Gardenz Own

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Being an organic gardener, I can't help but want to spread "the word". Spreading the organic word, however, isn't as easily spread as compost. With compost you can never lay it on too thick. With potential organic converts, one has to go gentle into that good garden and trod lightly on their previously herbicided lawn. And so it was with interest and a bit of trepidation that I decided to enter the lion's den of chemical herbicides and pesticides and all things synthetic (despite their alleged 100% organic line of products)...and join Scotts/Miracle Gro Forums. I won't do them the service or provide the free publicity of posting a link. Besides, if you're an organ-o-phile, you'd be wasting your time there. As I found out.

My intent was to impart whatever paltry bit of organic alternative information I could to gardeners and wanna-be-gardeners who expressed concern about the products they were applying to their lawns and gardens. Were they safe? What exactly did they contain? Could their children walk and play upon it? Would they harm their pets, the birds and other wildlife they encouraged into their gardens?

My comments, the links I provided were not the be all and end all. They were bits of much-researched (I might add) information that could very easily be verified or nullified. That's why God invented Google.

But lo and behold after but a day there and having the audacity to challenge conventional chemical eh..."wisdom"...I got The Boot. Gee, I'd been diplomatic. Like am I ever not? Helpful, I thought, and not confrontational, I thought. Alas, when trying to access the most recent post I'd made this evening on their er..."forums"...I find I was blocked access. Banned. Banished. Censored. No amount of even Googling their site could sneak me past the synthetic storm troopers.

Being quite dogged when cornered, however, I finally accessed a cached Google page of at least two of the posts I made there regarding a worried parent's concerns over using 2,4-D and their child's safety. After one response I made offering links and references and (of course) my own personal opinion, I suddenly knew how it must feel to sit in The Hot Seat across from Bill O'Reilly, that bastion of journalistic integrity. (How far can I roll my eyes in the back of my head?) My words and intent were spun like fine strands of specious wool. Can wool be specious? Well, the webmasters at Scotts forums can and they chafed a bit, too. Just like wool.

I would post here what I wrote and what were the responses, but as I already stated, why give them the publicity. Far be it from me (especially at this point) to misguide any reader to linger at that place. Their forums, like their fertilizers and weed killers leave a stench that is hard to remove. Ever walked the garden supply aisles of Home Depot or Lowes? Then you know what I mean.

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