky perennial weeds.  We know we won't get them all, but can weed and mulch once the beds are in place - and hopefully win the battle.

Having said all this, we did get potato and tomato blight - didn't get a single tomato - and the slugs had a field day on our courgettes.  We just tell ourselves that we are still learning - and we won't always win.

In case anyone is wondering about the width of our beds, we are both short women - not much more than 5ft each - and as the plan is to have raised beds and paths so that the soil does not get walked on, we plumped for 1m beds rather then the recommended 1.2m.  

We did read up a fair bit before and since April - our local library has been fantastic.  The three best books, as far as I'm concerned, were "The Half-Hour Allotment", "Square Foot Gardening" and "Organic Gardening. The No-Dig Way"

 :)


 

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