All soil is organic and there is no "body" that certifies that soils is organic. The Organic Materials Review Institute is supposed to review and certify materials that go into the soil to improve it but they are slacking off in the view of many.

THANK you so much for responding. I guess you can see why I'm confused by his question. So you're saying that when he asks which regulating body, he means "who is reviewing and certifying the soil?"

I'm sorry if its a dumb question. I have little to no knowledge or experience with gardening or soil. I'm worried that if they find out I'm not experienced, they might take advantage of me and charge me triple the amount.

The company I'm looking to order from advertises that all of their soil is certified organic. So I'm really confused as to why he is asking me who will be reviewing the soil I purchase from him.

Essentially I'm looking to order their soil, ship it across the country, and add my own recipe of organic ingredients to create customized soils for different gardening needs. But I dont want any chemicals added. I want 100% organic. So I figured if I am using their soil, it's already certified organic and I won't need to have it reviewed and tested.

What are your thoughts?

Again I can't thank you enough for responding to my question so quickly. I apologize if I'm not using this site correctly or if I'm asking too much. I really appreciate any response or advice I can get, from an experienced and knowledgeable gardener.

Kind Regards,

An Aspiring Green Thumb

Shipping soils across the country is really a ridiculous proposition!! It is excessively expensive and there is really no need....local soils are just as likely to be perfectly suitable for your needs as anything across the country!!

As noted above, ALL soils are organic........they are formed from naturally occurring components - rocks, sand, silt, clay and organic matter - over the course of 1000's of years. Anyone advertising "organic" soils is just playing on public ignorance :-) Enhanced soils or those to which compost or composted manures or biosolids may be added can alter a soil's 'organic' character, so that's what you need to be on alert with. Some commercial compost IS certified organic however most is not. The only way to be assured of that is to make your own.

If the company is advertising all their soil is "certified organic" (which is a pretty telling statement all on its own), then they are the ones who should have the ability to tell YOU who the regulating body is that performed the certification!!

If you care to share what sort of growing operation you anticipate undertaking, then perhaps we can guide you to the right kind of soil to get you started.

I will just add to what the others are saying. Unless your soil is contaminated with a toxic substance, it is probably already a good complex starting point for garden soil.

Next you are going to add what it doesn't have to balance it out. For that you get a soil test done from a state, county, or university agriculture department and they can walk you through what should be added to your soil.

Unless you have actual forest floor as a starting point, that will probably include more organic matter like compost, plus missing nutrients and trace elements, and possibly something to balance the pH to match what you want to grow.

Only bring in soil if you have a hole you need to fill or a lot to level.

^^ Good advice.

I think what the vendor was asking was, what Organic standard do you want the product to meet? And since you don't have one in mind, your answer can be "It's not critical, I just want the soil to be free of added chemicals." Which it will be if it's being sold as 'organic'.

However I still agree with Gardengal about transporting soil across the country. You should be able to source an equally good compost-amended soil almost anywhere. I have concerns about your business model in terms of not only sustainability (shipping soil long distances) but also profit margin.

It turns out that the national organic farming standards (as I recall) don't actually have any requirements for what goes into the compost that is used to amend soil at an organic farm. So for example one could use manure from non-organically-grown cattle, or food scraps from non-organic foods, to make compost. All that's required is that chemicals aren't added directly to the farming operation.

I suggest undertaking some kind of serious formal training in horticulture and business before depending on the success of a gardening business for your livelihood. For instance a two year degree from a community college with a horticulture department.

For future reference: unfortunately the term 'organic' is used in two different ways.

'Organic material' is vegetative waste that we put into the compost pile to make compost which is added to soil to increase its organic matter content. I spell this with a small o. The other meaning, as in Organic farming, Organic vegetables, etc., meaning 'no added synthetic chemicals or fertilizers', I spell with a capital O.

I assume this soil supplier means Organic, since he's asking what Organic farming standard you want it to meet. But some vendors advertise 'organic soil' meaning a soil amended with compost.

I'm so glad you made this post. I needed help with those terms as well.

This helps me so much, thank you!

- Ian

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