Gardening 'products'

There are a lot of garden products marketed to us (certainly in North American markets). 

Most of them are in 'the just say no' category, with the exception of organic nutrients and minerals, depending on our soil and its condition.

I was reminded of this at a garden club gathering this afternoon, and then again this evening, reading a post at A Way to Garden about the (now-collapsed) association between Scotts MiracleGro and the National Wildlife Federation. 

Quite odd, I thought (although I hadn't heard about it previously) and apparently it created a firestorm of opposition among NWF supporters and others over the last week or so.

We basically need to create healthy, very fertile soil for our (pampered) vegetables and decent (but also healthy) growing conditions for everything else.

We don't need a lot of 'stuff' to do that -- just keep all the organic matter your property produces at home, import (as locally as possible) more leaves, manure if needed, mineral elements, etc. as you need. 

But, there's usually not much need for pesticides in a balanced and diversified growing environment;  maybe a barrier spray or insecticidal soap, or organic material for something that gets out of hand (I used some hand-me-down Spinosad spray (thanks, CEN!) against Colorado potato beetles last season).  But I'd planted potatoes in the same general location for several years, so I was 'breaking' the rotation rules, so it was no surprise to see them.

Marketing to garden consumers is all about needing stuff to make your 'yard' beautiful, bountiful, and pest-free. 

I think I'll just concentrate on gardening for nature.