Am I Organic?

When I say organic, I'm not talking about the smells that come from The Moog here. I mean my approach to allotment gardening. I thought I'd probably be using mostly organic methods, but it's much harder than you might imagine. How organic is organic? How far do I need to go?These are some of the things that have come up lately:

How do I know if my beanpoles are from an ethical source? It doesn't say on the pack, but I can't grow beans without them. I expect my mesh and netting are produced in a plastics factory somewhere too, which uses oil and pollutes the atmosphere. But if I don't use them, the birds will eat my crops.

How do I fertilise my crops if I can't use chemicals? The instructions that came with my garlic bulbs say "spread sulphate of potash around the plants". Well, I've got some sulphate of potash, but it doesn't say "organic" on the label, and I'm pretty sure it looks like the sort of stuff that was produced in some vast chemical plant somewhere. I don't know how it was made, or where, or what from, or what the consequences for the environment were. All I know is that it was £1.59, when the organic fertiliser (which, I hasten to add, made no mention of "potash" at all) was £4.99. I realised in the shop that I don't know enough about fertilisers to choose the right alternative.

How do I keep slugs off if I don't use pellets? HA! I'm winning here. That one I've answered by using nematodes, I hope. I've watered in the special powder and I hope that it'll at least keep the numbers down, even if it doesn't completely remove them. I have used the same stuff at home to good effect. That means I don't have to use the little blue pellets as much, which must be a good thing.

Can I cut out peat completely? I try to buy peat-free compost, but the quality is really variable, it's more expensive and harder to find in the garden centre. If you let it get too dry it's almost impossible to make it soak up water again. Also, I like to use the little peat pots for my seedlings, because they don't need pricking out, you just plant the pot. Surely that's got to be better than using a disposable plastic tray? Which is best, saving the peat bogs, or using less oil to make plastic?

There's a lot of talk about organic gardening, and lots of the old fashioned chemicals have been banned now anyway. So I've decided to do what feels best to me - not what anyone else says. For example; I'll use sulphate of potash until I find out what the right organic alternative is. I'll make my own compost, but I'll burn stuff too. And I'll use peat pots - not because I don't care about peat bogs, but because I've had to spend hours and hours digging bits of old plastic out of my plot; and it really made me think about the amount of plastic that goes to landfill or gets dumped in the environment. If the government ban something I've been using, I'll move to something else; but for now, I'll just use my best judgement.

It's not that easy being green.

Number 29

Today The Moog has mainly been thinking about my new allotment. Number 29. I chose a site that was (a) nice and close to the water tap; (b) in full sun but next to the tall boundary hedge for shelter; (c) next to an active old gent who can offer me advice, and (d) not too badly overgrown. Moog thinks No. 29 will be far enough up the hill to avoid being waterlogged. He thought I should pick up the keys yesterday, so I did.

Moog thinks the first job will be to clear the whole site of the choking weeds that have arisen(personally I think he copied this idea off the old man next door on Plot 28). Luckily the site has been worked a little bit in the last couple of years so most of the weeds are not too high, there aren't any massive brambles, or overgrown trees. There is plenty of bindweed to contend with, amongst other things. Moog thinks that, on the plus side, the weeds are a good sign that the soil is fertile. I agree.

Moog thinks that although he'd like the allotment to be as organic as possible, that glyphosate weedkiller to get into the roots is going to be necessary, as suggested by my new allotment neighbour, otherwise we'll be here till kingdom come trying to get the site ready to grow things on. Looking at the amount of digging that will be necessary if I don't use weedkiller, I'm inclined to agree with The Moog.

Moog thought it would be good to order a cheap compost bin from the council, they are subsidised and only cost £9.00 including delivery. So I ordered one today. Good call, Moog. Moog thinks it will be OK to compost the weeds, when they've died back, as the weedkiller won't remain toxic once it's done its initial job and will deactivate in the soil so I can grow stuff again. Where he gets his info from I'm not sure but it sounds fairly well researched.

The other things Moog has been thinking about are where to get some black plastic or carpet to put over the ground to stop the weeds growing back, and what the best spot will be for a little shed, so I can have a cup of tea. Moog thinks that I should build my own shed, as prefabricated ones are over £100 for the very smallest. Thrifty Moog, good job I'm handy with a saw.