I am cleaning out my beds of castings and the question has come up whether these are "organic".

My bedding had been peat moss with rabbit manure as feed, along with a little shredded newspaper, veggie & fruit scraps, coffee grounds & filters. If I didn't buy Organic coffee, fruit and veggies originally, does that make my castings not "Organic"? I suppose the rabbits might have even had some medication too?

Larry c

Hey Larry,

Great question. I know it has been asked before, but not sure anyone could give a concrete answer.

I consider mine organic and when talking to buyers, I use the word organic when I talk about my product. I am careful to leave out the work "certified". That leads into a totally different ballgame altogether. Like you, my castings are made from shredded paper, veggie & fruit scraps and rabbit manure. Doubt seriously whether most of it was "organically" grown and I don't care. My castings have no added fillers or chemicals to boost the NPK ratings. So since the castings are not "doctored" in any way, I consider them to be organic. Just as Mother Nature intended.

i feel that when i hear organic i think of an all natural product, and at first i think the castings are, however one has to question any additives put into their bedding as in lime, which is naturally found as limestone, but when produced as quicklime found in most stores, this product has been heated changing its chemical structure, so would this still be considered natural? we assume that if any additive is added it is comsumed and processed by the worms, which to me would now make the castings natural. of course we would have to find out if any additves added not processed change the castings makeup. i believe http://www.omri.org/ this website would clear up any question about this subject.

I think 'organic' depends on the user. For someone putting castings on their garden- your castings are an organic amendment (as opposed to chemical fertilisers). For someone producing organic produce to sell on, they have to conform to the regulations of the organisation giving them certification. In some cases that may mean that all their suppliers are 'certified' too. Including their 'muck' suppliers.

I supply a certified organic vegetable producer with castings and had to be interviewed by their certifying agency about ingredients into castings. I use no manure and therefore meet the standards. However, had I used any manure, I was told, then it was a whole different process, especially if animal had been given any meds.

My bedding is shredded newspaper, cardboard and I feed veggie scraps and other organic wastes (leaves, yard clippings, etc).

FWIW

Perhaps the phrase "All Natural" would be a better descriptive term than "Organic" when used to describe worm castings that have no chemical additives and that have not been altered or augmented in any way.