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  • From: "Del Williams" <delannw AT dlogue.net>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Organic Presentation to Master Gardeners
  • Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 08:31:37 -0600

ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>You might be surprised to find a lot of organic gardeners already in the Master Gardener group.&nbsp; I originally thought&nbsp;I was the only organic gardener in my Master Gardener group and I was very wrong.&nbsp; I caught a glimpse of a few MG's with Rodale tucked under their arm when on desk duty.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Our rule of thumb at the extension information desk is this:&nbsp; If the University of Illinois or any of its associated educators or professors or its website have posted or published organic recommendations then they are fair game and legal for providing gardening advice.&nbsp; The U of I and Illinois Historical Survey offered a pest training program for Master Gardeners about three years ago that was, well, organic.&nbsp; The U of I professor who started out the program said, "If you are spraying at all you are spraying too much."&nbsp; Thrilling.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Most (not all) of the University of Illinois extension educators for my Master Gardener training mocked organic growing.&nbsp; I would get so angry and vow not to return for the propaganda!&nbsp; But I would go back and argue with them a little.&nbsp; That was 4 years ago.&nbsp; Now, when someone calls the extension for information on organic practices, the extension calls and asks an "organic" Master Gardener to answer the question.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>I would go into the presentation with an informative approach rather than a persuasive approach.&nbsp; Tell them what an organic and sustainable approach means.&nbsp; The uninformed don't know.&nbsp; Tell them how to handle soil fertility, diseases and pests organically.&nbsp; IF you have RELIABLE and CREDIBLE information on the quality of organically grown food then present it in an informative way.&nbsp; But don't go off spouting claims for which you can provide no support.&nbsp; You'll discredit your whole presentation and do more harm than good for organic growing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Anyway, the persuasive part will probably come up in the question and answer period anyway.&nbsp; Some chemical addicted jerk will challenge you (maybe) and you will get your chance to talk about the downside to a chemical approach in more specific and, shall we say, accusatory way.</FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>As a Master Gardener I&nbsp;have often given a presentation on&nbsp;"Gardening With Children".&nbsp; Most of the presentation is standard.&nbsp;&nbsp; Prepare the soil, select your seeds, plant them like this, select for the family, etc.&nbsp; But when we come to pesticides I&nbsp;am very clear about their use and how dangerous they are.&nbsp; I present information on herbicides and their effects on adolescent development, on pesticide poisoning of children, on the number of days children would have to stay out of the garden after spraying chemcials, on the dangers of allowing children to handle vegetables that had been sprayed, on handling fertilizers, etc. Now a lot of this is useful info for a presentation on chemical gardening and even organic gardeners need to think about what they allow children to handle in the way of organic treatments.&nbsp; It is an opportunity to hand out any literature or reading materials or guides for them to take home.&nbsp; For example, you could hand out PANNA's <A href="http://www.panna.org">www.panna.org</A> article on Carbaryl (brandname Sevin and one of the most commonly used pesticides by homeowners) or glyphosate (which I usually hand out with the caution that this is not the best way to kill the grass for a new garden of vegetables the kids will eat).</FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>What I do not do is get accusatory and strident about the chemical industry.&nbsp; In my area this would probably result in the burning of crosses in front of my barn.&nbsp; I live in the middle of the midwestern chemical wastedump of conventional agriculture.&nbsp; You can't look in any direction in any place in my county and not see farms.&nbsp; These little talks take place in churches and town halls in conventional farming communities.&nbsp; I am not going to get anyone to listen to me if I insult everybody right off the bat.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>I urge you to prepare a well structured informative talk on organic gardening.&nbsp; Start with the soil.&nbsp; Always a good place to start.&nbsp; If you need some tips on sneaking in a few stabs at the downside to chemical fertilization (in a nice way, of course) let me know and I'll send some content to you.&nbsp; I know you already know it though.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Avoid the contentious persuasive speech for this group.&nbsp; Be the reasoned voice for organic practices.</FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Del Williams</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Farmer in the Del (an oasis in the chemical desert)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Clifton, IL</FONT></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

  • Re: Organic Presentation to Master Gardeners, Del Williams, 02/09/2001

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