Why grow organically?
Herbs when used every day act as preventive agents, toning and balancing organs and body systems, and aiding in the daily task of maintaining health and well-being. Growing herbs or any plants gets us in touch with the planet we share, the cycle of the seasons and the moon, and caring for our environment. Fresh organically-grown herbs and plants contain a vital life force or energy, and more vitamins, minerals and nutrients than conventionally-grown plants. This energy is a combination of the herb's active constituents, the earth's nourishing energy and the intrinsic vibration within each plant.
Organic cultivation of most herbs requires intensive labor. Weeds are pulled by hand rather than killing them with herbicides. Plants are started by hand-planting seedlings or by direct seeding certified-organic seeds rather than poisoning the seeds to prevent birds and insects from eating planted seeds.
Why go to the extra effort of producing verified organic herbs?
There are only two sources of plant medicines that could be free of potentially harmful herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides. You could do as people have done for millennia and collect the herbs from naturally growing stands of herbs in the wild. This is a practice called wildcrafting. Unfortunately, many medicinal herbs are in danger of becoming extinct in the wild. Often it is the wildcrafting itself that is driving some plants to extinction.
The second way is for herbs to be cultivated on farms using organic methods providing the only other source of pollution-free plant medicines. Organic cultivation methods protect both your health and the survival of these important plants.
A copy of our Certificate of Organic Conformity can be found here.
The National Organic Standards Board has published a guide to the practices followed at Rolling Hills Organics. That document can be found online at The Organic Resource Guide.
The following are some excerpts from that publication:
Organic Agriculture
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB 1996) defines Organic Agriculture as: an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. Organic is a labeling term that denotes products produced under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.
The philosophy behind organic agriculture embodies the same principles as sustainable agriculture. Organic production requires the use of materials and practices that maintain the balance of natural systems; striving to integrate the many components of the farming system into an ecological whole. Certified organic products are produced under specific standards and are subject to an annual inspection by the certification agency.
Organic food handlers and processors adhere to standards that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural products. Organic agricultural practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residue. The standards attempt to minimize further contamination of air, soil and water.
Organic certification agencies' standards require that producers and processors rely on natural processes and use naturally derived inputs. However, organic production, in its essence, is much more involved than simply focusing on prohibited and allowed inputs
Weed Management
Weeds are considered the primary pest in most organic farming systems. Since there are no practical, affordable herbicides on the market for organic production, organic farmers rely primarily on mechanical and cultural practices to control weeds. Many of these practices are routinely performed by conventional growers, but generally in terms of soil preparation and as an augmentation to weed control with herbicides.
In organic farming, mechanical and cultural techniques are geared towards reducing and maintaining a reduction of weed propagates in the soil. The ideal for all organic growers is to never let a weed go to seed and to restrict the dispersal and growth of perennial weeds.
To achieve this ideal, the following criteria must be fulfilled:
1. The grower must have access to properly scaled and appropriate equipment that will facilitate timely operations relative to weed species seasonal development in the field.
2. Sufficient monitoring and record keeping of field conditions must be performed to enable the farmer to anticipate required weed control actions.
3. Adequate knowledge of weed biology is essential to make correct and timely weed control decisions.
Organic cultivation is more work, but our health and the survival of
vital plant species is worth it.