I have always thought Organic is Not using harmful chemicals. Insecticides and weed killers. Fertilizers, But Using natural ways to treat and help grow.
Using nature to work for you such as planting specific plants that have odor to deter insects. An example is marigolds around tomato plants .
Creating a garden that has a synergistic relationship. Like what you did with the water fountain. Making own compost and mulch.

I know that they sell organic seeds. I suppose there are purists out there and won't use seeds that come from plants that have been treated with chemicals. They won't use just a natural herbicide or insecticide but the oil has to come from an organic grown plant. Organic to some means where the source originates from. Going back generations of that plant never using any harmful chemical. And I think that is the same "rule" applied for something to be labeled "certified organic".

I don't grow 100% organic. I'm happy with doing my best to avoid using chemicals as much as possible.
I weed by hand too and I buy organic soils. Have used natural ways to deter insects like planting garlic bulbs is supposed to deter Japanese Beatles.
Didn't exactly work. :) lol
I've Used oils to treat plants. Recently used neem oil. A natural fungicide and insecticide.
Peppermint oil deters insects in the home.

I just heard about that naturegirl, about the peppermint deterring insects. thanks for reminding me. Hugs GB

Good question Pepper. Really how can you prevent chemicals from getting involved since they are virtually everywhere now-a-days, some in very tiny amounts but still there. So it has to become a question of quantity. I'd say it becomes what is acceptable or tolerable for an individually. otherwise someone has to determine some sort of PPM level, and that is highly subjective. Sorry, I answered your question by bringing us right back to the original question.

ORGANIC IS TO TREAT THE ENVIRONMENT WITH RESPECT, FEEDING THE EARTH WITH NATURAL FERTILISER, NO CHEMICALS, PHOSFATE, AND ALL THE HORRIBLE STUFF THEY SPRAY ON THE FRUIT, PESTICIDE, INSECTICIDE, AND SO ON, CHEMICALS MAN MADE..*
THEY ACTUALLY PUT THIS SHINY WAX ON LEMONS AND ORANGES, TO MAKE THEM LOOK NICE, ITS THE TASTE THAT COUNT, HEALTHY FRUIT, NOT CHEMICALS THAT HARM OUR BODIES**

Organic was tested on a T.V. news research show. Lots are false claims for food you buy,& since the air, water & soil is also polluted it is sometimes a crock! Also, the neighbouring farmer may pollute the organic farmer!

If a cow was feed antibiotics, sprayed with insecticides, fed genetically modified corn, would you consider vegetables grown in soil fertilized with its manure to be organic?

Redsilverfox, Yeah I have heard of that before. It's probably impossible to avoid ALL forms of pollution and harmful stuff. I suppose aiming for the least amount is the goal.

MrZ, Well they say you are what you eat and if you apply the same principal to the cow then my answer would be no the cow's doo doo would not be organic as all that harmful stuff would have been excreted with it.

So maybe these organic farmers use manure from grass fed cows that haven't been treated.

I can see how this could get deep. Where would it stop.
I suppose one could live in a bubble on a remote island somewhere. Even then I'm sure the problem would be mercury from the fish that we'd eat.

Well it looks like we are all doomed. yep.

I have the space, so I compost a lot of my stuff. All my lawn clippings go into the compost pile, and those wonderful dead leaves from the hedges go through the mower and then into the pile. Left over veggie stuff goes there too. (Corn cobs, wilted lettuce, what ever I can gather too!)

So my compost is mostly organic. Sometimes my wife sprays herbicide to kill the weeds. I try to let time pass before lawn clippings go into the pile when she does that. She also sprays for ants. Never tell a person with an ant phobia to not spray for ants; the resulting anger is not worth it!

I have my own standard for organic which I'm not sure is acceptable to others. I'd agree with naturegirl that we should aim for the least possible questionable material and no or only unavoidable micro-quantities of dangerous stuff. That said, we live in the real world. There are things happening which we have no control of and unfortunately we must trust others knowledge of the situation. Here the federal minimum levels of harmful materials need to be put into perspective, maybe as a starting point for your own standard.

Oh No don't mention ants.

I have had a battle with them for the past year which I think I've finally won.
They made a home in MY home. Underneath the house somehow or in the walls. But they had a nest and possibly more than one somewhere but wasn't on the outside of the house. I had them in my kitchen and wash room mainly but they have turned up in other rooms too. . It doesn't matter how clean you are. Even a crumb on the counter. The next day there would be hundreds of ants on my counter. No kidding. It was the creepiest thing.

Then only a few weeks back in our office/bedroom. I saw ants around the outlet coming through the hole. I got a screw driver and nervously took the cover plate off the outlet. Aaaargh, a ton of ants were all in there. Falling out onto the carpet and crawling everywhere. I had a mini freak out.

I treated the area with terra ant powder. That did the trick.
I've tried the terra ant baits before but it seemed to attract them which is the intent at first but I had the baits down for weeks and they kept on coming! There was no end. Lol.

So I changed to the powder and I'm happy with the results. I have sprinkled it behind my stove as that was one entrance hole there were coming in and out.
In other areas I use a small artist paint brush and dust powder very carefully in cracks and around base boards. I know it's toxic so I'm careful and my dog doesn't go near it.
It seems to have worked. I've seen about 1 ant. If an ant is on its own it's a scout checking out the area. So it's good to get the critter before he goes and gets his friends.

I have treated outside the perimeter of my home with ant powder too.

I know peppermint is meant to deter insects but the amount of ants. I needed the big guns.

So no I'm not always environmental friendly. Nope. Lol

Ants,,,, OMG they can be real curse. You can never win the war with ants only the current battle. We occasionally get them on our kitchen counters. A good safe treatment is dish detergent. We have a spray bottle with 10 or more parts water to 1 part dish detergent. When ants visit, just spray them lightly, wipe them up with a dish rag, and drop the rag into a bowl of water. After several minutes they're dead. Ants will find their way back to your counter by a scent they leave. Find that trail and wipe it down with a little ammonia, that sometimes helps. When they are in the garden I leave them alone.