Re: stirring
The tripod and the wine barrell and the vortex are the focus of the pictures and accompanying story. I don't guess the water carrying information cares if it is the face of Greg Willis or Lady Galadriel who is staring down into the vortex... though the thoughts of an Elf Queen might be more interesting. Peter Bacchus says he ties a bamboo cane to a tree branch up above to fashion a stirring pole. That is an image worth repeating. The ergonomic stirring effect would be similar to a pole handing down from a tripod. Flow forms stirring is appealing for large batches, if you can afford them or make one yourself. Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Well I like machine stirring. The big question today is how many folks that started a greg willis program are still on it, granted that a stirring machine can sit unused too but it tends to get used more than hand stirring for 100acres or more...sstorch
Re: Vitality and fertility ofsoils
Hugh Lovel said he likes human-powered BD prep stirring that is done with a tripod stirrer over a barrell, the kind made by Greg Willis, that they made a real nice vortex. These were in use at Topolos Vineyard in Sonoma County. Slide #3 and #4 in the RealSlideShow on my farm home web page shows the tripod stirring device and the vortex, from the Biodynamic Viticulture Field Day at Topolos Vineyard a few years back when Hugh was teaching with Peter Proctor over at Steiner College. It's a Beautiful Day A RealSlideShow sampler http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/ Steve Diver
Phenology and Weather, Aboriginal style
Here's a link to a very interesting article from Reuters news service, published March 17th. http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNewsstoryID=2392191 And Now for the Weather, Aboriginal Style Mon March 17, 2003 09:52 AM ET By Michael Perry SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - When the bearded dragon lizard sits upright and points its head to the sky, it is going to rain the next day. If a flock of currawongs flies overhead, you have four hours to get the washing off the line. If the queen wattle blooms heavily, bull ants abandon their tree nests for mounds of dirt, or meat ants cover nests with tiny, heat-reflecting quartz stones, then bushfires are coming. etc Excerpts: Australia's Bureau of Meteorology draws upon Aboriginal weather knowledge... launches Indigenous Weather Knowledge... http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/ Sydney's six-season Aboriginal calendar is based on the flowering of various native plants [details provided] Insightful observations on drought cycles + When you go to the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website and look around, you come across the Yanyuwa's five season calendar. I like these circular calendars showing when things occur at different times of the year, accompanied by related phenological events. http://sres.anu.edu.au/people/richard_baker/research/yanyuwa/trop_climate.html http://sres.anu.edu.au/people/richard_baker/research/yanyuwa/images/figure_02.gif Regards, Steve Diver
Re: Phenology and Weather, Aboriginal style
Lloyd - Still, I love this stuff and I'm glad to see the website to learn about Aboriginal knowledge. 50,000 years of sustainable living, that's going back in time. Phenology has many uses -- including pest control, organic farming cycles, and permaculture design -- so I've collected a lot of material on this topic. Phenology Web Links: (1) Sequence of Bloom, Floral Calendars, What's in Bloom; (2) Birds, Bees, Insects Weeds http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/phenology.html Here in the Ozarks, Spring bloom just started into full-action this last week: Early daffodils Creeping phlox Star magnolia Periwinkle ground cover Spring beauty Crocus I'd like to find software that makes those circular calendars with accompanying text, if anybody has ideas. These circular agricultural calendars help illustrate when you plant cover crops, till, apply BD preps, sow, cultivate for weeds, foliar feed, pinch buds, expect certain pests, harvest period, re-establish into cover crop, rotation sequence, etc. Best, Steve Diver Lloyd Charles wrote: And Now for the Weather, Aboriginal Style Mon March 17, 2003 09:52 AM ET By Michael Perry SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - When the bearded dragon lizard sits upright and points its head to the sky, it is going to rain the next day. If a flock of currawongs flies overhead, you have four hours to get the washing off the line. Hi Steve and All I would take this stuff with a grain or two of salt - the lizard sits like that to warm himself - its his favourite posture - sitting on a sloping rock - as for the currawongs if you dont get the washing in pronto when you see these guys they will be back soon to poop all over it and steal the clothespegs! It might rain and it might not. The northern aboriginal stuff is nothing more or less than you would get from interviewing any stockman or knockabout bushie with some life experience in the territory - I guess I am always amused when educated dudes go out and discover things that most locals take as common knowledge, (and anything of aboriginal culture has a nice money tag on it these days) We all watch the ants - these little guys know a thing or two. Cheers Lloyd Charles
Re: It's a Beautiful Day, streaming along
