I have a 3200 square foot fenced in enclosure that will be used for all future veggie gardening and am wondering about the pros and cons of going totally organic.

Thoughts from the 24HCF gardening pros are welcomed, please.

TIA,284

Organic as in No Herbicides, Pesticides, Chemical Fertilizers, etc..?

IMO, only if you want to pick up another full time job....

My cat apparently thinks so.

I used to call it orgasmic gardening. I did use some fertilizers like Miracle-Gro, but never any chemical pesticides. Instead, I planted marigolds in and around my veggies, and sprayed with a garlic/mild soap solution if I saw bugs. It worked for me.

Our garden space is currently 1600sqft, but has been as big as 4000.

I think it is more work to garden organically, but it is worth the effort.

Sourcing truly organic compost is your biggest obstacle. After that, it is just effort.

Plant the rows far enough apart that you can run a tiller between them. Be very aggressive early pulling weeds and then be resigned to having some weeds after your produce has gotten bigger.

The pests seem to change year to year, so be ready to not have a bumper crop of your favorites every year.

Get a good pair of gloves.

Knowing that I am the only one to touch my food is organic enough for me.

I have Marigolds and Basil planted around the entire perimeter of my garden. This is my 4th year with a garden at our house and I don't use any pesticides in the garden.

I don't use pesticides either, but I do use roundup to kill the weeds before I plant, and a 16 16 16 fertilizer. I am pretty sure that disqualifies it from organic.

Actually I'm using a series of 4X4 boxes that are very easy to maintain without the need of a tiller.

You are going to have 200 boxes?

Hell no !!!

I tried Marigolds around my tomatoes one year. The grasshoppers loved em...

Dunno about "worth it or not". We have about 1600sf of vegetable garden. Crowder peas, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers squash, peppers, etc. (can and sell). In the past we've kinda done it as "mostly organic plus some Roundup and Sevin...."

As far as weeds go, we hoe a little where we need to, and try to give it one very thorough spraying of Roundup just before the rows shade over, and then that's pretty much it for the weeds.

Trying Neem Oil ("organic") this year for insects - haven't used it before - maybe it'll mean we don't need any Sevin. And a little lure/trap for Squash Vine Borers that so far seems to do a good job of keeping them away. We'll see.

The town nearest us has a Saturday farmer's market from late Spring to early Fall, and we go sell whatever we have. Sometimes folks will ask "so are y'all organic?" So far I've resisted making any smart-aleck remarks about being Carbon-based, but we usually say something like "not totally". (self-serving amateur psychobabble follows:) They seem to really like that answer, and nod in a way that indicates they think that being partially-organic's eminently sensible and practical (like themselves, of course) -- not like those loony Organic-As-Religion folks they've heard of.

Nope.I put about 4" of composted mule manure on in the fall,and rototill it the, spring I spray with Round Up,till again and use some 16-16-16 around each plant and little in each row of corn and such. At times I have used a littl ebit of Sevin.
I'm not dead yet

Hint...

From the answers provided so far I'm thinking that going organic maybe just too much damn work as one poster implied.

Therefore a little 41% Glyphosate, some 10-10-10 & blood meal side dressing around the corn might get me home.

??????

We sprayed our 2400 sq.ft. fenced garden this week with round-up, and it really does a good job of "instant death" of the growing foliage, but also renders the roots unable to come back up. It saves a lot of back breaking work weeding out the weeds that are already there. I wouldn't like being without it.

We used to grow 20 rows of sweet corn but have downsized a bit.
We will still plant our corn next week and then spray(pre-emergence)it with Lumax and no weeds will grow for at least 2 months. Again saving lots of work for 2 older people.

All our garden space will get a good dose of 20-10-10 chemical fertilizer and a super good tilling. We then plant green beans, beets,kohlrabi's, spaghetti squash, lettuce, spinach, potatoes tomatoes, cucumbers and water melons. We then do some hand weeding of the rows, and tilling with an 18" lightweight tiller. Still enough work, but at our age and my aching back, my organic gardening days are a thing of the past. Suit yourself, but to me it ain't worth it.

It depends on what your reason is for going Organic.

If you live on either coast where Hipsters go gaga and pay lots of money for anything Organic, then yes, it might be worth the hassle.

If you live in the center of the U.S. and are looking to furnish produce for yourself and just keep weeds and bugs at bay, such as I, then it might not be worth it.

