Re: certification & compost tea

**"Miranda Smith" m*@attbi.com**

Doreen,

You read me correctly. According to my certification inspector, we are
no longer allowed to use compost tea. I use it primarily on crops like
European seedless cukes that are the devil to keep disease-free,
particularly once it begins to get as humid outside as it is in the
greenhouse.

I hadn't thought about it, Betty, but I assume that gardenwriters must
take care how they use the term in the future. I can't imagine the
Feds chasing down a writer who called an uncertified grower "organic,"
but it might rebound on that grower. So I'd be careful of the term and
use it only for those people who displayed the certification
label/plaque.

Thirdly, I have to say that I got certified the very first year that
one could. Since then, I have been certified or not depending on my
markets. When running CSAs, I don't bother. Customers can come to the
farm anytime they like and see what's going on. Restaurants don't care
either, they simply want the best quality they can get. But grocery
stores and wholesalers do care. Because half our present markets are
grocery stores, we are certified. If we were going to stay in
business, I suspect that we would keep the certification and just try
to figure out how we could comply with the regs. But it would also be
reasonable to just change the markets. --I am "organic" because I
believe it gives me the best crops, best soils, and I can continue
those practices with or without being certified.

For anyone interested in the regs and conversation about it,
Lawrence's cites are very good.

Miranda Smith

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