A very well reasoned posting and I feel that this wraps-up a great many peoples thoughts especially my own. So if you haven't got the right home compost to hand at the time it is needed you do not rule things out through sheer dogma. Bravo!I have to agree with the last few posts and I like the term good gardening practice. I could never be 'organic' in the sense that the Soil Association defines it and it doesn't bother me one little bit. My garden rarely sees 'chemical' fertilizers and pesticides but it does see them occasionally because I'd rather have a crop than starve. I know a couple of local farmers who tried organic and came out of it for a variety of reasons. They did learn from the experience that excessive reliance on 'chemicals' was not always a good thing. I'd call that good agricultural practice.
Nobody in their right mind would use a chemical "cide" unless there is another way around the problem. I use herbicides but not on productive land with the exception of killing off an isolated incident when the offending weed will affect my crop and this will be applied by hand and not sprayed. I do not believe in losing a crop for somebody else's misguided principles.
Slug pellets have been so improved and made safer and a whole lot more environmentally friendly that I cannot see why people still refuse to use them. I still use Nicotine because it is a natural pesticide. It is used very sparingly and protect other insects especially bees when I use it. I have had occaision to use it about three times in the last ten years so it is not so habit forming as is made out to be.
I call good gardening practice 'Pragmatic Gardening.'
JB.