| Q #1: |
Does organic growing really produce better vegetables and
fruits than growing with regular fertilizers and using powerful chemical
pesticides? |
| Q #2: |
Why do you distinguish between ordinary organic growing and
Mineral Augmented Organic growing?
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| Q #3: |
In organic growing, what do you do about bugs and diseases?
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| Q #4: |
What can I do for my old apple (or other fruit) trees that
are going downhill with fewer and smaller fruits and worsening damage from bugs
and diseases?
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| Q #5: |
What can be done to stop deer from eating my vegetables and
ruining my roses and flowers?
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| Q #6: |
Would it cost more to fertilize my lawn organically compared
to using conventional chemical fertilizers?
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| Q #7: |
Is it safe to use natural organic fertilizers around kids
and pets?
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| Q #8: |
If you have a well or you live next to a lake, a stream, or
wetland, can you be assured that organic fertilizers and natural pest controls
won't contaminate the water or harm wildlife and fish?
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| Q #9: |
Is it worth the expense to get a professional soil test and
wouldn't a do-it-yourself kit be good enough?
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| Q #10: |
In the spring, when does Black Lake Organic have tomatoes
and peppers and when should I put them out in the garden?
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| Q #11: |
Would I be better off to buy your BLO vegetable starts or
just sow seeds in the garden?
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| Q #1: |
Does
organic growing really produce better vegetables and fruits than
growing with regular fertilizers and using powerful chemical pesticides?
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| A #1: |
The
short answer is yes. The whole answer is "not always", and that takes
some explaining. Chemically grown and sprayed produce may look great,
but it is nearly always grown with incomplete and unbalanced
fertilization resulting in the destruction of needed soil life and
organic matter. Simple NPK fertilization also leads to depletion of
vital trace elements following repeated cropping.
Exhausted and devitalized soil results in internally weak plants
which are highly vulnerable to diseases and pest attack, thus making
spraying a necessity for the plants just to survive and keep up their
appearances. They will also be nutritionally incomplete, will keep
poorly and taste inferior compared to the way food tasted prior to the
synthetic chemical fertilization era. Inadequately fertilized organic
produce suffers the same consequences. Our outstandingly beautiful and
healthy vegetable starts testify that the Mineral Augmented Organic
method of growing developed by Black Lake Organic enables you to grow
wonderful and nutritious produce with little or no spraying at all for
pests..
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| Q #2: |
Why do you distinguish between ordinary organic growing and Mineral Augmented Organic growing?
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| A #2: |
Organically
grown food, while free from toxic spray materials, is not automatically
nutritious. Consequently it may not look as good as conventional
store-bought produce. So much depends on the quality of the soil and
its fertility. Too many organic growers and gardeners lack fully
balanced soil fertility and fail to incorporate natural earth minerals
along with the organic matter, manures and unfortified compost that
they typically supply in abundance. The eventual result is poorly
nourished plants that keep poorly and do not measure up in taste to
well-grown minerally augmented produce.
Inadequately fertilized crops, whether grown chemically or
organically, will invite more pests and will require a greater control
effort and expense. Often the results of a losing battle will be
exhibited in the crop's market appearance, or deterioration soon after
you get it home. However, there is no excuse for ugly organic produce
of low quality and exorbitantly high price. Whether you grow for market
or your own table, we say Grow it Right, The Mineral Augmented Organic
Way!
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| Q #3: |
In organic growing, what do you do about bugs and diseases?
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| A #3: |
The
spraying of food crops and ornamental plants with highly toxic
chemicals is not only bad for your health and environmentally
inexcusable, it is also unnecessary. Plants that are properly grown and
well fed seldom get diseases or insect attacks. In organic growing
there is a two-pronged approach to dealing with pests and you may need
to use both at first.
The best approach is the defensive one of properly feeding the
plant to increase its strength and resistance to pests and doing it the
Mineral Augmented Organic Way. This may be done with foliar nutrient
sprays and by applying all-natural fertilizing materials on or in the
soil, along with protective mulching where appropriate.
In the offensive approach you deal directly with the pest (or try
to get ahead of it) through a number of natural pest control options
that can include releasing beneficial insects and applying compost teas
to counter disease organisms. In addition, there are a number of
effective natural pesticides and fungicides ranging from mild to quite
strong that have been used in organic growing for decades and which
biodegrade quickly.
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| Q #4: |
What
can I do for my old apple (or other fruit) trees that are going
downhill with fewer and smaller fruits and worsening damage from bugs
and diseases?
