Now is the time to be ordering and planting bulbs. It's exciting to envisage all the glorious shapes and colours that will burst forth in the Spring. Sadly, I have to make you aware of one horrible fact, which I think many of us didn't realise. Bulb growing is
big business, and like all crop and plant production on a massive scale, this now involves the use of neonicotinoids ( pesticides which are being implicated in the death of bees and other insects, and maybe also directly, or indirectly, the demise of many birds). Bulbs are dipped in these chemical cocktails, and the residues can stay in the soil and plant matter for up to ten years.
You can buy organic bulbs; the chose isn't great and they are more expensive and you have to search them out. A bumper pack of bee-friendly bulbs from Ecobulbs (sold through The Organic Gardening Catalogue) works out at 50p a bulb. I consider that to be the true price and value of one miraculous bulb. If you consider that it's life span will be many years, that it will increase, and grow more little bulbils and that it WON'T harm the environment or wildlife, it's very good value for money.
This is my first blog and I debated whether to open on such a gloomy note, but this is a very real problem. If you are caring enough to be visiting this website, I hope you are concerned enough to take this on board........so PLEASE as you pass that bag of bulbs at the supermarket, or pop down to the garden centre, think twice.
You can buy organic bulbs online from the above mentioned company and also from Naturescape.
Last thought.......in the 1600s, tulip bulbs were considered so desirable, that one bulb could fetch the price of the average workers' yearly salary tenfold..........
big business, and like all crop and plant production on a massive scale, this now involves the use of neonicotinoids ( pesticides which are being implicated in the death of bees and other insects, and maybe also directly, or indirectly, the demise of many birds). Bulbs are dipped in these chemical cocktails, and the residues can stay in the soil and plant matter for up to ten years.
You can buy organic bulbs; the chose isn't great and they are more expensive and you have to search them out. A bumper pack of bee-friendly bulbs from Ecobulbs (sold through The Organic Gardening Catalogue) works out at 50p a bulb. I consider that to be the true price and value of one miraculous bulb. If you consider that it's life span will be many years, that it will increase, and grow more little bulbils and that it WON'T harm the environment or wildlife, it's very good value for money.
This is my first blog and I debated whether to open on such a gloomy note, but this is a very real problem. If you are caring enough to be visiting this website, I hope you are concerned enough to take this on board........so PLEASE as you pass that bag of bulbs at the supermarket, or pop down to the garden centre, think twice.
You can buy organic bulbs online from the above mentioned company and also from Naturescape.
Last thought.......in the 1600s, tulip bulbs were considered so desirable, that one bulb could fetch the price of the average workers' yearly salary tenfold..........
RSS Feed