Glad to hear the slide show comes across even at slow speeds. The girl is in our meditation group. The flower is Datura, the perennial kind. I tried the annual daturas as well, and they dropped seed. I will never plant annual datura again, it is no wonder they are so weedy on manure piles; they are prolific. The two flower beds are both weed-barrier gardens. The girl is standing next to a roadside flower bed that is 100' x 10', all done on weed barrier, alongside a rural road about 15 miles outside of town, with no irrigation. It had hydrogel underneath the weed barrier, it relied on selection of plants adapted to low-maintenance, and it relied on rainfall. Perennials are the most important component, but the annuals are also important. I learned a great deal from working with plants and seeds on this bed for 5 years, then I took it out because an electric fence for sheep pasture was installed right across the bed. It was installed as a demonstration of the weed barrier + hydrogel method, and to experiment with plants and permaculture design. The roadside flower bed as a weed-barrier garden literally appeared to me in a day dream, along with this poem: The beauty of the Earth, Fills my eyes, With a pounding heart, My spirit soars The other weed barrier is in a yard, so it was designed differently. It has wood chips as a pathway that curves through the 15' x 60' bed. Thus, you create planting beds by sculpting wood chip pathways; the exposed weed barrier thus creates a bed. This flower garden is still in use and the owner, a lady friend, loves it. Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Picked it up great! Even on my very slow internet connect speed (24000bps) Who is the girl in the purple skirt, and is that Angel Trumpet she's pointing at? The flowforms are gorgeous and so is the rest of the photography. thanks for sharing Martha Wells~Flylo Farms~ Texas Zone 8
Fermented foods in China, book review
Here is a book review on fermented foods in China. When you think about (EM) Effective Microorganisms from Japan and (IMO) Indigenous Microoganisms from Korea, you realize you can learn about agricultural applications of fermented soil and foliar cultures by learning about fermented foods and microbiology.Soil biology and microbial applications become clearer when you study the whole process and the culture from which they emerge. Regards, Steve Diver == Book review in: Food Research International Volume 35, Issue 6 , 2002 , Pages 595-596 By Danji Fukushima Noda Institute for Scientific Research Noda-shi Chiba-ken 278-0037 Japan Science and Civilization in China, Volume 6, Part V: Fermentations and Food Science H. T. Huang. Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 741. ISBN 0-521-6527-7. Price: $150.00 This book is part of Science and Civilisation in China series and focused on the scientific basis and historical background of the fermentations and food processing technologies that are the mainstay of the Chinese dietary system. The Introduction described in Chapter (a) begins with a survey of the food resources in ancient China, and an account of how the food materials were prepared, cooked, and presented for consumption. It is followed by Chapter (b), which is a review on the literature and sources used in exploring the processing technology. The main topic appears in Chapter (c): the fermentation technology and its evolution to the production of alcoholic drinks in their various manifestations. Included also is a comparison of the very different technologies between East Asia and the West for converting grains into alcoholic beverages and an explanation of the reason for this difference. The next topic discussed in Chapter (d) is the processing of soybeans to convert to palatable, nutritious food products, such as bean curds (non-fermented) or soy nuggets, soy pastes, soy sauce (fermented), and others. Chapter (e) is on food processing and preservation, including pasta and filamentous noodles. The subsequent topic described in Chapter (f) is tea processing. Chapter (g) relates to nutrition, which is focused on the natural history of disease in China due to nutritional deficiency. Chapter (h) ends the volume with a series of reflections on how nature, technology, and human intervention have induced the discovery and innovation of processed foods in traditional China. The most characteristic feature in the fermentation technology in East Asia is the outstanding role of molded grain mass of Aspergillus, Rhizopus, and/or Mucor, known as chhu or koji. This unique ingredient, mold ferment, was developed originally for making alcoholic drinks from grains in ancient China, but there was no parallel invention in the early civilization in the West. The author has ascribed this difference to the nature (cultivated grains and environment) and technology (prior art of fabricating a pottery steamer) through the speculation from ancient classical literature. In China, the grains, which are millet and rice, contain soft kernels that can be directly boiled or steamed. The climate in China is hot and humid in summer. Plant residues of both grains are favorable to fungal growth. As a result, the air over the Neolithic communities in China might have been loaded with spores of these fungi. The conditions thus promoted must have been appropriate for spores to find a suitable site on the steamed granules to stimulate germination and growth thereafter. On the other hand, in ancient Sumeria and Egypt, the major grains were wheat and barley. Their hard kernels had to be ground into meal or flour before they could be cooked. A smooth paste prepared from flour would have a limited surface to attract airborne fungal spores. Further, in the dry climate of the Near East, the air over the Neolithic communities was probably deficient of the desired type of fungi. Furthermore in these situations, there was the prior art of fabricating a pottery steamer, by which they could prepare granules heavily laden with water. Contrary to this speculation by the author, the recent experimental data (Yamashita, 1997) on mold ferment clearly show that there is scarcely contamination of fungus spores from air to grains. Most of the spores come from uncooked grains, husks, straw, etc.; fungi grow better in uncooked grains rather than in cooked grains, as long as soaked and cracked grains are used. Moreover, it is possible to make alcoholic drinks in a natural way by using uncooked grains only. Therefore, there must have been adequate fungal growth on a cracked barley or wheat mass in the ancient West. In fact, uncooked wheat or barley is mostly used in the making of mold ferment at present in Deng and Bao). The situation without parallel invention on mold ferment between East and West probably depends upon the difference in the acceptability of fungi. In the ancient West, they would not have
