The recommended organic spray for late blight is copper. The prices for copper are astronomical on account of copper just costs a lot right now. Last year as usual I grew my tomatoes from seeds. Hearing about late blight, I tried an experiment with straw mulch for my big tomatoes, which is one recommended response. I had my cherries in pots. My neighbor bought his tomato plants. When the blight hit, his plants all dropped dead in a period of two days. My straw-mulched plants didn't do too well, since I was not used to using a straw mulch and didn't notice they needed water as often as I would have otherwise. They did get blight eventually, but it didn't matter much, since the lack of water seriously cut into their production. The plants in pots did okay. Eventually, they did get blight, no doubt from my neighbor's plants. The one that lived longest was Matt's Wild Cherry. I decided that this year I would not grow any tomatoes, that I would buy them from areas of the country that aren't getting late blight, because I just had a feeling that the late blight would be back. Sure enough, it is in PA (I'm 15 mi from PA in NY, so it's just a matter of time). A friend of mine who grows a lot of his own food is growing Matt's Wild Cherry for tomatoes this year and foregoing the copper. Good soil? My plants had very good soil. But it's soil, not a force field. When there is that much disease around, it doesn't matter how good the soil is.

RpR, thank you. I've looked up the average monthly temperatures and it's pretty much the same, except for 3 to 4 months (December through March) that are warmer in Colorado. I'm not sure what I will do yet, if I want them in my windbreak or not but if I do I will buy them locally. pnbrown, I will order it right away! I've read a few pages through the "Look inside" option on Amazon and it does seem interesting! althea - thank you for the link! I do believe that chlorothalonil has been banned for lawn maintenance in Quebec, since 2006, but I don't think it's been banned for agriculture use. There are dozens and dozens of different pesticides that can be used for potato fields though and I will have to ask the owners of the lands behind our house if they use chlorothalonil. I've located the owners but am still debating on how to approach them regarding the pesticides... The owners are quite old and I don't want them to think I'm rude or that I want them to change their ways or anything. I do know however that they will be using these lands for industrial hemp for a few years starting next year, and from what I could gather on the subject pesticides aren't sprayed on hemp. I think they're also dealing with nematodes right now and that could be why they accepted to use their lands for something else than potatoes - I've heard they are ravaging their plants. As far as jacking the house, since we have the basement it is impossible to do. And well, it's not just the fact that my BF and father built the house, but also that my whole family lives close. Moving is out of the question right now, as I mentioned earlier, but I'm ready to take all kinds of extra steps to reduce our exposure to chemicals and toxins all around our place. As a side note they finally came back to spray their lands yesterday (for the 1st time since I started this thread). They were not spraying the same way as they usually do... the tractor normally sprays in a perpendicular manner (facing our street/house and going back in the opposite direction) but yesterday, he sprayed in-parallel with our street/house. I'm not sure if he did it this way because of the wind direction but it's the first time I ever saw him spraying like this. greginnd - I appreciate this discussion as well. :) I find it very refreshing to be able to talk with people who are as much concerned about their health (or the environment) as I am. I mean, many members of my family and friends usually think I'm nuts for doing everything I'm doing (the whole organic/vegan/green aspect of living) and I've been having a hard time dealing with some of the things they do and not care one bit about. Anyways, I really do enjoy these discussions! Regarding the winery, I've read in the pesticide book mentioned in my very first post that grapes are nearly as heavily sprayed with pesticides as apples. I'm guessing you're planning on doing everything organic? Or as safe as humanely possible for both humans and the environment? Very interesting about the herbicide staying in the soil for years. For my future garden I was planning on doing something similar like square foot gardening. I am not sure I would use any "special" soil (as suggested by Mel Bartholemew) but I was planning on using some other type of soil than the one we have in the yard. I'll be careful about where the soil comes from, for sure. From the research I did on the owners of the field behind our house, they are not corporate farmers. Some of their family members are however, and own lands in other areas of our town. Your garden looks very big - and clean! Very impressive! I'm used to seeing my mother's garden and it sure looks nothing like yours. She lets weeds grow everywhere and really isn't working on it that much. How big actually is your garden? I've been wondering how big of a garden I should do for my boyfriend and I. We do eat a lot of vegetables and fruits (though less fruit than veggies), and I juice quite a bit as well (at least once a day). I was thinking about making a garden that would be big enough that we were able to go through a few winter months with our own supply of vegetables (I would make and then freeze our juices in advance) but I have not been able to determine how big that garden should be. I guess it'd be a trial and error thing. And I totally agree - the one thing I am very sure about from the research I've done so far is that a plant-based diet is what seems to be the most healthy for humans, as long as these plants are as free of chemicals/pesticides as possible and consumed as raw as possible. I've found many raw food recipes that look great and I can't wait to order my food dehydrator to make some of them already! Well, I wish you good luck with that winery project of yours. :-) I cannot get myself to drink a glass of wine as of right now - I hate the taste of it - but I've been told (about 7 years ago when I was just shy of 20) it's something you get to enjoy more as you age. Oh well, maybe some day.

