Organic Tomatoes

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Maybe try a brass marine pump? Might not say "food grade", but they are approved for water makers. (big yachts and ships commonly have desalination and purification plants right onboard) Those pumps approved for potable water should suffice.

I think they have to be certified organic.
Something good may have turned into a money making racket by a bunch of jerks that couldn't care less about the environment or us.
Just like the EPA the DEA and so on.
Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

Thanks for the pump ideas. I had not considered DC powered pumps, but that might be what is required to make it work.

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by Tapout

No, and on the gmo being organically grown the answer to that is a big no as well.

Ok, I posed a question, is there a "fruitcake question", thank you, you answered it.q

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I think they have to be certified organic.
Something good may have turned into a money making racket by a bunch of jerks that couldn't care less about the environment or us.
Just like the EPA the DEA and so on.
Worth

There's no like button, but I like this post!

[bower]

Some friends have recently decided to go for certification on their farm. It's going to take them two full seasons of paperwork before they get the certification - that's in spite of the fact that the farm was certified at one time and has always been organic, ie followed the same basic regs and principles as when it was certified. No chemicals have ever been used on that 40 year old farm, afaik. If the inspection was to test for chemical residues in the soil or in the food, it should be clear right away, AOK - but this is not how it works. Certification is about paper trails, like ISO 9000 and other such systems of "quality control". This is why you get certified organic produce that tests positive for various chemical residues, as in a news investigation last year. Testing for residues is not part of "certified organic". Wouldn't take two years if it was - or in some cases, maybe never.

Meanwhile, we all had trouble with fungus gnats on the seedlings this year - seems it came with the promix. So I searched around and found some 'mosquito dunks' or bits with Bt-i which should help to control this pest larvae that eat the roots of your plants. I'm good to go with that, but they can't use it, because it hasn't been approved for organic cert in Canada. In fact, just recently approved in the USA. This is a case as Cole Robbie mentioned first of all, where a product is or should be considered 'organic' but due to cost, timelines, markets or whatever reason has not been certified. Small companies, the same. Although I do think some products which aren't certified can still be approved by the inspector. That is something you can look into, Cole Robbie, if it's worth your while to get certified.

A lot of people nowadays market their produce as pesticide-free, "natural" and local - all perfectly good reasons to buy it, as I do myself. Organic for me is finding ways to use what is local and natural to build the soil, which I do because it suits me. When I buy certified organic stuff it's just a gesture to support some farmer somewhere who is maintaining some stewardship of natural farm ecosystem. However, I would choose a 'conventionally' grown carrot that''s local over an 'organic certified' carrot from california - because our carrots taste great and the imports always suck.

/rant

[feldon30]

Great post and insights bower, thanks!

[Tapout]

Originally Posted by pmcgrady

Ok, I posed a question, is there a "fruitcake question", thank you, you answered it.q

I am trying to make sense of your comment and to no avail. Could you clarify on "fruitcake question"?

[bower]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Great post and insights bower, thanks!

No offence intended to certified organic growers in California, BTW. A lot of produce here comes from California - because the production is huge and here, we don't even meet local needs. A lot of great things do come from CA (avocado lover here!) which we can't and will never be able to grow. But I have a special beef with the carrots - they are just awful, bitter or tasteless - you haven't tasted a carrot until you had one from Northeastern Canada, IMO.

[Lindalana]

I find that biological gardening model fits me much better than any organic would. Thing is I do not care whether that pesticide/ insecticide "natural" or not, I find idea of applying poison to the food we eat wrong... so as Bower says if one knows that model of growing was directed at growing healthy products from healthy soil it is good enough for me. Organic is just too politically charged word I feel... and it seem very hard to get for some bureaucratic reasons, not the health of the running operations.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bower

No offence intended to certified organic growers in California, BTW. A lot of produce here comes from California - because the production is huge and here, we don't even meet local needs. A lot of great things do come from CA (avocado lover here!) which we can't and will never be able to grow. But I have a special beef with the carrots - they are just awful, bitter or tasteless - you haven't tasted a carrot until you had one from Northeastern Canada, IMO.

The so called baby carrots here at the store and at work have a petroleum off taste to them.
I have grown several kinds of carrots and beet here in the winter and they taste great.

Worth


Worth

[Worth1]

Technical difficulties.

Worth

[bower]

Originally Posted by Worth1

The so called baby carrots here at the store and at work have a petroleum off taste to them.
I have grown several kinds of carrots and beet here in the winter and they taste great.

Worth


Worth

Aha... maybe colder wetter weather is the key.... (makes waaay too much sense, methinks, as the drizzle and rain pours down..) Sweet juicy carrots must be our "payback"