ORGANIC GARDENING
IN ESSEX

There are so many benefits to going organic and, if gardening is something you already enjoy, perhaps you might like to rethink some of your current practices. It could be your first big step towards sustainable living!

It is now recognised that, in the face of the destruction of our countryside by chemical pesticides, British wildlife finds a safe haven in our gardens. How important, then, to ensure that the very chemicals which do so much harm to wildlife in the countryside do not contaminate and despoil our own private patch.

It was to encourage the development of organic, healthy, non-toxic, gardening that South East Essex Organic Gardeners (affiliated to Garden Organic – the national charity for organic growing) was formed in 1994 and they are now a thriving group with bi-monthly meetings, a regular newsletter and visits to a wide variety of organic farms and gardens.

If you are already or would like to become an organic gardener, the group is a mine of information and what they don’t know they can find out! You’ll soon find out that life is healthier – for you and the wildlife – without slug pellets and chemical pesticides and fertilisers.

Organic growing involves

• Treating the soil and growing environment as a resource to be husbanded for future generations, rather than misused and neglected for short term gain.

• Providing plants with a balanced food supply by feeding the many soil living creatures that live with composts, manures and other organic materials.

• Choosing renewable resources.

• Reducing pollution of the environment, by recycling garden, household and other wastes, rather than dumping or burning them.

• Combating pests and diseases without using pesticides that may prove harmful to human health and that of domestic and wild animals.

• Encouraging and protecting wildlife, by creating suitable habitats and by minimizing use of harmful pesticides.

• Creating a safe and pleasant environment in which to work and play.

• Moving with the times – taking new scientific discoveries and ideas into account, as well as the best traditional knowledge.

• Using good horticultural practices.

• Recognising the importance of genetic diversity and hence the preservation of threatened plant varieties.

If you’d like to find out more about S E Essex Organic Gardeners, please phone Carole Shorney on 01702 201914, who will give you information about the next meeting, or you can visit http://www.seeog.org.uk
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