www.liveforgardening.com September 22 2009 Garden news 5

Get your garden o ff drugs!

next week How to Go cold turkey

‘I’ve become a fully committed organic gardener in no time at all’

WHEN Garden News writer and Radio 2 star Terry Walton first took on an allotment in South Wales back in the 1950s, his plot was enriched with bracken from the hillside, horse manure and spent mushroom compost.

“Little did I know I was organic,” he said. “The only cash I spent was on a little lime to sweeten the soil.”

Then along came the swinging Sixties and chemical fertilisers were the easy salvation of all gardeners – Terry included. “These nitrates and potashes were liberally spread over the soil to boost quick and easy fruit and vegetable growth. Woe betide any pest that moved on my plot as DDT and lindane were the death of all insects that moved – friend or foe!” Terry recalled.

Although it appeared to be gardening utopia with great results for little effort, Terry was concerned about what was happening to the eco-system and environment – even on his small patch of land.

“It was being poisoned and all those nasty chemicals were entering my food chain,” said Terry. “It wasn’t long before this dawned on me and I realised that there is nothing for nothing in this world.

“The food looked good, but it lacked taste. It was laced with a toxic cocktail that was entering mine and my family’s bodies.”

Out went the chemicals and it was back to basics. “It took a while for the soil to recover its fertility and produce those wholesome crops again. But it was worth it for peace of mind and food as nature intended.”

JUST a few years ago, Pip Bradley’s garden was non-existent. It was covered in weeds with a concrete path and her only ‘gardening activity’ was to blast it with a toxic chemical from time to time.

The bubbly 33-year-old, who lives in Birmingham, has now turned her garden around and also has an organic allotment. She keeps chickens in the garden at home, has joined the local beekeepers’ group and plans to have her own hive next spring.

“I have gone from knowing

nothing about gardening to being a fully committed organic gardener in no time at all.

“A couple of years ago, the garden was non-existent. I would wander out from time to time and blast everything with something that was probably highly toxic. I really don’t know why my dog, Poppy, didn’t pack her bags and go.

“I decided I wanted to grow my own food and I didn’t want to eat stuff that had been doused with chemicals. I hadn’t really given it a thought until then and I didn’t have any gardening knowledge at all,” said Pip.

Pip and her partner, Sam, who works in London put in a couple of simple raised beds and that got her going. “I was so excited when things started growing and my enthusiasm just knew no bounds. I read everything about organic gardening I could and really got into it.”

She took over an allotment in May this year and was at first daunted by the size of it. “I just stood there wondering what on earth I had done. Fortunately, someone came by

and gave me a good pep talk and said they had felt exactly the same when they took over a plot.”

Here are Pip’s top tips on going organic:EDon’t think too much about it, just give it a go!ERead up on the subject.EDon’t regard anything as a problem, look at it as a challenge.ERecycle everything you possibly can.

Do you want to know more?Want to know more about organic gardening? Log onto Garden Organic’s website at www.gardenorganic.org.uk

and find out how the organic growing charity can help you become chemical free. alternatively, tel: 02476 303517.EHave you turned the corner and become an organic

gardener or perhaps you see no reason not to use chemicals? Write in and let us know your views. the editorial address is on page 38 or you can send an email to gn.letters@bauermedia.co.uk

WHY WE WEnt ORGanIC‘Chemicals poisoned garden’s eco-system’ case study 1

Partone

‘Gardeners must learn to work with nature to develop

their own garden’s eco-system’Philip Turril, Garden Organic

case study 2

If you want to give up the chemicals, don’t miss next week’s Issue – we’ll be showing you how to do it and what to expect free tools wHen you subscrIbe p13

sulPHurUsed as a fungicidal dust but over-exposure to sulphur can cause skin and eye irritation and breathing in large quantities of the dust can irritate lungs. It’s also flammable so avoid naked flames and sparks!

sluG PelletsFamously controversial, with organic gardeners arguing that metaldehyde-based slug pellets pose a risk to the health of birds, hedgehogs, frogs and other garden wildlife that prey on slugs and snails.

water-savInG crystalsThese synthetic water-saving crystals are made from man-made polymers. Chemical-free alternatives are available, such as one made from seaweed extract.