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| A #4: |
I
In a word, fertile-mulch. This Mineral Augmented Organic method has
proven amazingly effective in reviving sickly fruit trees and other
plants to vigorous production within a year or two. Essentially you
apply BLO's Tree and Shrub Fertilizer Mix (B.L.O.O.M. #7) or
Rhododendron and Blueberry Fertilizer Mix (B.L.O.O.M. #6) to wetted
ground beneath the tree or shrub canopy and beyond, then add half-inch
layer of quality compost or aged manure and cover with about 3" of
ground bark or other natural mulch material. The above method is more
fully described and illustrated in our Gardening Information Leaflet
No. 4 titled Fertile Mulching, which is available at the store.
Where you have grass or weeds growing
beneath your trees you need to apply a thick layer of well over-lapped
newspapers or corrugated cardboard prior to the bark covering in order
to block their growth and prevent competition with the tree's feeding
roots.
In addition to the above treatment we recommend monthly foliar
spraying with liquid seaweed through the spring and summer. Meanwhile,
you may need to also employ customary dormant spraying with
horticultural oil and lime sulfur until you see a noticeable
improvement in your trees or shrubs.
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| Q #5: |
What can be done to stop deer from eating my vegetables and ruining my roses and flowers?
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| A #5: |
Short
of shooting the offenders, the only nearly guaranteed solution is an 8
ft. high fence or an electric fence. Various scare devices can be
somewhat effective. Many gardeners report that putting human hair,
bloodmeal and certain kinds of soap around their plants or hung in
cloth sacks from the limbs is effective, although these may require
frequent renewal following heavy rains.
Several B.L.O. customers have found the organic fertilizer
Milorganite (6-2-0 NPK) works well to deter deer when spread on their
lawns and around ornamental beds. Milorganite is a processed and
sanitized human manure from Milwaukee available at B.L.O. in an easy to
spread pelleted form. We don't recommend using it on food gardens. A
number of repellent sprays, including some that are Organic or Natural,
may be purchased. Perhaps the most effective is Liquid Fence, made from
garlic and rotten eggs. The same product is also marketed as Safer's
Animal Repellent. While it has to be renewed from time to time,
customers generally report it to be very effective.
Another very good deer repellent is Plantskydd made from micronized
bloodmeal. It can be sprayed on lawns to keep deer away from your
ornamental plantings. Neither product has been approved for use
directly on food plants or produce. |
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| Q #6: |
Would it cost more to fertilize my lawn organically compared to using conventional chemical fertilizers?
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| A #6: |
At
first glance, organic fertilizers appear to cost more on the basis of
pounds used per hundred or thousand square feet. However, the total
cost for year round fertilization when using a synthetic chemical
fertilizer works out to cost you more than if you used an organic
fertilizer. When using a synthetic chemical fertilizer you pay for at
least 4 applications for year-long fertilization coverage; whereas,
with an organic fertilizer you only need to pay for two applications
and receive the benefits gained from having an increasingly healthy
lawn with far fewer disease problems that cause additional cost and
effort. We can liken this to the cost of staying healthy by eating
properly versus paying doctor bills on top of a grocery bills. Good
food is a bargain. That holds true with feeding your lawn as well.
Most chemical fertilizers are concentrated and highly soluble. They
produce a quick green-up and then fade quickly so you have to apply
them four or five times a year compared to twice for BLO's popular
Organic Lawn Food (7-2-3 NPK) which gives a continual green even
through drought periods. Note: Our lawn mix (B.L.O.O.M. No. 4) has been
reformulated as an 8-2-4 NPK formula and has added beneficial microbes
(bacteria, mycorrhizae etc.) and is now recommended to be applied at
half the former rate, but in 3 applications using a drop-type spreader.
Combined with correct and inexpensive liming, you achieve a Mineral
Augmented Organic feeding of the grass which fosters its health rather
than undermining it, and this is before mentioning the peace of mind
from knowing it is safe to use around kids, pets, wildlife, and ground
water. That's why we say Grow it Right, The Mineral-Augmented Organic
Way!
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| Q #7: |
Is it safe to use natural organic fertilizers around kids and pets?
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| A #7: |
Yes.
In general it is far safer to use natural fertilizers in your garden
and landscape as opposed to synthetic, chemical fertilizers that are
concentrated and often caustic and may contain toxic herbicide
ingredients. Organic fertilizers consist of ground rock minerals, plant
meals and animal meals. Many of these materials are used to feed
livestock and pets. Because they evolve in nature, nature is fully
capable of handling them, whereas many synthetic fertilizer materials
are foreign and harmful to nature and to the ecological makeup of soils.
Organic fertilizers tend to be utilized and processed where placed
in the topsoil whereas a major portion of synthetic chemical fertilizer
usually does not get used by your crops and turf or processed by soil
organisms. Synthetics tend to get washed through the soil, out of reach
of roots and into the ground water where they contaminate it for
drinking or go on to pollute streams and bodies of water. In this way
they are doubly wasteful and they certainly will not do pets and kids
who might get them into their mouths any good. Black Lake Organic
carries over 80 kinds of safe and sane organic fertilizers suited to a
variety of gardening purposes.
