Up at the Big House

We are bang in the middle of July aren't we? Yesterday I was working in the garden and my feet were so cold I put an extra pair of thick woolly socks on.

There is Hardly a Ladybird in sight, the Blackfly are rife, I cleared the last of a couple of rows of Broad beans yesterday they have cropped really well but if the Ladybirds had been about to eat the Blackfly they would have been better. I have no idea why they are scarce, I haven't even seen one of the Harlequin intruder species.

Still we keep smiling there are lots of Peas to pick still too, plus Gooseberries, Red and Black Currants, the last of the Raspberries and the Black berries have just started to ripen.

The main cause of woe the contaminated Compost has now been eliminated except for one 7cm pot with one seedling. A pathetic slow little chap it is not big enough to show Hormone damage.
So let us have another smile, I want to see the comparison of the test sowing through to the end. Hence Tom Hato and his girlfriend Sally Ardstuff have got their Passports ready, they are going on holiday.

For his girlfriend I have chosen a bit of a runt, the smallest seedling that grew in the J A Bowers Compost, got to be fair, there is not much competition Toxic v the Runt. Stand by for reports on their progress from exotic parts.

The Leaf Cutter bees have been busy today as the sun is out, it is difficult to get a picture of a Bee with some leaf they arrive and slip into the hole so quickly. I was pleased therefore that this this one must have brought back a huge leaf section then gone off for a tea break.

You may want to pay more for your Fruit and Vegetables or Grow Your Own in order to go Organic.
I seriously doubt if it is possible to purchase Organic Vegetables.

The facts are:-

DEFRA says that Grower XXXXX in YYY uses PSA100 Standard Compost to grow Organic food supplied to the major 3 Supermarkets and is approved by the Soil Association.

The Composters Association says PSA100 Standard does not ensure purity from Toxic Metals and Weed Killer Contamination.

The Soil Association says it does not know of Grower XXXXX in YYY.

A Notice on the www. says. There is a seminar at Grower XXXXX in YYY attendance costs £56 for further information contact...... THE SOIL ASSOCIATION on tel. xxxx xxxxxx

Here is a Tomato plant grown in contaminated Compost.

The colour difference rendered here is true, growth is weak, I await distortion of the new growth as time goes by.

If you decide to grow your own then there is absolutely no guarantee that any Compost or Growing Bag you buy in, does not contain Toxic Metals or Weed Killer residues. It almost certainly will contain Chemical Fertilisers. Despite the fact that the bag can be legally labelled Organic.

It is virtually impossible to buy in Manure from any source with confidence. Even the keeper of a single Horse on his own land cannot be sure that the Hay he buys in for feed is not contaminated with Persistent Herbicides which are not approved for use on food crops.

Here is a Tomato plant grown in non contaminated Compost.

If you want to pop down to the greenhouse and check for contamination of your Compost here is how to do it.

2.3.3 Methods for Residue Analysis of Plants and Plant Products
High-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) Method
GRM 02.31 has been proposed by the petitioner as an enforcement method for residues of
aminopyralid in plant commodities. The proposed LC-MS/MS method was used to determine
residues of free and conjugated aminopyralid in/on grass and wheat samples from the storage
stability, field trial and processing studies associated with the currently requested uses.
Briefly, ground samples are extracted with 0.1 N sodium hydroxide, releasing bound residues
and hydrolyzing base-labile conjugates to free aminopyralid. The extract is then acidified with
hydrochloric acid and heated to release acid-labile conjugates. Following hydrolysis, the extract
is cleaned up through an anion-exchange solid-phase extraction (SPE) column. The internal
standard, 13C2
15N-aminopyralid, is added to the eluate, and residues are derivatized with butyl
chloroformate to form the 1-butyl esters of aminopyralid for LC-MS/MS analysis. The validated
LOQ is 0.01 ppm for all matrices, and the calculated limit of detection (LOD) is 0.002 ppm.
Method validation data for LC-MS/MS Method GRM 02.31 demonstrated adequate method
recoveries of aminopyralid from barley grain, forage, and straw; grass forage and hay; sorghum
grain, forage, and stover; and wheat grain, forage, and straw fortified at the LOQ (0.01 ppm).
This method also demonstrated adequate method recoveries of aminopyralid at up to 0.50 ppm
for cereal grain, 5.00 ppm for cereal forage and straw, and 20.0 ppm for grasses

Simple really. We used to pick up a bit of well rotted Muck rub it in our hands and sniff it.