No chemicals or pesticides for years and as of the last two years, no tilling... and my garden gets better every year. The only things I use sparingly (so sparingly that I haven't used any so far this year) is an organic fungicide and some BT for controlling caterpillars (also have not used this so far). The only scary thing about using no pesticides and no herbicides is that things will always get worse before they get better. Basically, detrimental insects are the first to show up, they are opportunistic feeders and when presented with tender and delicious garden crops they will begin feasting. Their numbers will likely grow large assuming they have enough to eat and ideal conditions in other respects. Only once their numbers are fairly significant will the beneficial predatory insects begin to show up because their food (other insects) is now readily available. For my garden, the first on the scene are aphids, then come the flea beetles... Their numbers grow large, my plants leaves begin to look like they're part of a shooting range with holes all over the place. Then the ladybugs show up, then the hoverflies, then green lacewings and I get treated to the site of a praying mantis every now and then. The aphids nearly disappear, the flea beetles reduce in number so as to become non-issue and sometimes they disappear completely. Organic gardening without pesticides and herbicides is easy, once you figure out what works in your area - that's where the research and trial and error begin. The biggest thing I learned is that gardening without pesticides and herbicides means you need to plan things out and do things differently, generally at different times of year. I was always taught (non-organic) to till and add fertilizer in the spring, give your plants some "blue water" once they’re a certain size, and some more at regular intervals for the rest of the season; When the bugs show-up, spray them. For weeds, I was always told to use block material or landscape fabric, it’ll keep weeds from coming through. What I do now is no-till with mulching about 3-4 times a year using locally grown hay (preferably alfalfa hay - though it's more expensive and I generally go with a mix) maintaining a 4-6" deep layer for most of the year. The hay mulch smothers just about every weed, retains soil moisture, protects the soil life, and feeds the soil as it breaks down; It's great stuff. In the fall I top-dress my amendments: Compost made from kitchen scraps, some manure (free) from a local horse farm, chopped leaves and grass, and then hay over the top - It rots over the fall, winter, and early spring. Then (early spring) I add more hay and then I plant directly into it. By the time plants go into the soil, they have everything they need for pretty much the whole season. Mid-to-late season I'll pile on some more mulch to maintain about 4-6 inches in mulch thickness and keep the flow of food into the soil. No spraying for bugs involved in any of that. It actually works out to also be a lot cheaper since I have no real need to buy any fertilizers and to mulch 400 sq ft. of garden costs 16 dollars.

Usually skip this subject since I've no experience with sprays besides some traditionals like sulfur & copper used many moons ago on fruit trees. Given my ignorance & the range of opinions, hesitant to even stick a toe in these waters, but (here we go) feel the need to share some thoughts. We all acknowledge we can't grow some roses as perennials in the open garden due to intrinsic climate & site unsuitability, available space & individual practical considerations at any given time. We intentionally eliminate some roses from consideration for not meeting our bloom & growth preferences. Of those we do select, some will self-eliminate despite our care or be rejected down the road for not living up to expectations or no longer appealing as our tastes change. The most critical of my criteria for choosing any rose is its reputation for health & vitality in conditions similar to my own. Gardening more than 50 years in typically humid & fungal prone locations zoomed this to the top of the list long ago. Heavy physical reactions to all the "-cides" except elemental since childhood prohibits their use, as does my philosophical worldview. So I garden the old-fashioned way, pre sophisticated chemical compounds, by necessity. From my point of view, the health potential of any plant is expressed by positive response to its environment - nature vs. nurture - and the availability of the elements & conditions it needs to thrive tilt the odds to favor this expression. We all know moving a shaded rose into more sunlight often "cures" its blackspot outbreak, athough fungal exposure hasn't changed, and that roses sometimes outgrow these outbreaks with maturity. Believe boosting the plant's immune system by helping nature provide those essentials allows it to function optimally on its own, so concentrate my efforts on these aspects. (Same principles as human health. Incidentally, fortify my immune function with the internal products of plants' immune systems - essential oils - borrowing from the plants as it were, the core of traditional botanical medicine.) When we first came to this garden 16 years ago, it had been installed & maintained by a college groundskeeper for 7 years on heavy-duty chemical prevention principles. Extensive shrubbery had been maintained with yearly chunky woodchips atop that of prior applications - 6" worth suffocating the soil without deteriorating though covered in sour-smelling fungus. Couldn't find a worm wherever I dug outside the woods & not a bug, good or bad, in evidence besides mosquitos, flies & chiggers. The few roses were dwindling away under this treatment, bare shadows of their potential. Reversed that trend with organic husbandry & the worms returned. Fed the beneficial microorganisms that fed the worms that till & aerate the soil & the soil web reestablished itself to create an environment in which suitable plants can thrive. For years now, the gardens have welcomed a wide variety of inhabitants that appear to have found an interwoven balance with which I'd be loath to meddle. Beneficials & birds keep the ruffians in check most seasons with an assist from the hose. One year the garden club girls (one fellow joined as I was leaving) spent an entire initial meeting exclaiming about decimation the Japanese beetles wrought over the Summer. Apparently no one believed my surprise & report that only a few spotted here that season not far from their gardens, or they might have wondered what could be different here... Many roses brought in over the years, some with blackspot or mildew from travel stress, so likely a mix of farflung varieties present. Most got over it, as have those which arrived this humid rainy season, including a spotted Buff Beauty bought locally. Fungals show up here & there in small bouts with minor fleeting consequence (knock on wood). Still not brave enough to intentionally choose roses not known for their good health, some of those with mixed reviews doing well. Those among the dear departed were dispatched by deer, storms, cold, neglect & seeming suicide. Shovel pruned 2 for RRD. In my book, really not a bad record for all the years & varieties attempted. Saved a lot of bucks & effort counted up over time, alternately spent on new plants & garden stuff. But then, an admittedly lazy gardener relying on simple methods to support health, the weather gods (as do we all) & beneficial energies... Longwinded way of saying it can be done - growing roses naturally in the humid fungus-ridden Southeast - by way of encouragement to those considering a change of method & solidarity with those already doing it, too. This post was edited by vasue on Sun, Jun 22, 14 at 21:37