It's a good example of why I prefer my students to use the term "sustainable" rather than "organic"....
Sarah Sarah Bailey Master Gardener Program Coordinator Pesticide Safety Educator Cooperative Extension Service 1800 Asylum Avenue West Hartford, CT 06117 Ph: 860-570-9023 Fax: 860-570-9008 Email: sarah.bai...@uconn.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer and Program Provider. -----Original Message----- From: community_garden-boun...@list.communitygarden.org [mailto:community_garden-boun...@list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of Michael Simmons Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 4:03 PM To: Karen Jones Cc: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org Subject: Re: [Community_garden] a word on organic This is a fairly common problem in using the word "organic." Organic farming has nothing to do with organic chemistry. The "organic" in organic farming refers to the holistic approach used to make and maintain an ecosystem which functions under the Law of Return whereby natural nutrient cycling is facilitated and off-farm inputs are minimized. Michael __________________________________________________________________________ H. Michael Simmons, Ph.D. City of Bloomington Indiana Parks and Recreation Department P. O. Box 848 Bloomington, IN 47402 (812)349-3737 Fax: (812)349-3705 simmo...@bloomington.in.gov On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 3:41 PM, Karen Jones <k.jo...@uwinnipeg.ca> wrote: > Note: Sourcing from Wikipedia. Consider the source. > There is no such thing as organic nitrogen. Wikipedia or no. There is > industrial and non-industrial. The confusion on the meaning of words is just > another symptom of the tower of babel dark ages we live in. Sorry. > > > The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else. > Barry Commoner > >>> Guy Serbin <guy.ser...@gmail.com> 7/26/2011 2:23 PM >>> > Not all compounds containing carbon are organic, even if their source > is biological. For example, calcium carbonate (the primary component > of limestone) is usually biogenic, but is not considered to be > organic. Likewise pure carbon (graphite and diamonds), CO2, CO, > cyanides, carbonates, and carbides are considered to be inorganic > (note- I am sourcing this from Wikipedia, but it does look accurate). > Most organic compounds will contain carbon-hydrogen bonds. > > Please note that many of the nastiest pollutants are classified as > organic chemicals, so let's not confuse them with organic agriculture. > > Organic nitrogen sources would be from proteins, amino acids, or urea. > > Best regards, > Guy > > On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 3:07 PM, Karen Jones <k.jo...@uwinnipeg.ca> wrote: > > As one of those old fashioned people who thinks that a mistake in > language often reveals a mistake in thought, there is no such thing as > 'organic' nitrogen. There is nitrogen from industrial and non-industrial > sources. Anybody out there who has studied organic chemistry would tell us > that 'organic' means that a substance has carbon in it. Please correct me > if I am mistaken. > > > > > > > > The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything > else. Barry Commoner > > -------------- next part -------------- > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > > URL: < > http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110726/36b9ad8a/attachment.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to > find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org ( > http://www.communitygarden.org/ ) > > > > To post an e-mail to the list: > community_garden@list.communitygarden.org > > > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110726/63608d54/attachment.html > > > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to > find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110726/422f2d61/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org