Re: water as information
Water is a big topic, Flo. So I'm not going to summarize the concepts and document the resources right now. Time is limited. I volunteer with the National Water Center here in the Ozarks. NWC, after years of ecological activitism and subsequent burn-out, now takes a Zen approach to water in all of her aspects. You can see my web collaboration with NWC, and you see my vibrational water links, as a starting point. National Water Center http://www.nationalwatercenter.org/ Vibrational Water http://www.nationalwatercenter.org/vibrational_water.htm Well, to think of water as a carrier of information and energetic quality, link together all of the work of Masaro Emoto, Viktor Schauberger, Dr. Fritz Popp, Dr. David Schweitzer, Center for Implosion Research, Russian research, Japanese water systems, qualitative analysis methods, etc. Peace, Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Steve, You said: water as a carrier of information and energetic quality to the vital quality of foods. I know how I 'feel' about the way water works, but would you care to elaborate about this sentence? It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, my sea of mud has finally receded enough i can wade through my gateways w/out sinking to my knees. I suspect that will end with the next rainfall. But, I've been wondering about the benefits of this excess water, especially as it's pooling and carrying manure and some topsoil off to places that probably needed it anyhow. Would this be one way it shares/carries information? (Besides the obvious, giving nutritional benefit to plant roots. ) To long-term BD practitioners, 'potensizing' means stirring and (gradually) adding to a larger body of water or other carrier. To someone like myself, I have a hard time getting around the fact that it seems more like diluting than strengthening. Note: Actually, I'm beginning to understand the principles behind stirring, etc, adding your intent to a project, but explaining to someone else who may be involved is very hard for this novice. Martha Wells~Flylo Farms~ Texas Zone 8
It's a Beautiful Day, streaming along
Check it out. It's a Beautiful Day http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/ http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/rss_beautiful_day.htm I tested this on somebody else's computer, so I feel comfortable sending it back for playing and viewing. There is a file you have to point in the right direction. The RealSlideShow program is simple. It weaves slides and audio/music together and, through streaming media, it comes out in sequence. Yets, RSS has fallen into the Legacy archives. So I don't think you can even purchase the Plus version any longer, which would allow the addition of text on top of the slides. Maybe you'll get an idea how to display images and audio from your farming and gardening projects. Streaming along the banks of another beautiful day, Steve Diver === The other RSS samples: Wes Jackson Speaks at Asilomar The 20th Annual Ecological Farming Conference January 19 through 22, 2000 http://www.lifesignsphoto.com/SShow/EFarm2000/Wes/wesa.htm Baby, I Just Got the Blues an online video* by one blue nine *actually a glorified multimedia slide show.. http://ghostcity.tripod.com/obn_justgotblues_sldshw.html The download site: RealSlideShow Basic http://forms.real.com/rnforms/products/tools/slideshowbasic/index.html?key=75VG61047058248 === ===
Re: organic foods higher in healthy compounds
Forwarding from SANET -- more on phytochemicals ++ ---BeginMessage--- Yes, it is good to see results published, which seem intuitive in the first place. Polyphenolics, mentioned in the press release, are part of a large class of compounds known as phytochemicals. There is a very interesting paper that reviews these compounds in the following journal article. Dillard, Cora J. and J. Bruce German. 2000. Phytochemicals: Nutraceuticals and human health. J. of Science of Food Agric. Vol. 80: 1744-1756. It was in this paper, or another, where I gathered these numbers: 50,000 compounds in plants 5,000 10,000 compounds metabolites in plant foods For example: Phenolics Flavonoids, catechins gallic acids, isoflavonoids, anthocyanins Terpenoids ___Tocotrienols and tocopherols, carotenoids, limonids, phytosterols Alkaloids ___Glucosinolates, indoles Foods have a vast and complex composition. Intuitively, it seems natural to see a relationship between food composition of greater complexity and beneficial characteristics from a holistic farming system, in comparison to conventional agriculture based on inputs of NPK and pesticides. Here is the paper from Alyson Mitchell et al, as quoted in the press release: Comparison of the Total Phenolic and Ascorbic Acid Content of Freeze-Dried and Air-Dried Marionberry, Strawberry, and Corn Grown Using Conventional, Organic, and Sustainable Agricultural Practices Danny K. Asami, Yun-Jeong Hong, Diane M. Barrett, and Alyson E. Mitchell J. Agric. Food Chem.; 2003; 51(5) pp 1237 - 1241 http://pubs3.acs.org/acs/journals/doilookup?in_doi=10.1021/jf020635c Abstract: Secondary phenolic metabolites play an important role in plant defense mechanisms, and increasing evidence indicates that many are important in human health. To date, few studies have investigated the impact of various agricultural practices on levels of secondary plant metabolites. To address this issue, the total phenolic (TP) content of marionberries, strawberries, and corn grown by sustainable, organic, or conventional cultural practices were measured. Additionally, the effects of three common postharvest processing treatments (freezing, freeze-drying, and air-drying) on the TP content of these agricultural products were also investigated. Statistically higher levels of TPs were consistently found in organically and sustainably grown foods as compared to those produced