Personally, I'm not going to spend any extra time pulling up Bermuda grass when a quick pass with Glyphosate will do.

IMO, Organic is a term somebody made up so they can charge more $$$. Kinda like the "Angus Beef" or "Grassfed Beef" movement...but that's just my opinion.

like most things the best answer for most people is prolly somewhere in the middle....i tended to use as much organic ferts as possible because our water is so full of minerals dumping more in the form of salts from chemical ferts didnt seem like the best idea for my garden where it didnt cost me alot more to go organic there....plus we have high clay soil often with low organics so more organic matter helps the soil anyway...but i do use weed killer and insecticides on occasion....

D444, not looking for monetary gain or to be PC.

Retired and fresh veggies. What's not to like ?

I had an aphid infestation 2 years ago on my pepper plants even Sevin would not cure. Tried every imaginable concoction to rid them. Was just a bad year. Last year worms ate my collard greens but nothing else. Every year seems like something new but I haven't seen a tomato hornworm in years!

Denny was just taking a break when I read your post.Been at it for several hours giving my tomatoes a copper bath for blight protection.This is about as organic as I get with 150+ plants to do but really works and is quite beneficial when the hot humid days arrive.

Will that stuff work on toenails ???

Neighbor lady wansta know

yep but you hafta pay separate shipping and handling for a duce!

Seed is cheaper than any other part.
Just grow more than you need and let the chips fall where they may.
Deer get some, bugs get some, I get some. Fairs fair.

Stop makin' sense ringworm or yer goin' back on ignore !!!!!

This short article about covers it: ..Pros & Cons

We went totally organic just 4 years ago. It is definitely worth the extra work to us, but we have the time to do it, and we enjoy doing it. Not everybody would. We are very much into doing our own composting, and we keep chickens (for eggs), so we don't need to buy manure. Big help, there.

Will this work after planting (spray) or is it too late to combat blight after it happens?

thanks

Is it worth it? Yes
This is a good site to get you some information.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/

BP...

It's better countermeasures to do it before planting before onset of the blight and will only be effective if you can spray on the under side of the foliage as well.Tank spraying will work if you can do it at planting but like I said get the underside well drenched.The tub in the pic holds 18 gal.I use one and a half canisters of the copper and add three tablespoons of dish soap for tack.

Ive not had bug problems yet (knock on wood). I buy "organic" plants and fertilize using organic fish emulsion. No bagged fertilizers or miracle gro. I also put mulched fescue around the plants to keep weeds at bay. In the fall, I mulch leaves and lay them down and cover with cardboard. helps to keep ground moist, keeps more heat in, and seems to promote quicker composting. This years tomato plants are growing quickly and are already above 3 feet tall. so far, works for me and not any more work to mention.

thats what I was a fraid of. Have had blight problems in years past. I keep moving the tomatoes to a different area when it shows up.

The red spider mites are He!! to get rid of as well

I think it is worth it.

NO, it is not worth it. Nor is it better for the environment, except when done on a small scale involving complete hand labor. No fuel, no chemicals, no pesticides--and that means none!

Buying organic dirt/compost, shipping the latest and greatest organically-certified seed from halfway across the country, hosing it down with certified all-natural bug juice probably grown in some other country, etc.--none of that is more beneficial to the environment.

"Organic" farming at this point is simply a niche to make money by marketing to a slightly-different clientele.

Wow

GTC

I really don't think Denny is planning on a thousand acre organic farm. We do it on a lot larger scale than he is talking about and it works for us all the way to the bank. And we grow out all natural bug juce, it don't come from anywhere but our farm.

I've grown a garden myself or helped in my mom and dads my whole life. Many people have grown gardens in the soil here for a 100 years. If you do not use chemicals here pests will eat up much of what you plant.

How much time do you spend, on how many acres?

None. I am retired.

and a well deserved retirement.

Thanks my friend.

Gor a hint for you, grow some tobacco. Bugs don't like it. Then save the mature leaves and dry them. Next year make a tea fom the leaves, ad some Listerine andva few drops of dish detergent and tou hav a great bug spray.

Doesn't that guarantee the spread of Tobacco Mosaic Virus on tomatoes and peppers?

We never used anything but fish heads and leaf compost . Nowdays, I'm pretty sure store-bought stuff is a lot cheaper.

E have done it for over fifteen years and have not had a problem with it so far. It may be our climate.