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One question we're often asked:
Is RocK Meadow Farm organic?
The
single word, black & white answer is: No.
While we do not
use chemical pest control, which can be used by
organic growers, most of the other items related to our
plant production are not organic. The items we do use are
as close to organic as we can get and still be effective for
us. We follow what we feel are the best practices we can
use and still produce excellent quality plants for our
gardening friends.
Seeds:
Seeds that are organic are more expensive and that's a cost we’d
have to pass along to you. Almost nobody has access to GMO
seeds except big corporate farms in the mid-West which are
growing GMO corn or wheat. When you buy a local plant from
anyone you are getting a non-GMO plant.
Soil:
The potting soil we use is called ProMix BX which is
produced by Premier Tech, LTD.
The soil
contains a trace amount of a wetting agent which
disqualifies it from being labeled organic. This wetting
agent allows the soil to absorb the water during its initial
few waterings rather than having it run off. Dry potting
soil is like a dry sponge – until it has retained some
moisture any water applied to it will have the tendency to
just run off.
The wetting
agent is flushed out after the first few waterings, long
before the plants are sold.
All
other ingredients in the soil are all naturally occurring
items.
Fertilizer:
We use the following fertilizers on our plants:
·
Neptune’s Harvest –
Organic Fish Emulsion or Organic Fish & Seaweed Emulsion
· Nature’s
Source Professional (formerly Daniels’s)
Neptune’s
Harvest fertilizers are certified organic, however the
Nature’s Source is not. Nature’s Source is oilseed based,
typically soy beans, but because it contains trace amounts
of certain ingredients it cannot be labeled organic.
The soy beans used in Nature's Source are non-GMO.
Pest
Control: For pest control we only use a spray of soap
and water or biologicals such as ladybugs.
No chemical
pest control is ever used on the plants we sell.
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