by conventional agricultural practices. In all samples, freeze-drying preserved higher levels of TPs in comparison with air-drying. Keywords: Phenolics; ascorbic acid; sustainable agriculture; organic agriculture; conventional agriculture; strawberry; corn; marionberry In the conclusions you learn that sustainably-grown food products had higher total phenolic content than organic, and both were higher than conventional. Regards, Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: an interesting report (below) comments? David === Date: 3/10/2003 10:58:42 PM EST Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Report confirms benefits of organic food Washington - Organically grown crops contain more healthy compounds than conventional crops, perhaps because they are not exposed to pesticides, American researchers reported on Friday. Tests on organically and sustainably grown berries and corn showed they contain up to 58 percent more polyphenolics, compounds that act as antioxidants and may protect cells against damage that can lead to heart disease and cancer. ---End Message---
Re: Electronic homeopathy for plants. Was Re: late winter farm
Chromas as intellectual curiosity? Well, let me just add these comments from a general perspective. Chromas are a practical approach to the humus farmers in Austria and Switzerland, who work their soils with humified compost, cover crops, spading machines, rotations, and related humus management practices to achieve biological health, clay-humus crumb, and associated mineral availability. There, the chromas are used with a series of other humus measurements to provide a fundamental understanding of the condition of the soil. The typical NPK soil test, even the Albrecht soil test, is largely irrelevant from this humus perspective. Likewise, are chromas used to view food quality. Certainly the chroma reveals a qualitative nature that cannot be seen by taking the food apart and analyzing its individual components. Yet nobody is suggesting that chromas be used as some sort of certificate of proof. I just did a workshop on food quality and the chromas were one of the things that helped people get it in terms of food quality, holism, and image forming qualitative perspective. James, that was very interesting to read about the Bruce Copen bio-mineral soil amendment mix, sent out by broadcasting. It is a little glimpse into some very intersting and worth following up and learning a lot more. Steve Diver James Hedley wrote: Dear Lloyd, I agree with you that a commercial farm is not really the place for doing chromas. How many BD farms or CSA's supply food with a certificate of quality backed up by chromas. To me they are only of intellectual interest to check how your farm is going overall. but really how do you define quality without a standard to measure it by. it seems to me that the nebulous thing which Alan defines as quality is best decided by the farmer themselves first, then by their peers and also by the customer. My guess is that if a farmer of any persuasion had to supply a certificate of compliance with their produce very little of the food produced would get to market. I believe that to simply use the preps and compost as defined by RS will only lead to depletion of soil mineralisation. There is more to cropping than that. In ancient soils as we have in large areas of Australia minerals are very low to start with, so any chance you have to add to mineralisation or to increase microbial growth will give a great return. Bruce Copen from Copen Instruments developed a fertiliser which was prepared radionically which he called Cosmo. it is a mixture of homeopathic Schussler tissue salts, radionically prepared BD preps, a substance called Agrospon which feeds bacteria and other microbes plus a couple of other remedies such as Lachesis ( a great anti viral ) and Lycopodium (to strengthen the archetype of the plant). I have been broadcasting this out during the drought as well as Copen's Nutritional spray # 5. Each of these have been broadcast for 24 hours at least once a fortnight since last spring when I realised that we were moving into severe drought.. People who come to our place all comment on the speed which the pasture and bushland has recovered, compared to surrounding farms. If you would like a phial of each to try in your broadcasters I would be pleased to send them to you. The use of electronic homeopathy for plants has a great future in overcoming mineral deficiency problems in plants and this combination of mixtures seems to be a valuable tool to have in your arsenal. have had eleven and a half inches of rain since the Albury workshop so we are well and truly out of the drought for the moment although much more rain is needed to replenish sub soil moisture. will be planting forage oats next week. It is amazing what a few weeks can make on a farm. Conditions can change so fast. Have you started planting yet? Kind regards James - Original Message - From: Lloyd Charles [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 12:05 PM Subject: Re: late winter farm I dont expect the traditionalists on the list to go into raptures over this but I believe that we need to know if these things can work. It could be useful to use some radionically prepared prep water in any making of BD preps - Lloyd - What I'd like to see is chromas comparing crops (carrots, for example) grown in radionically prepped soils and in conventional BD prepped soils. We can have good physical appearances but still not have everything that we are looking for in BD food. Are you up for doing something like this? Allan The way I understand this type of comparison trial its difficult to do because of the crossover effect of physical preps? 500 will spread its influence over the general area treated? We 'd assume that the other preps do likewise. I know Hamish says its not necessary to cover every square yard when you spray the preps - so to move away from this influence for a comparison we
Re: Chromas and humus Was Electronic homeopathy for plants.
