Sunday, August 29, 2010

Honest Farming

If you spray your berry plants and flowers are your berries spray free?

The BC Berry guy told us to spray chemical fungicides this year and to tell our customers we didn't spray our berries. The ultimate in misdirection in two ways. It insinuates that we are spray free altogether and neglects to mention that many sprays are systemic.

If you use chemical herbicides on your berry plants are you spray free?

I don't even know how to address this one. If one is concerned about the environment then this is an important distinction. Do chemical herbicides linger in the soil and are they in the berry plants anyways?? Well speaking for strawberries we have never sprayed herbicides as all the warnings involved tags like "Be careful about your timing and your chemical mix as you can severely affect your strawberry fields" I think the chemicals are there. Our "pesticide" guy, when he dropped off our cover crop seeds and organic fungicide was FLOORED at how great our fields looked. He repeated more than once "YOu're doing this organically??"


If you use chemical fertilizer can you claim that your veggies are organic?

We used to think fertilizer was food for the plants and concentrated natural compounds the plants used. Kind of true. Chemical fertilizer was the last change we made to become more organic. As we evolved we learned more and more about the fossil fuel use, our carbon footprint, building the soil, the harm concentrated chemicals can cause....the list is endless. We did not claim to be organic until we stopped using chemical fertilizers....we still have them but are trying to give them away.....All our friends are greenies!!!! There are farms that are claiming organic that are still using chemical fertilizers.....

If you grow "local" tomatoes in a greenhouse hydroponically are your tomatoes quality?

The workers have to wear gowns and masks to mix chemicals to feed the hydroponic system. Tomatoes grown in sawdust. Yum. Have at em......I'd rather little boy pee thankyouverymuch!

If you consider all sprays "organic" as they are made from organic chemical compounds are you lying?

Yes we have a farmer friend who has told people to their face he is organic. That he uses only organic sprays. He is SO FAR from organic it is almost funny.......

If you raise animals and give them naturopathic remedies (some not even recommended for human consumption) can you claim they are organic?

I don't know how to address this one.....

One must really really question the farmer to get the real answer.....

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