Organic Horizons- Future Trends Progressing Toward Eco Gardening

Organic Horizons- Future Trends Progressing Toward Eco Gardening

Gardening organically has progressively become quite popular with today’s eco conscious, earth loving, tree hugging, societies. Organic gardening, GMO  issues and topics have been making the headline news every day. It concerns the food we put in our mouths, and products our families are eating. It also concerns the  fertilizers we use to feed our gardens, so that they bloom big, smell sweet, and ultimately produce more nutritious fruit. Chemicals of any kind are all to be discouraged, from my point of view.
I just observed this morning, the white carnation flower experiment where a fresh cut white carnation flower is set into a vase of water dyed with green food coloring. Overnight the carnations white petals slowly became infused with the green food coloring dye. The green on the petals could not be rubbed off. It was in the flower, stem and leaves, drawn up from the plants roots and remaining in the plants leaves. I would like to further test this theory with a pale leafed lettuce plant. All chemicals applied to the plant and into the soil remains in the plant, and are being eaten if it is a food crop.
I grow medicinal herbs for bath, body and home. It is very important to me to wild craft with organic herb materials. Anything applied to the skin, body, and home atmosphere needs to be chemical and toxin free. It’s naturally good without all the poisons. These hot burning chemicals that are used to fertilize lawns and gardens kill off microbial soil life. An organic gardener focuses much more on “What good thing can I do for my garden?” instead of “What can I eliminate and kill in the garden?“ wasting resource, polluting the planet, and poisoning my food.
Big farms are also now being advised how to replace current, out of date farming practices, to a more sustainable way. Some incorporate cover crops and rotate food crop location or fields in the garden, confusing the bad bugs in the process.
10 years ago I was told by a neighbor, that organic berry farming could not successfully be done here in Oklahoma. Well, I beg to differ my friend. Gardening organically without toxic chemical fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide poison can, and is, being done all over the world. Organic farming and gardening has reached globally epic status from the big mono crop acreage farmers in the field, to the urban gardeners exchanging their lawns, for gardens that produce healthy, tasty  organically grown food. A person can grow in just about any space that you might have to devote to it. Even when living in a city, an urban gardener can container grow, just about any veggie and several fruit bushes and dwarf tree on a patio or small yard. Container growing is a fun project and can be successfully accomplished when starting with a good, hand crafted, organic potting soil or media. A container such as a SmartPot, an air pruning\ grow pot, that works great for all container gardening needs! Air flow is greatly enhanced by the SmartPot container, thus creating a better environment, and encouraging the roots to thrive all growing season. The roots that grow outside the bag are air pruned. This discourages circled roots syndrome normally seen in root bound plastic containers. Organic fertilizers and amendments are currently available from your local organic grow supply store, or can easily be obtained from the internet. It is usually just a mouse click away from any reputable online source. I try to always shop local but the internet has led me to many great companies.
Dr. Earth brand is a wonderful company that I have used and enjoy working with. They have a large supply of all your organic kelp, seaweed, fish, bone, blood and cottonseed meals, rock dust phosphates, etc.
Annie Haven’s MooPoo compost tea has certainly taken the gardening world by storm lately. The growing success demonstrated by those using organic products keeps gardening growers coming back for more.
Progressive Earth offers biodynamic compost tea vortex brewers, Made with soil revitalizing BD Thunder
Worm’s Way vermi-tea
Seed Savers Heirloom Open Pollinated Organic seed
“How do I know if a seed, plant, fertilizer, or pesticide is certified organic?” There will be a label on the packaging stating the organic certification status of OMRI. This label assures the consumer that the product has indeed been monitored, and records have been kept during growth and sales of said item. Certification begins at the seed level. Seed records must be strictly kept. Notes and records on germination of the seed in an organic growing media is next, followed by any fertilizer amendments, sprays, or other substance used in growing and producing said organic product or plant. Crops planted in ground are monitored for a three year process of application for certification of an organic farm in Oklahoma. Each state has it’s own set of practiced laws concerning agriculture consumer safety. After the initial application fees are met, a state appointed agriculture inspector comes out to sample the soil and inspect the grounds, and record keeping of the organic farmer. This one time visit is good unless revoked by not following the state issued organic requirement, rules and regulations. 
Most folks, given the choice, and the right price, are going to choose organic products over all other choices available. I know I do. After studying horticulture at OSU-OKC, I understand the relationship between organic soils and the comparison with chemically derived products that are used in the green industry. Some of the ‘Green Industry’ is not so green. Magazines such as this will hopefully help spread the word of education for a better way to maintain our gardens, lawns, and food crops.
As an organic landscaper, food, flower and herb gardener I want the least toxic, most beneficial products available to me. I have practiced landscaping this way for over two decades. It was not so very long ago that organic gardening was the only way of gardening. Progress sometimes takes place when we travel back in time to a better, more naturally sustainable, way to live and grow. Consumers are now more aware than ever of the dangers of chemical toxins used in the agriculture industry. We are crying out for safety and change. Walking barefoot in the grass of my lawn should not be a dangerous act. Using compost tea, a balanced organic fertilizer and humus rich compost applications, I ward off disease, predatory bugs, and nutrient deficiencies. I add microbes such as Mykos and beneficial live nematodes (sold on a little sponge you add water to then add that to the soil). I paid 17.95 for a package that treated a large area. The plants in my gardens kind of take care of themselves in times of drought, disease, and neglect. Adding the amendment of kelp can help all plants survive rough weather and elemental heat stress. A healthy plant, has also been shown, to be not as attractive to the plant eating bug. These buggers will naturally seek out the lame, weak, and otherwise afflicted first. It all works out in the circle of life.
In most conclusion and thought, we can surmise, that organic gardeners today demand the safest, most environmentally friendly ways in which to garden, landscape, and grow better food. The choices are many and the research is great. Organic is definitely the way in which to go and grow. The days of chemical weed and feed spray companies overcharging for a product that harms us is hopefully on it’s way out of trendy landscape consumer behavior.
I hope this article has encouraged you to incorporate organic gardening practices into your normal garden routines and that you all have much success in all your green endeavors


Kim Campbell lives, gardens, landscapes, and writes about organic gardening in Oklahoma City, Ok.
Degreed Horticulturist OSU-OKC 2007
Thrive Eco Landscaping.