"Victoria Clare" wrote in message Um. The biggest problems I have ever had gardening
organically were when I
had a small garden, surrounded by other small gardens where gardeners were
enthusiastically using (overusing, in my view) pesticides and herbicides,
where the council 'helped out' by going round spraying weedkiller on the
verges. The previous occupants of my garden had also used weedkillers and
pesticides freely.

I believe that I had problems because pest predators could not survive on
my tiny patch, whereas pests could :-(

I think gardening organically is easier in large areas that support healthy
predator numbers, which establish over several years. Where there are many
small gardens, and people move house regularly, if some gardeners have the
choice of using pesticides, the other gardeners may lose their own right to
choose.

This isn't to say I support things being banned, necessarily, but it's a
point that I think is worth considering (the 'passive pesticide' argument?)

I think there's something in this. Try growing top fruit organically in Kent ferinstance. Even here in N Wales on my
quite big patch (25acres) well away from other gardens and miles away from any significant commercial horticulture, it
took a few years to establish our almost organic veg and fruit production.

Rod