Peat Free Gardening

by Eliza Olson

10% of global warming is caused by the the destruction of peatlands and that we could reduce CO2 by actively restoring and stopping the destruction of peatlands world-wide.

I hope all of you when you go the the gardening outlets that you specifically ask for "peat free" gardening soil.

Compost is one of your best alternatives as well as worm castings, manure (I always find 'steer manure' rather odd. How can you tell 'steer manure' from 'bull manure' or 'heifer manure' or "mama cow' manure? I'm a farm girl from a way back and I can't.)

Green Star Products formerly Allies Wholesale or Grotek located in Langley, BC was the first Canadian company to bring in coir or coconut fibre. It is ph neutral while peat is acidic and requires the use of lime with it.

Coir regenerates in about two to three years. Peat extractors usually remove 22cm from the top of a peat bog while the sphagnum moss only grows about 1mm a year. Due to the way ships are employed, the coir comes back in ships that otherwise might be empty so that helps to reduce its carbon footprint.

If you are not sure of what products to use as alternatives, contact the Burns Bog Conservation Society for its booklet, Alternatives to Peat Moss: a Gardener's Guide. You can contact the Society directly or go to its eBay store and order it through the store. Whatever you do, for "peat's sake, don't use peat" in your gardens