Are you really growing organically?

That is a very hard question to answer with just a simple yes or no. There are many reasons to grow vegetables in your own backyard. Most people speak of the superior freshness and taste of the produce. Some point to the rampant use of GMO seed stock and the use of herbecides and such on the produce you get in most stores. Not to mention the carbon footprint of some of the foods we eat that travel over 1,000 miles or more. But, a fair portion of the gardening world will answer that they garden in order to have "organic" vegetables and fruit. But, if you have a garden, the question remains - are you truly organic? I always thought that I was truly organic. I have my three composters, 4 rain barrels and I don't generally use any herbecides on my plants. I tolerate some destruction in my garden as the natural course of events. If the infestation is intolerable with the risk of total loss being high, I then us a BT based powder to combat the issue at hand. BT is a targeted insecticide that does not kill beneficial insects. It is considered to be organic as it is a naturally occurring bacterium found in the soil. I recently watched a gardening show where I discovered that while I practice generally organic principles, I have been acutely unaware of one area I hadn't given much thought to - seeds! Yes, seeds. I mean, who knew? As pointed out by the guest on the show, if you are using GMO produced seeds or hybrid seeds, then you are truly not growing organic. As a person with a multitude of such seeds, that was quite an eye opener. I guess I need to be careful where I buy my seeds. That's a topic for another post. I hope this was an eye opener for you too. Well, till next time, happy gardening everyone!