Lloyd - You explained the situation in so much greater detail, and based on what you've explained, I'm in agreement that the chroma comparison may not be that helpful. The comment that chromas are an intellectual curiosity was apparently in reference to this specific comparison. Well, BD is a premier humus management system so I thought I'd add a few words on chromas, as chromas are a central tool in humus management evalutation. In the spirit of chromas, we can do more in BD education to explain them and use them. Barrel compost, or CPP, is something that BD has to offer organic farmers and sustainable agriculture on a much wider scale, by the way. There are different ways to tweak the recipe and make special cultures. In India, CPP is getting wider and wider attention among farmers far and wide. Have you seen the Wiki over at Larry London's web page. It occurs to me that BD education could be matched to a BiodynamicsWiki; i.e., it would allow the uploading of images, scanned soil test reports, articles, and such, in a web-based open source collection. See: PermacultureWiki http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php See: CompostWiki || Sub-category at PermacultureWiki http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php/Composting Here's a compost tea brewer jpg I uploaded one day, as a Wiki test. http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/pcwikiufu/compost-tea-ca1.jpg Well, sometimes I see a topic and add on resources to expand the story. So let's see where this story goes next, when somebody else adds a chapter. Peace, Steve Diver Lloyd Charles wrote: - Original Message - From: Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 2:36 AM Subject: Re: Electronic homeopathy for plants. Was Re: late winter farm Chromas as intellectual curiosity? Chromas are a practical approach to the humus farmers in Austria and Switzerland, who work their soils with humified compost, cover crops, spading machines, rotations, and related humus management practices to achieve biological health, clay-humus crumb, and associated mineral availability. Hi Steve I dont think you'd get much argument about the value of chromas as you have described above Lets come back around the circle and look at this again 1 I made some barrel compost using radionically made preps instead of the physical ones - heck I had enough cow manure for two pits and only one set of preps - and I was curious as to what would happen. 2. The stuffs done and visually there is no difference and there was none as it went through the process 3 We tested these two lots energetically with a radionic machine and by dowsing and for practical purposes there was not much difference (the radionic one a little ahead but not that different) 4 Allan suggested a chroma test of produce grown ( vegetables grain or whatever) using radionic and conventional preps as a comparison. I dont have a problem with chromas for this. 5 I questioned how you would do this because any conventional preps used will spread their influence betyond the application area and probably effect the plots using radionic preps (Glen Atkinson tells us that potentised preps will 'stay put' only effecting where they are applied) If we are going to do comparison tests and then draw some qualitative conclusion from them they must be valid comparisons. My thinking from here on in is that a farm to farm comparison is a real good way of comparing the two farms but a completely invalid way of comparing any one treatment used on the both farms because of the other variables we have introduced - and none of us have the time, money, or energy to spare to do enough of these tests to make it valid. If we cant draw some useful conclusions from the simpler tests we are able to do then maybe its better if we dont draw any conclusions at all. Which brings me back around to the start of your message. If these Swiss and Austrian farmers are using chromas effectively to look at the humus quality of their soil then that should be an ideal way of comparing two batches of barrel compost ? - (I favour energetic testing myself but that has already tested out very similar). I spoke to Cheryl Kemp about this yesterday and will send some samples, I'm sure she would be happy to post the chroma pictures to the Biodynamic Agriculture Australia web site for all to see when the tests are done. Cheers Lloyd Charles
Re: Electronic homeopathy for plants. Was Re: late winter farm
Lloyd - As usual you understand the finer points of soil management and soil testing. I'm in agreement as to the value of the Albrecht soil test, with extra attention to trace element analysis and the balance or ratios between them. Yet, you ask what makes the mineral balancing soil test irrelevant, or let us say not absolutely necessary, from the humus perspective. My paper on Luebke compost has all the details on humus testing methods used by the European farmers. But you have to click on Google cache to get it. Essentially, with Luebke compost you also have rock dusts amended to the compost windrow. This is clay-amended compost. Thus, you have clay-humus crumb structure with exponential nutrient exchange sites and biological life sites. You have solubilization and mineralization. You have organo-mineral complexes and biotic-mineral complexes. You have enzymes operating at greatly enhanced capacity with the trace elements from rock dusts. When you have a chroma test with pH potential test, Humus value test, and OM test, you have enough information to evaluate a soil. It tells you how much biological activity is underway, how much mineralization is underway, how much humification is underway, etc. Mineral testing, whether typical NPK-lime or a full-blown Albrecht analysis, is just one of several ways to view soils and develop soil management and fertility recommendations. My resource list below attempted to open the doors of understanding for alternative or ecological or holistic approaches to soil testing, with people, lab methods, recommendation philosophies, and resources. Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soil-lab.html Ideally, one might have the benefit of a good mineral balancing soil test as well as the humus management series of tests, to get a complete picture. The soil foodweb analysis from SFI is another angle. The microbial functional groups analysis from BBC Labs is another angle. These fall into the microbial-humus category on my resource list. So if you complement a mineral test with a microbial-humus test you gain a broader view of the situation and that should help all the way around. Best regards, Steve Diver Lloyd Charles wrote: From: Steve Diver The typical NPK soil test, even the Albrecht soil test, is largely irrelevant from this humus perspective. Hi Steve I would like to pursue this a bit. Maybe I think a bit different to most but I reckon the main benefit of a proper soil test (a good Albrecht type analysis) is the detailed trace element analysis - of course you have to pay the rate to get it and many people are not prepared to go whole hog on a soil test. The majors are simple and cheap - you can get Calcium , magnesium, potassium and sodium off any old twenty dollar soil test and run an 'Albrecht balance' off those numbers and most times you will come out with a workable result - there is a bit of math involved and some conversion figures sometimes - it helps to know the cheap test numbers in comparison to a perry or brookside but you can do this . OTOH A decent trace element analysis is not something you can get cheap. For trace element numbers you need to go to a good lab and pay the price and also do any retests with that same lab. Trace element nutrition is something that many organic farmers neglect almost as badly as their chemical cousins and I really dont see how you can get this right (or know that it is right) without some proper soil testing. Of course I dont know those Swiss soils - maybe they are so loaded with minerals and energy that the farmers dont need to look for anything extra - Quartz crystal that I have seen from there is the best energetically. Tell us what they are doing that makes testing irrelevant Cheers Lloyd Charles
Re: organic food
It seems to me there are plenty of papers summarizing concepts and research results in the BD literature. BD has even developed a series of qualitative bioassay methods to understand the quality of soils, composts, and foods. It seems to me people either value BD foods as it stands right now, or they don't. More data is not going to make a lot of difference. Connecting farms to local consumers will make an economic difference. Institutional food buying is a prominent new market, from the foodshed perspective. Appeal to young women about their beauty and their physical appearance. We are growing fatter as a population. Connect BD food with radiant health. Link BD food with yoga and excerise. Appeal to young men about their sexual reproductive capacity. Sperm counts are dropping. Young men today are half the man their grand-daddy was. Appeal to young mothers about pesticide-free vegetables and fruits for their young children. Studies now prove that pesticide residues bring significant risk to the health of infants and children to age 12. Appeal to cancer patients, for the healing quality of BD foods. Appeal to holistic health practitioners, to emphasize BD foods to their patients. But don't look for more studies as the magic elixir that will make a difference; go get all the studies and concepts that already exist and you will have a powerful statement, as is. Steve Diver
Re: organic food
As a very quick reply meaning, no documentation just how to do it. Get Benbrooks paper from EcoFarm. It has all the data on pesticide residues and children. It is an essential document. Get Virginia Worthington's paper. See the summary on mineral depletion in foods. Make a connect between these minerals and the five major disease killers, and notice that some of these same lacking minerals are important biochemical regulators. See the new information on phytochemicals, nutraceuticals, and functional foods. Gain understanding of holism in whole foods vs food broken apart by processing or by making active ingredient extracts for pharmaceutical sales. The UC-Davis paper was about polyphenolics; i.e., phytochemicals. A lot is emerging on this. Again, holism is the key. See Alan Kapuler's researh on amino acids and genetics. See all the other research from Soil Association, Et al gather a bunch of different pieces together. Now get into BD qualitative assessment methods: circular chromatography, sensitive crystallization or better known these days as biocrystallization, and capillary dynamolysis. Now get into water quality assessment methods and tie together water as a carrier of information and energetic quality to the vital quality of foods. Talk about organic foods and what they offer: *pesticide free *sewage-sludge free *GMO free *toxic-laden commercial fertilizer free *etc Now you got it. It is all woven together. Now you got a Powerful picture. Steve Diver Allan Balliett wrote: But don't look for more studies as the magic elixir that will make a difference; go get all the studies and concepts that already exist and you will have a powerful statement, as is. Steve - Without the studies, everything you mention can be brushed off as advertising. My request doesn't come out of thin air, it is the request of someone who is actively marketing locally and has been doing it for some time. It is also the request of a person who is standing separate from federal organic certification who feels that he should have at least a few studies to show the superiority of food that's grown WITH nature rather than wrested out of Nature. I don't want to make 'promises' to people, I want to show them that what I 'believe' can actually be demonstrated, either through trials or through lab work. Where are these studies that you speak of? I hope you have a list of them because I have yet to find any that show a substantial enough difference between BD food and conventional food for me to be anything but embarassed because I talk about our food being superior. I also work with pastured livestock. I have to tell you that the documentation posted at EatWild.com does an incredible job of clinching sales. People can related to concepts like CLAs readily. Pretty soon, they know exacty what is missing in chainstore foods. That's what I want: something I can point at that substantially differentiates 'our food' from 'theirs.' Here I'm talking about talking to people who cannot see, touch, smell or taste our wonderful, delicate produce. -Allan
Re: Electronic homeopathy for plants. Was Re: late winter farm
Looks like Google quit indexing my home page, since it is no longer publically-accessible. Apparently it made an impact or two, when it did exist. Rhizosphere II - Incredible Web page by Steve Diver - worth while visiting if you are interested in organic farming http://www.avocadosource.com/links/soils_and_soil_biology.htm Steve Allan Balliett wrote: My paper on Luebke compost has all the details on humus testing methods used by the European farmers. But you have to click on Google cache to get it. Sorry, Steve - Can you give better directions on how to locate this? Thanks _Allan
Re: Bob Cannard Wes Jackson Audio + RealSlideShow
OK, I see what you're talking about. The web page pulls up, but when you click on the RealSlideShow file called It's a Beautiful Day, there is a RealPlayer error message. When I logged on to a friend's computer it didn't work; it seems the RSS program has an embedded link pointing to a file on my C:/drive. Will try some FTP and HTML techniques and figure out the correct way to load the RSS files onto a remote web page. Will post the link again when it works OK from several different computers. Fyi, Steve Diver Also try the index page http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/index.html Or go directly to the RSS page http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/rss_beautiful_day.htm
