What Is an Organic Garden? (part 1)

Many home gardeners seek to grow "organic food" - but how many of us really explore what that term means. In this two-part article I've decided to give it some thought.

I was on vacation with my family last week, and on the way home I ran into a viewer in an airport, where we had an interesting conversation about what constitutes an “organic garden”. He wasn’t really sure if his garden was a true organic garden, because based on all the chatter out there in gardening cyberspace, having a truly organic garden seems like an almost unattainable goal based on some definitions of the term.

The conversation intrigued me. Despite the fact that I do consider myself to be an organic gardener based on my interpretation of that term - I’ve never really explored it’s formal definition to any great extent. So, as soon as I got home, I stated searching the internet for a good definition of what constitutes an organic garden. What I found was a hot mess.

Many of us want healthy food, and feel that we need to grow things organically to achieve that goal - but is this feasible for the home gardener?

Natural not chemical

Some of the definitions stressed the use of natural animal and/or plant products to help things grow, rather than the use of “chemicals’. This notion is ridiculous since every substance (natural or otherwise) is a chemical. Right now, as I sit here typing this article, I am breathing a combination of oxygen, nitrogen and other stuff, while the hydrochloric acid (HCl) in my stomach breaks down the eggs, toast, jam and coffee that I had for breakfast). All natural. All chemicals. In fact, if I were to list all the chemicals currently percolating in that acidic bath, it would likely fill a page.