This spring as I was hunting for unique perennial herbs to add to the farmlet I ended up ordering plugs from a conventional nursery (called Richters Herbs in Canada). They shipped the starts to me via mail, and they were beautiful and survived trip surprisingly well.

However, then came the realization that under my certification, there are special rules for purchasing non-organic planting stock.

After checking in with the Certification Specialist at Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) I came to understand the standards for this type of situation, and whether or not I was allowed to plant them and retain my CNG status.

Heres what I learned

1. the assumption is that the greenhouse is using synthetics

2. I can plant the plugs on my farm, and harvest them BUT…I must clearly label them as separate from the rest of my CNG crops so there is no confusion for the customers. (so, you’ll notice different labels at market and an effort to make this clear to shoppers online and in person)

3. Then, after one year of growing in my all natural systems the plants could then be sold and marketed as CNG herbs and join the rest of my crops.

I have to admit I wish there were more organic herbs available to avoid this problem, and it has definitely caused a headache on my part, but in a years time this will be behind us! I will appreciate being able to say “EVERYTHING I GROW IS CNG” in 12 months again- its so much easier that way.

For now, I just wanted to share the list of specific herbs that fall into this “NON CNG” category for my customers to reference, and understand the reason behind it. In addition to the “non-cng in 2023” herbs listed below, I also have grown from seed several other varieties that will be for sale side by side with these other herbs.

List of Non CNG herbs in 2023

Rosemary

Silver Thyme

Orange Thyme

Variegated Sage

Purple Sage

Berries and Cream Mint

List of CNG Herbs

That I am also growing in 2023, but started from seed myself (sorry if that is confusing!)

Chocolate Mint

Peppermint

Chives

Garlic Chives

German Thyme

Common Sage

Cilantro

Dill

Parsley

Fernleaf Parsley

Basil