For beginner organic gardening, in order to sell your crop as certified organic, you must follow USDA National Organic Program rules, and be certified by one of the accredited agencies listed in Organic Agriculture (PM 1880).
for example the state of Iowa organic certification rules will require the following: • No synthetic fertilizers for 36 months prior to the certified organic crop harvest.
• No synthetic pesticides (fungicides, insecticides, herbicides) for 36 months prior to the certified organic crop harvest.
• Crop rotations, including a soil-building legume or small grain/legume mix following row crops, to break weed, insect, and disease cycles and maintain soil fertility.
• No synthetic hormones or antibiotics for livestock may be used, and organic feeds and pastures must be fed.
• Soil fertility in beginner organic gardening systems is maintained primarily through crop rotations (usually corn soybeans-oat-alfalfa or some variation of this system) and through applications of composted or raw manure.
Seaweed, fish emulsion, or plant/animal-based products, such as alfalfa and feather-meal, can be applied as soil and foliage amendments in organic systems.
Though some of the above may seem a little extreme, please remember, beginner organic gardening is not just about the finished product but also about the environment as a whole.
Everything is connected and one thing always affect the other no matter hoe minute or seemingly intangible.
We must give back to the soil what we have taken and even where possible give back more that what was taken.
We must take care that we live with the land and not on it.
We are just as necessary as the simple nitrogen molecule is.