New Year's Resolution- just a few days late!

Okay folks - now is the time to commit to organic. I am realizing as I read over the Soil Association Standards (www.soilassociation.org/foodandfarming) that it is no longer allowable to use bonemeal on certified organic farms in Europe. No more bonemeal? That is fine by me because I have never been a believer in bonemeal but what else is there to know about organic gardening and farming that may have slipped through my inspection process?

I decided I needed to pursue the study of organics more fully and have made that my new year's resolution. I am also attempting to eat more organic foods as well as grow them and this could be a challenge. Sometimes the expense of buying organic veg is in the hidden cost of transportation. That cost to the environment  can't be all good so it puts a small black mark on transported organics and places us back at the old question of how to find good local and organic food at this time of year.  

I am not giving up on our farmer's market although I realize many of their products and suppliers are not organic even though they are local. Some of them do claim to be pesticide free and that is a good start. Organically managed farms improve the soil over time and they do this with green manures and some animal manures as well as rock dusts. Once the soil has the nutrients it needs, the food it produces is better for us. Well, that is my claim and I am sticking to it! If in doubt please read Michael Pollen's "In Defense of Food".  It is an amazing read.