May be you have been told that SLUDGE is Safe and Organic.May be you have beleived that no toxic heavy metals and company are there to contaminate your garden after applying sludge...may be ...may be yes or may be no.Here are the latest news in case you skipped it while tending to youer farm or garden chores.Share it with a friend and be AWARE:I qoute OCA (organic consumer association) down below article copied for easy reference:

"Outrage in San Francisco: City Gives Residents 'Organic' Compost Containing Toxic Sewage Sludge

Action Alert

Tell San Francisco's Mayor and City Officials to Stop Spreading Sewage Sludge Under the Guise of Organic Fertilizer

Toxic sludge is good for you?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, along with municipal governments across the US, want farmers, school, and backyard gardeners to grow their veggies using toxic sludge, spreading the outrageous lie that municipal wastewater sewage plants can somehow magically transform hazardous materials into "organic fertilizer."

Toxic sludge is poison.

Scientific evidence has confirmed that municipal sewage sludge contains hundreds of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy metals, flame-retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial plants.

Sewage sludge contains everything the sewage treatment plant was able to remove from the sewage - plus every new chemical and pathogen formed in the mad synergy of this chemical soup, including virulent, antibiotic-resistant bacteria created through horizontal gene transfer.

San Francisco public officials have helped the toxic sludge industry score a major victory in the Bay Area, where they've been able to convince hundreds of regional (non-organic) farmers to spread the hazardous material on farm land and pasture, and have actually been able to get city residents to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic sludge and spread it over their backyard and community gardens.

San Francisco is a strategic battleground to stop the sludge industry from poisoning more farms and communities. In 1998 the organic community rose up and banned the use of sewage sludge in organic farming. Now it's time to ban its use on farms, gardens, lawns, and land in general.

Sewage sludge is a form of hazardous waste and needs to be contained and isolated as such.

California proposition 65 (P65) requires the listing of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Chemicals known to the SFPUC that are in San Francisco sewage sludge that are also found on the California P65 list include:

Mercury - Molybdenum - Cobalt - Antimony Chromium - Dibenzofurans - Naphthalene - 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (Dbcp) - Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate (Dehp) - Tcdd Equivalents (Dioxins) Such As Octachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxins (Ocdd)

Stop Sludge!

Click Here to Sign Our Petition

Click here to download OCA's Sludge Leaflet (PDF)

Organizations that have signed onto the letter asking Mayor Newsom to stop spreading toxic sludge on the city include:

Organic Consumers Association - Consumers Union - Arc Ecology - California Communities Against Toxics - California Food & Justice Coalition - Center for Environmental Health - Center for Food Safety - Center for Health, Environment & Justice - Earth Share California - East Bay Green Tours - Ecology Center - Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy) - GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) - Green Cafe Network - Help for Sewage Victims - Lessing/Sears Community Garden - Local Harvest - MOMAS (Mothers of Marin Against the Spray) - North Berkeley Harvest - People's Grocery -  Planting Justice - Safe Food and Fertilizer - San Francisco Green Party - Teamsters Union - United Sludge -Free Alliance

SLUDGE Info

• Sludge News
• Sewage Sludge Action Network
• Sewage Sludge Victims
• Sludge Facts
• United Sludge Free Alliance
• Reading a Fertilizer Label

Sustainable Solutions

Outrage in San Francisco: City Gives Residents 'Organic' Compost Containing Toxic Sewage Sludge

Action Alert

Tell San Francisco's Mayor and City Officials to Stop Spreading Sewage Sludge Under the Guise of Organic Fertilizer

Toxic sludge is good for you?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, along with municipal governments across the US, want farmers, school, and backyard gardeners to grow their veggies using toxic sludge, spreading the outrageous lie that municipal wastewater sewage plants can somehow magically transform hazardous materials into "organic fertilizer."

Toxic sludge is poison.

Scientific evidence has confirmed that municipal sewage sludge contains hundreds of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy metals, flame-retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial plants.

