OK, so I raised a fuss when I learned Miracle-Gro is on Twitter. Nevertheless, after a bout of grumbling I was willing to live and let live. But when I checked into my FarmerPhoebe Twitter account this afternoon, I actually had a message from my nemesis! They were assuring me that they have an “organic” product line, which should make everything OK. I responded. Several times. I told them…well, here; I made a copy of the entire exchange. Read for yourself. Sorry the image is blurry. You can also go to http://search.twitter.com, type in FarmerPhoebe. When you see text with both my picture and the Miracle-Gro logo, click on Show Conversation if you want to.
Ask FarmerPhoebe 
Every year since Scotts’ alleged ‘organic miracle’ was introduced in 2003, I’ve been advocating against their greenwashed profiteering from an organic market to whom names like “Scotts” and “Monsanto” are historically anathemas. While much of one’s definition of “organic” can be personally subjective, along with their own personal choices, the facts speak for themselves. Scotts’ MG OC may walk like an organic duck and talk like an organic duck….but it is neither. A duck maybe. Organic…NOT!
When I noted your recent interest in this issue, I forwarded to you my latest blog comments. Anyone else interested can read them here: ourgardenearth.blogspot.com
Keep up the good fight. If for no other reason than on principle: It’s Scotts after all.
Linda
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is it ok to be afraid of everything I eat now?????
So glad I found you on Twitter! I knew some folks play fast and loose with the term organic but I didn’t realize about Miracle-Gro. Sooooo what do you suggest someone who gardens in containers on her patio to do for organic dirt?
Pam
http://empowerwellness.blogspot.com
Hi Pam,
You are not alone. I’ve been posting on an organic gardening message board for 7 years and I can’t tell you how many times people promote the use of commercial nonorganic products there, including MG Organic Choice. Frankly, even if the product were truly organic I’d have a tough time buying from a chemical herbicide/pesticide company that generates the vast majority of its revenue from products that are harmful to the environment.
But you stopped by with a question so let me get off my high horse for a second. 😉
I have not personally gardened in containers, so here’s a link that may help both of us: http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/How-to-Grow-an-Organic-Container-Garden.html
Except for using peat moss, which I understand is a natural resource that takes centuries to form and harvesting it from peat bogs disturbs intricate ecosystems, most of the suggestions in the article sound pretty good.
If you don’t make your own compost the best soil amendment I can suggest is this stuff called organic mushroom compost. It’s prepared by a smallish company in the Midwest called Midwest Trading Horticultural Supplies. I’ve been using it for years with fantastic results. The 1:1:1 ratios sound a little off to me, though. Instead of sand, I’d add some gravel to the bottom inch or two to improve drainage (like you’d do with houseplants) and then use about 4:1 mixture of regular old potting soil–or dirt from your garden–and mushroom compost.
There are plenty of organic foliar fertilizers. Gardens Alive and Arbico Organics may be two good resources. Personally, I would continue to try to feed the soil by adding homemade compost–or worm castings! Suburban_Farmer on Twitter is an awesome resource to learn about vermicomposting–plus she’s a wonderful person and lots of fun. In fact, you’ve inspired me to hurry up and edit the audio from my teleclass on which she and I discussed worm composting. I’ve learned a lot from her! I’ll post here when the audio’s available for download.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to tweet me anytime if you have any more questions. Also, I host a weekly free teleclass on organic gardening. We’re on sabbatical this week, but most every other week I have a wonderfully knowledgeable guest on who talks about and answers your questions about various organic gardening topics. You can sign up at http://www.askfarmerphoebe.com *end of self-promotional plug*
Thanks again for stopping by. I’ll tweet you later! 🙂
i HAD NO IDEA IT WAS ALL CHEMICAL BASED – i WAS JUST LOOKING FOR SAFE DIRT, OURS HAD LEAD IN IT.
IF I GROW VEGIES IN IT, WILL THE FOOD BE TAINTED SO MUCH SO IT IS NO GOOD?
I HAD NOT KNOWN THIS AND SPENT $140. ON THE DIRT AND THE GARDEN IS ALREADY PLANTED, ANY ADVICE?
How does the miracle grow replace basic composting / lime / etc? Growing up doing a 1/2 acre garden we never used anything other than Manure, Lime, Compost…. Is Miracle Grow some sort of replacement for one / all of these? We started our work in Early April until planting season.
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