What does organic really mean?  Something that was produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers or chemicals.  Organic farmers utilize different methods to control pest and to fertilize with.

Let’s start the pest control.  There are many natural predator plants to use.  Planting basil will help control flies and mosquitoes.  Nasturiurtium plants deter squash bugs, aphids, whiteflies, and hornworms.  

You can also buy commercial products that are used in organic gardening.  Neem oil is widely used as an insecticide or fungicide.  It is labeled for gardens and trees and shrubs.  Another commercial product is BT.  BT is a great spray for worms and caterpillars.  If you need to use a dust there is always dipel dust.  Diatomaceous Earth is a great and effective insecticide for crawling insects.  It has many uses including killing fleas and ants.  It has rough coating that scratches the insects.  Some people us Diatomaceous Earth to worm pets.  

There are many organic fertilizers that are available for fertilizer.  Manure, cottonseed meal, fish meal, blood and bone meal.  These are kind to plants and will not burn as much as regular fertilizar.  Fish Emulsion is a great source of fertilizer for ferns.  When you plant bulbs most people use the bone and blood meal for fertilizer.  

If you prefer to use organics, just look on the label of the  product.  OMRI listed products are always organic.  There are new listings each year.  Spinsoid is a another great new one.  It is derived from a soil organism.  Spinsoid contains a bait that attracts foraging fire ants and is readily taken back to the nest, distributed throughout the colony , killing the ants including the queen. The more that you learn about using organics the more you will like using them.  

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)