Compost is a vital part of "deep" organic gardening.
Suezoo, Morguefile
Eliot Coleman is an organic farmer, author, and agricultural innovator. He farms, year-round, in Maine, thanks to systems he's developed for taking advantage of certain plants' ability to grow even in the most frigid temperatures. In his latest book, The Winter Harvest Handbook (a fabulous read, by the way) he makes a distinction between what he calls "deep" versus "shallow" organic. I think it's an important distinction, and one that any eco-minded gardener would do well to keep in mind. From Coleman:
"Deep organic farmers, in addition to rejecting agricultural chemicals, look for better ways to farm. Inspired by the elegance of Nature's systems, they try to mimic the patterns of the natural world's soil-plant economy." He goes on to say that they do this by:
- Using cover crops or green manures
- Making and using compost
- Avoiding pest problems in the first place by managing soil tilth and moisture levels, rotating crops, and continually working toward improving the levels of nutrients and organic matter in the soil.
In short, "deep" organic farming works with nature, and the farmer's (or gardener's) main goal is to ensure both healthy crops and a healthy planet. As he says, this agricultural philosophy is worrisome to the agro-industrial powers that be, because it is impossible to "quantify, control, or to profit from."
"Shallow" organic farmers (and gardeners) play right into the hands of the agro-chemical industry. Again, Coleman:
"Shallow-organic farmers, on the other hand, after rejecting agricultural chemicals, look for quick-fix inputs. Trapped in a belief that the natural world is inadequate, they end up mimicking the patterns of chemical agriculture." For example:
- Buying bagged and bottled organic fertilizers to temporarily treat the symptoms of infertile soil
- Treating plant and disease problems with commercially-available organic sprays and powders
- Looking to industry for the solutions to their soil and plant health problems
Coleman makes the excellent point that "the industrial agricultural establishment looks on shallow-organic farming as an acceptable variation of chemical agribusiness since it is an easy system to quantify, to control, and to profit from in the same ways it has done with chemical farming. Shallow-organic....sustains the dependence on middlemen and fertilizer salesmen."
When I read this section of Coleman's book, I felt vindicated. Here's someone who is, and has been, on the front lines of pushing organic agriculture since the 60's, and he's saying something I've believed in my own heart for a long time. As a gardener, I know that it feels better, that it feels more right, to make compost, plant cover crops, and care for my soil rather than buy some pelletized who-knows-what to feed my plants. It's the attitude behind "shallow" organic that makes it acceptable for so many gardeners to go out and buy "organic" fertilizers and potting soil from a major agrochemical company. It just doesn't make sense to me. It's like putting our power, as gardeners, as nurturers of the Earth, into the hands of Scotts, Monsanto, et al. Why in the world would we want to do that?