Today the Tomato Plant grown and potted into Contaminated Compost has been destroyed.

Right Click on images and select View Image for full size.

It struggled on producing abnormal growth.

The other specimen Potted into J A Bowers Compost has almost grown through it Poisoning and is producing flower buds all be it on a tall thin plant.

It too will be destroyed as we do not no what vile chemical has polluted it.

This week Radio4 Gardeners World covered the Contaminated Muck issue.

The information they gave was all good advice and ties in with my research. Compost contamination as opposed to Muck is rarer, so rare that I so often get the response that I am the only one.

Interesting then to note this from the comments page on the BBC site. I am sure johnkane won't mind me copying his e-mail mail here.

6. At 3:14pm on 08 Jul 2008, johnkane wrote:

Regarding the contaminated compost problem, this is also in bags of compost as I have found to my cost. I and a few others have unwittingly poisoned our vegetables using bagged compost products from the garden centres. I?ve been growing vegetables for over 30 years and am devastated to lose nearly all this years produce due to me using a so called ?Organic? compost. I?ve used it in the past with no problem, but even the compost manufacturer was unaware of this new weedkiller. I have preserved my damaged plants and am trying to show as many locals as possible what can happen. I contacted my local allotment society to see how many were affected, and they had not even heard of the problem, they assume someone would have told them of this issue before now. Please help to bring this issue to all gardeners? attention.

In fact johnkane if you read this could you contact me via 'comments'.

My confidence in the Soil Association has been restored by an excellent response to my email in which I asked their opinion on the 2 quotes in my previous blog entry.

I quote the reply here:-
Thank you for your email. Organic is a term defined by EU law. This means that anyone who is using the term on a food product needs to hold a licence with an approved certification body. This law does not apply to gardening products, much to our frustration. However, as we deal with farmers, not gardeners, and whilst we sympathise with the difficulties that gardeners wishing to garden organically face, we rarely get in a situation whereby a farmer of ours visits a garden centre to buy compost.

The last paragraph is really disturbing, not only are are DEFRA confused are they telling lies too?

The Compost producers have communicated again, they responded to my last, somewhat firm e-mail. Seems that because I mentioned Manure Contamination, there is no Manure in the product so I can be ignored. Do not ignore me please.

That is not I want, I want them and me to know what has caused the problem and therefore learn avoidance. So no Manure no Agricultural Grass or Straw products but there must be something. Well yes Composted Green Waste from a Recycling Centre Produced to PAS100. PUBLIC WASTE now that is frightening.

I checked DEFRA PAS100 (wrap) recycling.

Poor dears they are confused the following excerpt from their information uses Organic Eco and Compost in the same section.

Organics – Capital support Programme
In order to increase the UK’s annual composting
capacity by 300,000 tonnes by 2006, WRAP is
implementing capital support programmes in
England and Scotland. Funding covers: the
development of new composting facilities, the
improvement of existing facilities and/or facilities
for the manufacture of added value products using
compost such as growing media and topsoil.
The first project is underway with Eco-Composting
Ltd for the construction of an in-vessel composting
facility.

Yes the material Organic it is, as opposed to Mineral. Ecological to Compost it is, as opposed to Incineration or Land Fill but what is produced is not Organic Compost. This information is downright misleading. The folk at the County Council who get the EU grant to do it may well think it is Organic.

I know that 'my county council' compost is on sale at recycling centres. There is no way I would touch the stuff. All the Hormone treated grass cuttings go in there in addition to diseased garden material. All the nasty stuff you would not feel safe to put on your compost heap goes there. My contaminated Tomato plants in contaminated compost went off there the other day so continuing the cycle of contamination.
The last time our County Council fools tried this one it was Treated Sewage Waste that had to be quickly withdrawn due to high levels of Toxic Chromium.

