anything.. IMPROPERLY used.. is inherently UNsafe ...

so the title is not correct .. ergo.. as to the premise ...

breathe in a bag of dichotomous earth ... you will have problems similar to silicosis ... so whats safe about it???? ... besides the fact.. that it rarely works.. lol .. yeah.. yeah.. use an organic paper mask ... but it still makes the product.. unsafe ...

ken

ps: i read the link article.. i didnt have time to watch the vid.. if that makes a difference ... red wings are on.. gotta go ...

Dichotomous earth? Is that earth from a ravine? An earthquake split? Oh, diatomaceous earth...lol

tj

Organic is dichotomous! One definition means the group of chemicals formed with a carbon backbone containing hydrogen atoms and one is an adherence to one or more of the theologies of 'natural' instead of 'synthesized' inputs into your garden, farm, lawn, etc.

So, benzene, snake venom, and cow manure can all be defined as organic. I'm sure you could conjure some 'bad' use for all of them

Be nice if someone actually watched the video and then commented.

If it's a product from the store, I don't use it, so no comments on the merits of one label or origin/composition of ingredients vs. another. I gave up on gardening shows on PBS a while ago, for various reasons. The debate in this video is a prime example. To me, organic means you don't buy/use any stuff from a package/bottle/sprayer, etc...

On the subject of one packaged concoction over another?

Having been offered here on a gardening forum, in a section called 'Garden Clinic,' (so under a double-gardening umbrella for sure,) my comments were meant in regard to gardening. I think this is obvious and that you know, and are just trying to be argumentative. If my comments were truly that confusing to you, let me be more clear. It is precisely because life can be so packaged and synthetic that I prefer to garden without any packages of store-bought stuff.

"Just because something that comes in a package doesn't mean it's non-organic or unsafe." Who said that?

I'm not being argumentative. I took your statement literally. Wasn't aware you were just talking of garden products.

So, no "meals" of any type? No neem oil, BT, organic fungicides, or insecticdal soaps or other organically accepted products used for ORGANIC gardening?

Wow!

'"Just because something that comes in a package doesn't mean it's non-organic or unsafe." Who said that?"

I did.

Kevin

Kevin, thank you for your post. Gardening is such an obtuse term, meaning anything from having a potted house plant to ornamental landscaping to growing large amounts of food. Knowing the context in which one is speaking is definitely helpful. Much context had definitely been missing from this conversation, and wrong assumptions made.

What we (DH mows, and then does whatever heavy-lifting tasks I can't, then says, "that looks nice, honey.") are doing is trying to provide entertainment for myself, something pleasing to look at, sustenance for butterflies, birds, and whatever other native critters might live in "our" yard, grow whatever edibles we feel like that particular year (in no particular order.) I don't feel the need or capability to control nature in many ways except to pull the plants I don't want, and install the ones I do.

If pests eat plants, hopefully predators of those pests will show up and prosper on such bounty. I find it interesting, not a problem. If I put chemicals on edibles, I might as well get the ones from the grocery, where it's not necessary to get mosquito bites to get them.

If pests destroy an ornamental plant this year, they probably would next year, and I don't want to spend my time or money battling such a thing. That's an instance in which I would not keep trying that plant.

Applying chemicals does not sound fun to me, so I wouldn't include it in gardening, which I do for fun, and eschew most of the busy-body things people are *supposed* to do for gardening that I don't think are fun and obviously aren't necessary as my yard/plants prove. So what is growing in my yard is that which can do so within the care I consider fun.

Were gardening a necessity for providing my family with food, or my wallet with income, my attitude might be quite different, and I would not have the luxury of sitting back and watching what happens.

I do battle canna leaf rollers because the hummingbirds love the flowers, and if I don't keep the caterpillars off of these plants, there would be few, if any flowers for the hummingbirds, defeating the purpose of having this plant. If I put chemicals on the plants to kill the caterpillars, I would be very concerned about the effect it would have on the hummingbirds.

A healthy natural ecosystem has predators and pests. If my garden is missing either, something out of whack. Often the case is that the pest is exotic, with no natural predator, in which case a product might be necessary if growing the plant in question is necessary.

One of the hardest-working predators in this area is the anole. They go everywhere, on every plant and surface. Poisoning them or their food sources would be tragic. Birds eat many pests from plants, and serving them a toxic meal, or killing their food seems very short-sighted and way too small-picture to me, can't be the right thing for *me* to do. They call it a food chain because all critters are some other...