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Article: Background The term ìorganic gardeningî is of fairly recent origin. J.I. Rodale is credited with first using the word ìorganicî to describe the ìnatural method of gardening and farmingî by his sonRobert Rodale. The senior Rodale used it in founding his publication, Organic Gardening and Farming, in 1942. The term ìorganic farmingî was first printed in the 1940 publication, Look to the Land, by Lord Northbourne.1 Not just a technique, but a philosophy as well, the components of what we now call organic gardening and farming have been practiced for centuries. Practice of good husbandry of the land was of significant importance to ancient writers such as Cato, Virgil, Pliny and Columella.2 The rotation of crops was recommended by Thomas Tusser in his classic and often reprinted work of 1580, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry3 In this country ìgreen manuring and manuresî was discussed in depth by John Wolfinger in the 1864 Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture4 two years after President Abraham Lincoln established the Department of Agriculture. Pioneers of organic practices in the United States have acknowledged their debt to these men and to others whose written works continue to influence us. J.I. Rodale, believed by many to be the father of organic practices in the U.S., called Sir Albert Howard of England the ìfather of the movement.î Howard's classic study on soil fertility, An Agricultural Testament5 includes a chapter on the ìAgriculture of the Nations Which Have Passed Awayî as well as observations of agricultural techniques practiced worldwide. Today, due to the influence of those pioneers, knowledge of organic practices has spread among the public, especially gardeners. Carole Ottesen, an editor of The American Gardener, writes about the renewed interest of U.S. gardeners in the organic movement in her article, ìAmericaís Second Green Revolution.î6 She suggests that an increasing interest in organic gardening is mirrored in the circulation of J.I. Rodaleís magazine, Organic Gardening (split into two publications, OG and Organic Style in 2001), which was over 1 million7 in 2003. Additionally, there is a growing body of information about organic gardening, and it is available across formats (print and electronic) and across disciplines. Some of this interest in organic gardening may also have been stimulated by the recent public comment period for and implementation of the National Organic Program8 Final Rule of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), defining and regulating ìorganicî production and handling of agricultural products. Currently, agricultural products that meet the standards governed by this act may be labeled with a ìUSDA Organicî seal. Consumers who see or choose these products may also wish to grow them in home gardens. Additionally, as farmers adopt organic production methods to meet consumer demand, information about organic production is ever more widely sought and distributed.
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