You may be able to stop the unwanted chemical use at your community garden by consulting the rules and regulations for applying pesticides in your state and local jurisdictions. Many states require that anyone applying pesticides in a public place be licensed by a regulatory agency.
Also, most organic certifying agencies will have an IPM protocol that they find acceptable. A local certified organic farm can direct you to such an agency. Different certifying agencies accept different protocols and requirements vary from state to state. Lastly, look for the OMRI and/or NOP labels on any and all products used. Always remember that "the law is the label, and the label is the law" in most states. Barbara -----Original Message----- From: Jama Crawford <[email protected]> To: Lauren Whitaker <[email protected]>; Community_garden <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Oct 14, 2013 4:48 pm Subject: Re: [Community_garden] looking for info on organic vs IPM in communitygardens Hi Lauren We purchase in bulk a selection of approved organic pesticides (such as Safers, Neem) and fertilizers (such as fish emulsion, alfala meal). These products are included in the price of dues and are much cheaper than our members would pay for small quantities. We don't use any herbicides. Our members are asked to not bring any other chemicals to the garden, and have free access to these approved chemicals in our storage room, with the caveat that they closely follow the label instructions. Your science-minded folks know of organic IPM methods, as tens of thousands of organic farms, large and small, operate successfully across the country and deal with pests in an integrated fashion. I would suggest you enlist your science community to come up with a set of approved organic chemicals and other pest control methods. It is apparently a truism that people don't want OTHER people to use herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, etc., but faced with their own infestation of aphids or slugs or bindweed or mold, the same folks are often quick to resort to chemical control. So we should probably understand that people are often of two minds about this, comforted that other people are constrained but not so glad when they are constrained. To deal with this, some communities sponsor both organic and "conventional" gardens in separate settings for people. If they feel strongly about the matter, they move to one garden or the other. I am not sure if you could separate your existing garden, but it would be best to at least move the non-organic parties to their own section with specific rules about how to apply herbicides and pesticides, and place organic plots upwind (of the prevailing winds) to limit accidental overspray. What you are dealing with is the same thing organic farmers deal with - how to influence and affect the use of chemicals on neighboring lands that drift onto their land by air or water ways. This has been an area of legal dispute, and it is now possible for an organic farmer to successfully sue a neighbor or chemical application company whose carelessness, excess, or decision to apply herbicide on a windy day resulted in damage to organic crops. How you negotiate this problem could be very useful for participating members of the ag science community who may deal with this concern during their careers. Best wishes! Jama Crawford Shared Harvest Community Garden Durango CO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lauren Whitaker" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 10:23 AM Subject: [Community_garden] looking for info on organic vs IPM in communitygardens > Our community gardens are on city land and are quite old. We have many old > time gardeners that have been gardening on the same plot for many years. > At the same time, being very close the the Beltsville Agricultural > Resource Center, we have quite a few people who have advanced degrees in > various agricultural disciplines. And finally, we have a few people who > are dedicated organic gardeners. > > The organic gardening folks have made a push with our landowners to > attempt to force the entire group into organic-only, while our science > based folks are promoting integrated pest management (IPM). > > Do you know of any cases where a community garden switched to organic-only > against the wishes of a portion of its membership? Did it work? How do > gardens that are organic-only enforce the policy? > > Lauren Whitaker > http://www.greenbeltcommunitygardenclub.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and > to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 8908 (20131011) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 8916 (20131014) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20131016/f905159f/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
