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Why do I practise organic gardening?
Because, I believe that organic gardening is safer for us and for the environment. Organic gardening creates a sustainable safe system of food planned production while protecting all flora and fauna.
Since the Second World War, in the western world the rapid development of agricultural chemicals has seemed to offer universal abundance of food without the help of Mother Nature. The results have indeed been impressive, although not without major repercussions. We now have depleted soils, polluted waters and poison their, not helped by the foul effluent of some industrial processes.
In the third world millions are still hungry. These problems are compounded by a general loss of habitats as woods disappear with road improvement schemes, or the building of new housing. Hedges are being ripped out and meadows are being pulled up in order to enable farmers to produce more food which because of the economic system and the Western world is often left in storage so that food commands top prices before being sold to third world countries thereby increasing their economic problems.
It has become increasingly clear that the plight of beautiful planet is due to a misunderstanding of man's role or status.
We have come to consider ourselves as a central governing species, able to organise all reorganise all nature for our own personal benefit.
This is an ecological and spiritual fallacy. All life is interdependent. This is as true within the garden as it is in the few remaining areas of primeval forests.
Care of the environment and a careful cultivation are part of the same argument. Most of the deserts in the world were and still are being created by bad land management. There is no need for us to copy this dismal failure in our own back garden or allotment. A soil that is vibrant with life below will Nourish healthy plants as long as we continue to feed it.
In nature, little is wasted. The birth and vigour of new plants is made possible by the death of other's. Everything is recycled in a closed system that you can quite happily accommodate Human beings-provided that they observe the simple rules. There is no such cycle in Human organised ecology: dead and living material is burnt, other wastes are Pumped into the sea and natural soil fertility is replaced with man-made fertilisers which had nothing beneficial to the soil and require additional energy in its making.
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