Re: Bob Cannard Wes Jackson Audio + RealSlideShow
It is working when I click on it. Let me know if you still have trouble. Also try the index page http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/index.html Or go directly to the RSS page http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/rss_beautiful_day.htm Today was the ultimate beautiful day. A blue sky, a calm breeze, warm sunshine on your skin, walking through the woods and quiet pastures, your lover by your side, your dog trotting along keeping you both company, observing the first signs of Spring, buds breaking on a wild rose, un-named green leaves pushing through the damp earth, a single sycamore shining and waving its white arms around against the blue sky. stopping to observe, silent, transfixed breathing deep, soaking in the experience, the calm, peaceful presence of a beautiful day. Steve The Korrows wrote: Steve, I got an error message that the link was missing or something. As far as you know is everything working? Maybe it was meChristy - Original Message - From: Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 7:03 PM Subject: Re: Bob Cannard Wes Jackson Audio + RealSlideShow Here is the RealSlideShow sampler I put together. It's a Beautiful Day http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/ The music goes for 2.4 minutes, then the images continue to 3.3 minutes or thereabouts. RealSlideShow offers this ability to weave sound and images together. Well, sometimes life really is a beautiful day. Peace, Steve Diver
Re: Bob Cannard Wes Jackson Audio + RealSlideShow
Here is the RealSlideShow sampler I put together. It's a Beautiful Day http://www.ipa.net/~steved/audio/ The music goes for 2.4 minutes, then the images continue to 3.3 minutes or thereabouts. RealSlideShow offers this ability to weave sound and images together. Well, sometimes life really is a beautiful day. Peace, Steve Diver
Re: Organizing the Work on the Weed Project | Weed Barrier extravaganza
on Sunbelt-HydroSource | Dan Wofford articles http://www.hydrosource.com/serv01.htm Table of Contents | Castle International Resources http://www.hydrosource.com/toc.htm Especially note the Booth tubes and 384-cell trays in action, and how they integrate with weed barrier planting methods for super low-maintenance weed control. Regards, Steve Diver Rambler Flowers LTD wrote: Tony - Nice integration of BD preps with a mulching technique to achieve vegetation control, worm action, soil biology and a clean bed to transplant into. also getting the muck and magic benefits of the BD preps all at the same time. Steve Diver Thanks Steve the worm activity is amazing. I have been thinking of developing this further as i have a particularly dirty block that i want to plant into in about 18 months. After a soil test I am going to sheet compost with grasses, sawdust, lime , animal manure , Steve Storchs sequential spray programme using Glens Potentised preps and what ever organic fertilisers i need to balance the soil according to Albrecht and Reams ie 60-70% Calcium, 12%Magesium 3-5% Potash, 1-2% sodium aiming to achieve a CEC level of 25% and a pH of between 6-7, and then cover with weed mat until worms have done their magic.I will follow with a quick green crop and repeat as above missing out the soil test this will take 12 months to next autumn. Before it becomes too wet final raised beds will be set up . Aftera further check of nutrient levels, the beds will be mulched with compost and covered with weed mat, every 6-8 weeks weed mat will be removed for 10 days to encourage weed seed germination weed mat is then replaced until spring planting I will also be monitering brix pH and erg levels and making any adjustments as i see fit. The aim is have well balanced soil that is pest, disease and weed free for a crop of gentians that will be planted for 5-6 years. Thanks Steve for your inspirational reply it triggered off the above idea siutable for intensive cropping . The area covered will be 50 by 7 metres and will be planted with 2000 plants. I will also do a similar area next door with out the weed mat to compare results .
Re: Organizing the Work on the Weed Project
Tony - Nice integration of BD preps with a mulching technique to achieve vegetation control, worm action, soil biology and a clean bed to transplant into. also getting the muck and magic benefits of the BD preps all at the same time. Steve Diver Rambler Flowers LTD wrote: If you are trying to establish wildflowers, then you should think twice and then three times about the DeWitt Sunbelt Weed Barrier. As I said, I can guarantee that you will have a successful planting. Hi Merla I have been using this method of weed control for about 5 years. It has been especially effective on couch and grasses. I spray 500 and barrel compost before placing weed mat and sit back and wait for all the worms to gobble up the decaying green matter. After removing the weed mat I cover the ground with sawdust and plant up using plugs. I have also used black plastic sheeeting It is cheaper but does not last as long. Cheers Tony
Re: Ramial Wood Chips a Steam Weeder
Hi Merla - Putting wood chips on a roadside for weed control? Well, if you have a very special roadside patch that is just outside your farm and you plan to landscape it for roadside beautification, then wood chips come to mind as a mulch and for the aesthetic look. But I can't imagine putting wood chips on a roadside for weed control, in general. When you spread a 14 cu. yd dump truck load, it covers so many square feet. an area of 20' x 50' or some such figure which I'm not going to spend time looking up. The point is obvious, you can't spread chips all over the county mile after mile, 2 miles, 5 miles, 20 miles, 100 miles of roadsides as you drive across the county... can you? A dump truck driver may charge $100 a load to haul. So pretty quick wood chips are not too economical or practical accept for specialized plantings like orchards and vines and landscape beds and garden pathways. Well, the tree timmers working on electrical power lines will dump loads of wood trimmings on your property, by special arrangement, and that is a low cost way to obtain this valueable material. For roadside weed control, in general, you can rely on the vegetation control obtained with the Waipuna or the Atarus. I've seen results and it is damn remarkable to see steam / hot foam in action as a viable alternative to herbicides. But steam weed control equipment is really expensive. If the people managing the budget are visionary and realize the progressive nature of steam weed control and how that fits into the big picture of vegetation management in a county for roadsides, for schools, for institutions, for parks, for athletic fields then they can see how the equipment can be used for multiple purposes and reduce the use of pesticides in the environment. Otherwise. it ain't going to happen any time soon. Besides, budgets