Sewage sludge contains everything the sewage treatment plant was able to remove from the sewage - plus every new chemical and pathogen formed in the mad synergy of this chemical soup, including virulent, antibiotic-resistant bacteria created through horizontal gene transfer.

San Francisco public officials have helped the toxic sludge industry score a major victory in the Bay Area, where they've been able to convince hundreds of regional (non-organic) farmers to spread the hazardous material on farm land and pasture, and have actually been able to get city residents to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic sludge and spread it over their backyard and community gardens.

San Francisco is a strategic battleground to stop the sludge industry from poisoning more farms and communities. In 1998 the organic community rose up and banned the use of sewage sludge in organic farming. Now it's time to ban its use on farms, gardens, lawns, and land in general.

Sewage sludge is a form of hazardous waste and needs to be contained and isolated as such.

California proposition 65 (P65) requires the listing of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Chemicals known to the SFPUC that are in San Francisco sewage sludge that are also found on the California P65 list include:

Mercury - Molybdenum - Cobalt - Antimony Chromium - Dibenzofurans - Naphthalene - 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (Dbcp) - Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate (Dehp) - Tcdd Equivalents (Dioxins) Such As Octachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxins (Ocdd)

Stop Sludge!

Click Here to Sign Our Petition

Click here to download OCA's Sludge Leaflet (PDF)

Organizations that have signed onto the letter asking Mayor Newsom to stop spreading toxic sludge on the city include:

Organic Consumers Association - Consumers Union - Arc Ecology - California Communities Against Toxics - California Food & Justice Coalition - Center for Environmental Health - Center for Food Safety - Center for Health, Environment & Justice - Earth Share California - East Bay Green Tours - Ecology Center - Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy) - GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) - Green Cafe Network - Help for Sewage Victims - Lessing/Sears Community Garden - Local Harvest - MOMAS (Mothers of Marin Against the Spray) - North Berkeley Harvest - People’s Grocery - Pesticide Watch - Planting Justice - Safe Food and Fertilizer - San Francisco Green Party - Teamsters Union - United Sludge -Free Alliance

SLUDGE Info

• Sludge News
• Sewage Sludge Action Network
• Sewage Sludge Victims
• Sludge Facts
• United Sludge Free Alliance
• Reading a Fertilizer Label

Sustainable Solutions ".Qoute!

Unqoute, knowledge is power and it may save lives if you head it by  acting on it ,and  verify and prove it as  true.I did.You may check out the  EU regulations on sludge just in case you are not convinced yet.

Bon appetite!

Have you ever asked yourself this question: Why container gardening is easier to handle than the yard gardening?

Well, here are some benefits listings  to encourage you to start an organic garden in containers if you live in a studio,efficiency,apartment without any access to a front or back yard.

Here in South Florida we are in the 9-10 agricultural zone.Keep this in mind because what defines which plants to grow and which not to is relevant to the zone category which is governed by climatic temperature in general.

I have noticed that the following reasons from my own experience suffice to consider container gardening especially for a new comer to S.Florida or a new gardener  .Here are some observations to take note of Organic  Container Gardening:

1-It is cheaper and SAVES  you money,energy, water conservation,and time.

2-It is SIMPLE and requires no special  expensive big garden tools and accessories.Small inexpensive tools will be enough.

3-It is INSTANT and requires not much efforts or resources to start and maintain. 

4-It is more accessible to the elderly,children and  people  with disabilities.

5-It is more PRONE  to manage,move  during inclement weather or the hurricane season.

6-It is EASY to maintain ,with less weeding for example .

7-It is FUN.You may like to decorate the containers with drawings or painting etc..and place at locations that you find more convenient .

8-It is PRODUCTIVE if you choose to grow fruits,veggies and herbs.

9-It is easy to SALVAGE if you choose to relocate or  otherwisewas obliged get evicted.

10-It is more FLEXIBLE  to locate  either indoors or outdoors.