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Organic Gardening
What does it means to have an organic garden, or a natural, green, sustainable, or earth-friendly garden? Gardeners have different ideas of what is acceptable to them, and the laws that govern labeling don’t make the definitions particularly obvious. However, when customers ask us for organic fertilizers that don’t contain “bad stuff,” or insecticides that are “non-toxic,” we know roughly what they’re talking about. What follows is a partial list and brief description of products we carry that are acceptable to most organic gardeners.
Organic Fertilizers
Guide To Fertilizers -- The first number in the three digit analysis is the percentage of nitrogen, which promotes green, leafy growth. The second number is the percentage of phosphorous, which promotes root growth, flowers and fruit. The third number is the percentage of potassium, which gives the plant a healthy structure and disease resistance.
- Alfalfa Meal 3-0-0
- Black Rock Phosphate 0-30-0
- Bone Meal 4-12-0
- Dehydrated Chicken Manure 5-3-2 -- Highly effective, fast-acting
- Dried Blood 12-0-0 -- Also useful as an animal deterrent
- Fish Emulsion 2-4-1 -- Mix one ounce per gallon of water for foliar or root feeding
- Fish Meal 9-3-1 -- It worked for the Pilgrims
Organic Amendments
- Azomite -- A mined ore that contains a broad spectrum of active minerals and trace elements
- Bat Guano -- Rich in phosphorous and microbes that activate composting
- Jersey Green Sand 0-1-7 -- Dry algae and sand
- Kelp Meal -- Improves soil tilth, microbial activity, and contains 70 trace elements
- Mushroom Compost -- Great soil conditioner
- Pulverized Limestone -- Raises the pH in sour soil
- Soil Sulfur -- Lowers the pH in sweet soil (Washtenaw county soil is usually sweet)
- Worm Castings -- Provide beneficial microorganisms, humic acids and enzymes
Organic Insecticides
- All Seasons Spray Oil -- A very light oil that coats and smothers scale, whiteflies, mealy bugs and more on fruits, vegetables and ornamentals.
- Bacillus Thuringiensus -- Bacterium that controls listed leaf-eating caterpillars; may be used up to day of harvest, acceptable to most organic gardeners.
- BioNeem -- Oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of the Azadirachta India tree. Very effective for killing or repelling aphids, beetles, whiteflies and other listed insects. Acceptable to most organic gardeners.
- Diatomaceous Earth -- Essentially ground sea shells that perforate soft bodied insects as they crawl over them.
- Milky Spore Powder (Bacillus popillliae) -- Discriminately attacks the white grubs of Japanese Beetles. It is a “Pet Approved Brand.”
- Rotenone -- Naturally occurring insecticide derived from the roots of several tropical plants. Effective against listed beetles, worms, and moths, and on pets for lice, fleas and ticks. An old farmer’s stand-by and acceptable to most organic gardeners. Available in liquid or dust.
- Rotenone-Pyrethrins – This mix adds the oil of certain Chrysanthemums to Rotenone to make a spray acceptable to most organic gardeners. It’s one of our favorites for effectiveness.
- Sluggo (Iron Phosphate) -- Very effective slug control for ornamentals, vegetables, fruits and berries, may be used up to day of harvest, safe around pets. Acceptable to most organic gardeners.
Miscellaneous Organic Options
- Floating Row Cover -- Warms soil by 2-4 degrees in spring and fall, keeps many insects from laying eggs on plants, lets enough light through for plants to grow, provides a little shade to slow down bolting in lettuce and spinach, tough enough to last a few seasons, inexpensive at 50¢ per linear ft by 12 ft wide. It’s a miracle!
- Organic Potting Soil -- Most potting soil has a small amount of fertilizer in it. Ours does not.
- Salt Marsh Hay -- For mulch, by the bale
- Straw -- For mulch by the bale
Cover Crops
- Buckwheat -- Warm weather cover crop for spring or early summer. Provides weed suppression, fast germination and growth, low water requirements, will not tolerate frost. Sow at 1 lb per 1000 sq ft.
- Plow Down Rye -- A cover crop to reduce weeds in fallow gardens and provide green manure. Adds organic matter to soil, helps loosen clay soils, protects from winter wind erosion. To avoid confusion with turf ryes, we call it plow down rye – it’s also known as cereal rye or field rye. Sow at 1 lb for 250 sq ft.
- Red Clover or Red and Yellow Mix -- A legume and common cover crop in Michigan, typically dies off in second year, contributes significant nitrogen to soil which reduces need for fertilizer, and protects against winter wind erosion. Sow at 1 lb per 3000 sq ft.
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