| 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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| 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?
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| 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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Return to Top Remember, we’re open from 9:00 AM- 6:00 PM, Tuesday through Saturday,
closed major holidays.
For questions or more information, please contact us at
360-786-0537
or
info@blacklakeorganic.com.
Location: 4711 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia, WA 98512
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