Urganic

As I perseverate over each year's Farm and garden design I reflect over past year's successes and failures and consider the decisions that may have played a role.  Losses that are created by lack of nutrients, or bad bugs, or disease, or weeds drive me nuts.  And I've always cared about the environment as well as food safety and have looked at balancing it all.

A while back I wrote about coining the term and idea of Urganic, which I also call our Farm and gardens.  I thought that even though we don't use pesticides or herbicides that an occasional dose of a non-organic fertilizer would be okay.  And, I've changed my mind.

The experiment this past growing season didn't produce the results I hoped.  There was no band-aid.  Problems around lack of production or sickly plants or well performing plants had nothing to do with any use of a non-organic fertilizers - which, truth be told, I didn't really do to a great extent.

My fortified belief, through reading and past and current practice, is that production and sustainability in agriculture is created by first growing great soil.  After that it is about controlling the critters and diseases.  Obviously sun and water and pH and temperature and balanced nutrients for the plants are still a key factor too; but no quality soil, no great food production and the further creation of an unbalanced growing environment while contributing to an unhealthy environment.

A great artist needs a well prepared canvas if her work is going to last.  A farmer's canvas is soil, which is truly a diverse living organism.

I'm keeping Urganic in our name (cause we are still an Urban farm and garden oasis) and going back to all organic practices while spending more time growing great soil.

Happy growing!