[canwickplot]

I'm trying to keep my plot as organic as I possibly can, not that I have a strict criteria or anything. What I mainly do is look for certification on the products that I use on the plot and am stuck as to what I should look for when it comes to buying compost. The stuff that I buy always says 'organic' on the bag, but never comes with any certification that I'm familiar with, such as the Soil Association etc. Is there anything that others look out for, either a particular brand or certification?

Cheers

[shaun]

sounds like you need to make your own 

[mumofstig]

You can by compost that's certified by the Soil Assoc from Chase organics
http://www.organiccatalogue.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=496

BUT they are very expensive

and from here...http://newsite.fertilefibre.com/?gclid=CMLD3cuPt5oCFWVM5QodAT7Ebw

Someone please tidy up the long links..sorry

[DD.]

Someone please tidy up the long links..sorry

Seen worse.

[Ivor Backache]

You're not kidding! This half bag costs the same as four full bags from Asda. I must admit I do read things very carefully. For instance with this product:
'based on Moorland Gols reclaimed peat'. So it has been used before?
'very best in mined-peat free growing media' That suggests rockwool.
'reduced need for additional feeding' means still needs more nutrients.

This may be approved by the Soil Association, but the description still leaves doubts in my mind. Why does anything associated with the word organic have to be so expensive?

[mumofstig]

'based on Moorland Gols reclaimed peat'. So it has been used before?

They use peat that's strained out of the runoff streams from the peat bogs...........and i didn't imply they were good..just said they were available not my choice either ..but each to his own, and all that

[savbo]

mined peat means dug out of the ground - i.e. from bogs/mosslands = the one to avoid if you want to be peat-free... The stuff out of the reservoir filters is lovely stuff! 
I'm using a lot of coir from fertile fibre, not too expensive if you buy a lot and it keeps better (compacted and dried) than moist compost... mixed with cheap B&Q peat-free it does me well

M

[canwickplot]

You're right. £20 for 105 ltrs is crazy money. This just leaves me wondering exactly how organic the Miracle Grow Organic Choice is that I'm currently using. Apparently it conforms to European Standards! Maybe worth a bit of research. My own compost project is still looking slow at the moment. The other day I looked under the carpet to find Swiss Chard still growing in it. It needs working on.

[Kristen]

I seem to remember reading that the word "Organic" can only be used on packaging if the product (or perhaps the organisation) is certified by a body such as the Soil Association, and that the ONLY exception is garden products.

I'm sure I haven't got that quite right, hopefully someone can put me straight?

Seems utterly nuts to me

[Kate and her Ducks]

Would have thought garden products were the exception as they are by definition organic, well by definitions that existed long before the current use of organic to mean chemical free. Funny really as organinc chemisty refers to the chemistry of carbon based compounds, including all the petrochemicals.

[blackbob]

I'm trying to keep my plot as organic as I possibly can, not that I have a strict criteria or anything. What I mainly do is look for certification on the products that I use on the plot and am stuck as to what I should look for when it comes to buying compost. The stuff that I buy always says 'organic' on the bag, but never comes with any certification that I'm familiar with, such as the Soil Association etc. Is there anything that others look out for, either a particular brand or certification?

Cheers

why bother striving for an organic tag,just use the least amounts of chemical possible.
if your crops are for the family,you dont need an organic badge.
it's purely for commercial purposes.

[Kristen]

"Would have thought garden products were the exception as they are by definition organic"

Yes, sorry should have said that the thing that was in my mind was bags of Manure last year, labelled as "Organic", which contained aminopyralid herbicide, and it turned out that the supplier was free to put the word "Organic" on the bag without any form of certification.

Organic, Eco, etc. are likely to be thought of by Joe Public as having different standards applied, compared to conventionally produced products, and thus the term should be enshrined in law to deter fraudsters.  But (if I have remembered what I read correctly) there is an exception for horticultural products - which can only lead to confusion / Joe Public being misled, I think.

[Kate and her Ducks]

The problem is that just as the lay population now assumes things labels organic to be sustainable sourced and chemical free, organic has many meanings, as shown here -

or⋅gan⋅ic  /ɔrˈgænɪk/  Show Spelled Pronunciation [awr-gan-ik]  Show IPA
–adjective 1. noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compounds of carbon.
2. characteristic of, pertaining to, or derived from living organisms: organic remains found in rocks. 
3. of or pertaining to an organ or the organs of an animal, plant, or fungus.
4. of, pertaining to, or affecting living tissue: organic pathology. 
5. Psychology. caused by neurochemical, neuroendocrinologic, structural, or other physical impairment or change: organic disorder. Compare functional (def. 5).
6. Philosophy. having an organization similar in its complexity to that of living things.
7. characterized by the systematic arrangement of parts; organized; systematic: elements fitting together into a unified, organic whole. 
8. of or pertaining to the basic constitution or structure of a thing; constitutional; structural: The flaws in your writing are too organic to be easily remedied. 
9. developing in a manner analogous to the natural growth and evolution characteristic of living organisms; arising as a natural outgrowth.
10. viewing or explaining something as having a growth and development analogous to that of living organisms: an organic theory of history. 
11. pertaining to, involving, or grown with fertilizers or pesticides of animal or vegetable origin, as distinguished from manufactured chemicals: organic farming; organic fruits. 
12. Law. of or pertaining to the constitutional or essential law or laws of organizing the government of a state.
13. Architecture. noting or pertaining to any work of architecture regarded as analogous to plant or animal forms in having a structure and a plan that fulfill perfectly the functional requirements for the building and that form in themselves an intellectually lucid, integrated whole.
14. Fine Arts. of or pertaining to the shapes or forms in a work of art that are of irregular contour and seem to resemble or suggest forms found in nature.

–noun 15. a substance, as a fertilizer or pesticide, of animal or vegetable origin.


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Origin:
1350–1400; ME: pertaining to an organ of the body < L organicus by or employing a mechanical device, instrumental < Gk organikós equiv. to órgan(on) organ + -ikos -ic

Hard to legislate for the fact that language and comprehension evolves and changes with time.
Misleading I agree but hard to change.

[Kristen]

I'm not a fan of the Nanny State, but I am hopefully optimistic that if a government decided that the word "Organic" is understood to mean "Contains no chemical stuff" that they can then legislate to restrict its use on packaging to only be just that.  If they haven't then Ho!Hum!. If they have, but left a few products out [such as Horticulture], for no good reason, then Boo!Hiss!