Here is the Photograph that accompanies the DEFRA Green Recycling information above.

Carefully controlled ingredients?

So the argument goes Aminopyalids are not for domestic use and are not authorised for use on domestic or Public Grassland so they will not be in the mix. Oh yes, more than once I have been offered Weed Killer in Bulk that is "what the Farmers use, much stronger than you can buy". A label on the bag does not control the use.

Another photograph from the information shows a close up some of the plant material certainly some Dead, Poisoned, Diseased who knows.

I know two diseases that are rife at this time, Greed and Stupidity.

QUOTE:-
At the Composting Association's annual event earlier this month, Martin Brocklehurst, head of waste strategy at the Agency,.............
said: "My colleagues and I cannot guarantee the level of contaminants, such as metals, are safe in PAS 100 material – it is only a marketing label, we need a protocol for organics."

QUOTE:-
Cantelo Nurseries: Cantelo Nurseries is a family-run nursery based in Somerset. In 1998, it allocated 2.8 hectares of its glasshouse output to organic produce, starting with tomatoes and gradually moving into growing organic peppers and cucumbers for two large supermarket chains in the UK. The nursery uses up to 100 metric tons of BSI PAS 100 compost per hectare to improve soil health and increase yields. The compost also meets the Soil Association and Assured Produce standard for organic produce.

That is the Soil Association gone down in my estimation.

I had a visit from Green Lane Allotments and paid them a return visit today. All virtual via the web of course. I can't help thinking that without the www we would have been isolated pockets of victims.

The Green Lane crew have destruction from muck, as have other Allotment folk, on a massive scale. Some of the plot holders were growing Organically like me to avoid the Poisons in the Pesticides which are purchased daily in the Supermarket produce.
For those growers it will be 2 clear years before they can consider themselves organic again. (Soil Association figure)

Personally I have avoided Muck for around 15years. Strawy Muck we used to say was the best. Yes but how many Chemicals have been plastered all over that Straw, including Hormone Weed Killer. I once spoke to a local Farmer who surfaced from the works of his Seed Drill, naked arms up to the elbow and face deep red, covered in red Mercury Oxide Fungicide. I took the precaution of standing down wind. "It was blocked" he said, with a smile, clearly no precautions taken by him with Toxic Poisons.
I never did get round to trying the growing of Tomatoes on Straw Bales for that reason. I figured who is going to be able to guarantee me Pesticide free Straw?

Little did I know that buying Peat Free Compost which is promoted as saving the environment would bring the Poisons into my Plot. At least it was in a bale and went into pots, they and the remainder can go back out through the gate.

It had often crossed my mind that any commercial Seed Sowing and Potting Compost unless certified Organic will probably contain Chemical Fertiliser so true Organic is not achieved.
I have been lazy and purchased Compost recently, next Season I return to Mixing my own.

A good Recipe I use is:- (1 part= 2Gallon Bucket)

1 part Sharp Sand
3 parts Peat
1.5 Tablespoons Ground Chalk
6g Hoof and Horn
5g Bonemeal
18g Rock Potash

Fish Blood and Bone can be substituted for the nutrients as it is easier to find these days.

I mentioned a teat sowing of Tomatoes in 3 different Composts, here is a photo.

The contaminated compost pot is in the middle, marked D, D for Duff, D is the first letter of the Compost Producers name. If they don't soon answer my e-mails, (they answered the first saying how seriously they take complaints) I shall be spelling it out in full. I have given them the benefit of anonymity as equal victims in this foul farce.

Note:-
1) Poor germination (each pot had 3 seeds)
2) Delayed growth of the one that germinated.

Only later as the plants grow and the Hormone weed Killer in the Compost starts to break down and be released will we see further evidence of Poisoning.

Tomatoes destroyed by foul residues, everyone gets Rain but us, the Drinking Water has Viruses in that might make us ill, the Blackfly are rife and there are very few Ladybirds this year to control them.

Well a boy has to get his fun somehow.