Organic Gardening in a Nutshell by Amy Norwood

Organic lawn fertilizer with an OMRI logo, Photo: Amy Norwood

Gardening season is here. If you're reading this blog post, chances are that you're a gardener who cares about the impact your garden has on nature and you want to minimize the impact. Learning about organic gardening practices and including them in your gardening routine can move you toward that goal. But what exactly are organic gardening practices?

The Role of the USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the big boss that decides for food production in the United States, the farming practices that food producers must follow for their food to be labeled organic.  The USDA requirements apply to large commercial food producers, not to small-scale farmers or homeowners.  Nevertheless, the USDA requirements provide a good rubric for any home gardener who wishes to garden more organically. The USDA has published a refreshingly brief summary (two pages!) of organic food production practices (see below.)  The gist of these requirements is that when food producers have issues with soil, insects and diseases, the producer must try to manage the problem mechanically or by using non-manufactured products.  Examples of such management techniques are planting cover crops to improve soil fertility and introducing beneficial predator insects to control damaging insects. In a home garden setting, the USDA guidance might play out this way:  assume a home gardener sees insect damage to plants.  The organic gardener would identify the insect, research control options for the insect, and choose the least invasive option to begin control.  The home gardener would choose other more invasive options only when the first one didn’t work.

USDA Organic label on produce. Photo: Amy Norwood

The Role of Organic Gardening Products

When less invasive management techniques are insufficient, the USDA allows the food producer to use a manufactured product.  And, not surprisingly, the USDA keeps a list of manufactured products approved for use in organic food production.  This list is very long.  The list boils down to one factor -- synthetic (chemical) products are mostly prohibited, and non-synthetic products are mostly allowed. This list of USDA-approved agricultural products is useful and necessary information if you’re a commercial farmer who wants to sell food labeled organic.  But how can a home gardener use this information in buying a small amount of fertilizer or herbicide when less invasive management techniques have failed?

OMRI logo on insect killer product. Photo: Amy Norwood

The Role of OMRI

Many products intended for home gardeners are labeled “for organic gardening.”  That’s perfectly fine even if the product isn’t on the USDA approved list.  The USDA list sets requirements for large-scale commercial farmers, not home gardeners.  However, if a home gardener wants extra assurance that a product is fully consistent with organic gardening practices, there is a way to do that -- buy products with an OMRI label.  OMRI stands for “Organic Materials Review Institute.”  OMRI is a non-profit organization that examines gardening products to determine whether they’re consistent with organic gardening practices.  If a product passes OMRI’s review, the product’s packaging will include the OMRI logo.  That’s how you can know for sure that the product you’re buying is really organic.  OMRI-approved products appear in all categories, fertilizers, soil amendments, insecticides and herbicides.  OMRI-approved products are sold in every garden center, big and small, so they’re easy to find.  You just need to see the OMRI logo to know you’re buying organic.

Organic Gardening Isn’t Always Easy

In the example above, where the home gardener identifies the damaging insect and researches control options, organic gardening sounds pretty easy.  In fact, it’s not.  Insect and plant disease ID is hard to do, even for experienced gardeners.  Amending poor soil organically is a years-long project that requires patience.  It may be easier in many cases to buy a product that promises to quickly solve the gardening problem without spending the time to understand the problem and address it in the most environmentally sensitive way possible.  But, if we all try to do even just a little more organic gardening in our home gardens, nature will thank us.

Happy organic gardening!

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Organic%20Production-Handling%20Standards.pdf

https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/national-list-allowed-and-prohibited-substances

https://www.omri.org/

The Jefferson County Master Gardener Hotline and Plant Clinic is staffed with Master Gardeners who want to help you identify insects and diseases and answer your other gardening questions!  Please call us at (303) 271-6632.