You may also like<\/strong><\/p> Anything that is, or was, alive<\/strong><\/p> The problem, in a gardening context, is that organic has a whole bunch of different meanings, and two of them often collide, sometimes even in the same sentence. The older and more general meaning of organic<\/a>, according to my Shorter Oxford Dictionary, is: \u2018Of, pertaining to, or derived from a living organism\u2019. Basically anything that is, or was, alive is organic. So the lovely stuff that emerges from your compost heap<\/a> is organic matter and, applied as a mulch, is (I assume) what the above advice was referring to. Similarly, since all its ingredients used to be alive, blood, fish and bone is an organic fertiliser, as opposed to an inorganic fertiliser like ammonium nitrate.<\/p> Gardening and farming that avoids artificial fertilisers and pesticides<\/strong><\/p> So far so simple. But there is another meaning of organic, which is a bit more complicated. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) states that organic farming (and therefore gardening) includes \u2018avoiding artificial fertilisers and pesticides\u2019. It includes other things too, but let\u2019s keep it simple. <\/p> Before we go any further, and to avoid further confusion, let\u2019s use plain organic for the first meaning, and \u2018organic\u2019 for the second one.<\/p> You may not know whether your manure is \u2018organic\u2019 or not, and it may not be easy to find out<\/p><\/blockquote> These two definitions seem reasonably distinct, but gardeners are accustomed to sliding imperceptibly from one to the other, usually without really thinking about it. For example, in its advice on \u2018organic\u2019 gardening, the RHS advises \u2018maintaining a fertile soil<\/a> the organic way\u2019 by feeding the soil with \u2018garden compost and other organic manures\u2019. Here the first use of the word is definitely \u2018organic\u2019, but I\u2019m not sure about the second one; at least, they don\u2019t stipulate, or even imply, that the brown stuff concerned must itself be \u2018organic\u2019(and in fact, nearly all the time, it will work just as well whether it is or not). The confusion potentially caused by the word organic is something that other languages sensibly avoid by using two different words. In French, for example, organic is organique, but \u2018organic\u2019 is biologique.<\/p> How easy is it to garden organically?<\/strong><\/p> As far as your compost heap is concerned, the raw ingredients are under your control. So if you garden organically, and buy only \u2018organic\u2019 fruit and veg, then your compost heap is \u2018organic\u2019 too. On the other hand, if you get a bag of manure from a local farmer or stable, you\u2019re on much shakier ground. You may not know whether your manure is \u2018organic\u2019 or not, and it may not be easy to find out.<\/p> Fertiliser is more difficult still, and I genuinely don\u2019t know exactly which sense of organic our TV gardener intended. I suspect that, if interrogated, he may not have known either. For example, many brands of blood, fish and bone are described by their producers as 100 per cent organic. And since blood, fish and bone were all once alive, then they must be, but are they also 100 per cent \u2018organic\u2019? Maybe, but maybe not. If you want a guaranteed \u2018organic\u2019 fertiliser, I reckon your best bet is seaweed, since seaweed can probably be relied on (most of the time anyway) to be free of anything artificial. In the raw state, seaweed also makes a good \u2013 if somewhat salty \u2013 \u2018organic\u2019 mulch. Mind you, the RHS don\u2019t help when they say \u2018seaweed is a common additive to fertilisers, both organic and non-organic\u2019.<\/p> Vegetarians and vegans might quite naturally object to a compost that depends on farming sheep<\/p><\/blockquote> But fertiliser is simple compared to the minefield that is potting compost.<\/a> One of the ingredients of many peat-free composts<\/a>, especially the cheaper kinds, is green waste. And here we\u2019re back to an even worse version of the manure problem, because who is likely to be able to source reliably \u2018organic\u2019 green waste? No-one, I suspect.<\/p>What does organic mean?<\/h2>
![\"Compost\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-1234630809-scaled.jpg\")