Saturday, January 13, 2007

Where not to try and buy organic seed potatoes


Grey day on Highgate Hill
Originally uploaded by Marj Joly.
Yesterday, while visiting a garden centre in North London, somewhere not too far away from here, I spotted some seed potatoes. I thought great, potatoes will cheer me up! However they weren't organic but I thought, well maybe they will get some in soon, or have them somewhere else in the shop? I was wrong. The manager obviously disapproved. He told me he didn't think you could buy organic seed potatoes anywhere, and then unpleasantly told me that it was not what I put in the ground, it was what I did with it after that mattered. I don't think he liked it when I mentioned I normally got them from chase organics..but as I was here (buying some very expensive plant trays) thought I would ask. He went on to tell me how I did know that what I was buying was really organic! I replied how did I know that the seed potatoes he was selling were really good quality, and had not been treated with chemicals that I didn't want? I left the shop. I will not be going back there again.

When I go shopping I don't expect to be grilled on my beliefs like that. But then I have experienced strange attitudes in other shops in this part of London as well...it's like you go up the hill, and into another world. I'm better off staying at the bottom...and will continue to buy what I want online.