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| Q #8: |
If
you have a well or you live next to a lake, a stream, or wetland, can
you be assured that organic fertilizers and natural pest controls won't
contaminate the water or harm wildlife and fish? |
| A #8: |
Yes,
as long as you use caution not to put them directly in the water or
allow them to be blown or washed into the water bodies before nature
has had a little time to break them down into totally harmless
products. Often just a few hours of sunlight will biodegrade organic
pesticides and, if not, rain and soil microorganisms will do the job
before they get very far. As with all registered pesticides, natural or
organic pesticides will have label cautions or warnings and directions
for proper application, which should always be followed.
Compared to synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the
natural ones are generally the least toxic and least polluting. Whereas
many chemical pesticides are truly health hazards and may persist for
decades in the environment, natural ones generally are of low toxicity
to humans and short environmental persistence. There are exceptions,
for instance nicotine is quite toxic (we don't sell or recommend its
use) and the natural pesticide Rotenone is very strong and is sometimes
put into lakes to kill less desirable fish before stocking a more
desirable species. Most other organic products will not harm aquatic
life.
Note: Rotenone, which is a natural plant root extract, has been removed
from the list of approved pest control materials for organic growing.
B.L.O. still offers a liquid Rotenone and Pyrethrin product for serious
pest infestations. Exercise extreme caution in using any rotenone
product.
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| Q #9: |
Is it worth the expense to get a professional soil test and wouldn't a do-it-yourself kit be good enough?
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| A #9: |
Yes,
it is nearly always worth the cost to get at least one professional
soil test for your garden or lawn to know where you are starting from
before purchasing or applying fertilizers. Often the money paid to get
this accurate information is more than offset by savings from
purchasing the right types and amounts of fertilizers, rather than
applying what you don't need or a product that does more harm than good.
Do-it-yourself testing kits are useful for limited purposes, but
simply don't give you anywhere near the complete and accurate
measurements needed to address the total fertility balance required for
the best crop or plant performance. This is particularly important in
relation to growing food crops for your own proper nourishment. If your
FOOD is malnourished, YOU will be too! That is why BLO offers
professional soil testing by Logan Labs of Ohio, which uses the
Albrecht method of soils analysis focusing on mineral balance. We take
the lab's results and recommendations and give them our own analysis
and recommended fertilizer types and rates from a Mineral Augmented
Organic perspective. It's the Only Way To GROW!
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| Q #10: |
In the spring, when does Black Lake Organic have tomatoes and peppers and when should I put them out in the garden?
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| A #10: |
We
don't get our tomatoes, peppers and other vegetable starts in; we grow
them! For over 25 years each spring we have grown up to 50 kinds of
tomatoes, 20 peppers and 4 kinds of eggplants, always by organic
methods. We grow our starts by the Mineral Augmented Organic method in
a soil and compost-based potting mix that includes up to 20 kinds of
natural media and organic fertilizers including plant and animal meals
and natural rock minerals.
We call tomatoes, peppers and eggplants "solans" and they are set
out for sale in the first week of May, following a period of hardening
off. This is actually a week or so ahead of the safe average last
spring frost date of May 15th for the Black Lake vicinity. Closer to
Puget Sound, late April would be safe for planting solons out in the
garden while in the Black Hills, June 1st could be too soon. In all
three locations it is wise to watch for those clear nights that could
bring freezes for a couple weeks after the average last frost date. To
reduce the risk of freezing, grow solans under cloches or provide other
night protection. B.L.O. carries the supplies for making cloches and
other crop protectors.
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| Q #11: |
Would I be better off to buy your BLO vegetable starts or just sow seeds in the garden?
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| A #11: |
Both
methods of planting vegetable crops can be very productive. However, in
some cases, like tomatoes, you almost have to use transplants or grow
your own inside in temperate climate regions. In other cases there are
definite advantages to purchasing starts, and if you are going to do
that, why not get the best, namely BLO's Mineral Augmented Organic
grown starts? Our Starts are sold only locally, but otherwise it is
helpful to know why they are superior... besides the fact that we use
no synthetic chemicals on them or in the growing media. You can refer
to the first two questions for that information.
Direct sown crops often fail because of improper timing, adverse
weather conditions, pest infestations and other reasons. You have to
watch over them and protect them almost from day one, whereas with a
well-grown start you are off to a sure start with a plant that
obviously has survived the critical, early stage and is thriving. You
are assured of this when you get them from BLO because we have over 25
years experience starting, growing and selling them and take extra care
every year to provide you vigorous, quality starts.
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