for governments and organizations are limited and very real; it can take multiple years to move in a direction. Yet, if you plant the seed and provide positive encouragement for a sustainable future, it might just grow on them. The other thing you can do is focus on establishment of native vegetation, grass species, and ground covers that occupy roadsides and therefore tilt the vegetation in balance of low-growing vegetation with lower maintenance costs in terms of mowing and weed control. Idaho is a far away land, so it is not easy to visualize what sort of weeds and vegetation and roadsides you are dealing with. But when I read you stories about the weed control board, I can tell you where to get practical and focused, from my perspective. Well, if you are looking at a roadside patch like 100' long by 10-20' wide, you can put in a geotextile mulch and plant some perennial flowers and shrubs. Look into the DeWitt Sunbelt Weed Barrier it will last 10 years in the open sun. Yet keep in mind we are talking about a very special roadside flower bed. It will also cost hundreds of dollars to buy plugs of perennial flowers, herbs, and native plants. Yet, I can guaranteee results and the public will *love* your roadside beautification project. It will become a multi-purpose flower bed that provides habitat for butterflies and lizards, it will become a seed factory for the pretty flowers and functional plants, it will create a bioenergy field of beauty and Nature and color and patterns and designs. A 15' x 300' roll will cost around $250-300, to give you an idea. Vinegar is the other method that comes to mind. It is relatively cheap. You can spray it on. Spray technology is familiar to the county workers used to spraying on herbidides. Vinegar is a natural herbicide. It works, but it might now work on all species so it will also be an experimental situation. The workers need to have an open mind with a pesticide-reduction goal in mind and play around with vinegar and related alternative natural herbicides and extracts. Here's another tip before you put down wood chips as a mulch on bare ground put down layers of newsprint as a sheet mulch. The difference in long-term weed control is tremendous. But do not put wood chips on top of the geotextile mulch, because it creates a moist organic media, a haven for wind-borne weed seeds to germinate and send their roots down and peg through the mulch and become established. Just leave the geotextile mulch exposed to the sun, and rely on the plants to grow out and cover the weed barrier with foliage. Best wishes, Steve Diver
Re: BD and steam
Hi Ross - The Atarus website in Australia is listed in the Flame Weeding for Vegetable Crops publication from ATTRA. http://www.atarus.com.au Yet, the web site quit working some weeks or months ago so I can't say much more than that. John McPhee (Team Leader for Sustainable and Profitable Industries, Vegetable Branch, Devonport, Tasmania) is looking into equipment and technology for organic / sustainable vegetable production so you might get in touch at: John McPhee [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you think of wood chip mulch on trees and vines, combined with steam for the emerging weeds, which ultimately poke through the mulch, you have a very powerful combination. You get the moisture conserving and weed-controlling mulch benefits, you provide the food and shelter benefits for soil biota, you get the fungal foodweb benefits, you get the humic benefits relative to Ramial Chipped Wood -- the Bois Raméal Fragmenté, and you get the no-till benefits. Yet, you avoid the fire hazard of open flame weeders and dried mulch in an arid climate. Regards, Steve Diver Ross McDonald asks: to Steve Diver, thanks for your comments on the steam/flame web sites. I would appreciate if you could advise the contact details for Atarus in Australia as I will contact them concerning their applicators. cheers Ross
Phytoremediation resources
Zoran from Serbia mentioned a phytoremediation post. Fyi, just in case BD-Now readers want access to that information, it was posted to the Permaculture List. It is here at this link: [permaculture] Re: phytoremediation 28 January 2003 http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2003/permaculture/msg00082.html It points to a bunch of good web-based resources on phytoremediation, for example, EPA manuals and guidelines. Phytoremediation is an interesting topic. It covers everything from wetland plants as biofilters in constructed wetlands and riparian buffer strips, to phytoaccumulators that take up heavy metals on mine spoils and industrial brown fields. Biodynamic farmers and gardeners -- like permaculturalists -- usually keep track of the many uses of plants, including their dynamic aspects and uses: *companion plants *dynamic accumulators of minerals *plants for energetic systems like ayurveda *plant-based extracts to promote plant growth and pest control *phytoremediation plants and their uses Extra note: Allan Balliett hosted Rufus Chaney from USDA-ARS at the Mid-Atlantic BD Conference a few years ago, to talk about phytoremediation of heavy metals on mine spoils and the use of composts as soil amendments to ameliorate disturbed soils and help re-establish vegetation. To access his materials, view his website or do some Googling: Rufus L Chaney USDA-ARS http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov/people/people.htm?personid=949 Serbia and so many other countries can benefit from the earth healing philosophies and practices of Biodynamics and Permaculture. Peaceful wishes, Steve Diver
Practical Literature on the Biodynamic Preparations
== Practical Literature on the Biodynamic Preparations Appendix from: Technical Consultancy Report on Promoting Biodynamics in Uttaranchal, India. A Winrock Farmer-to-Farmer program. October 16-27, 2002. By Steve Diver Fayetteville, Arkansas Note: complete journals citations * Applied Biodynamics, Journal of the Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics. * Biodynamics, Journal of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association of North America. In the Biodynamic Garden series: Courtney, Hugh J. 1993. Spring in the biodynamic garden. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 7 (Spring). p. 3-7. Courtney, Hugh J. 1994. Summer in the biodynamic garden. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 8 (Summer). p. 1, 3-4. Courtney, Hugh J. 1994. Fall in the biodynamic garden. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 9 (Fall). p. 1, 3-7. Biodynamic Preparation series: Brinton, William F., Jr. 1997. Dynamic chemical processes underlying BD horn manure (500) preparation. Biodynamics. Vol. 214 (November-December). p. 1-3. Courtney, Hugh J. 1994. Seed soaks with the biodynamic preparations. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 7 (Spring). p. 1, 8-9. Courtney, Hugh J. 1994. Further thoughts on making BD #500. Applied Biodynamics. ssue No. 9 (Fall). p. 9-10, 13. Courtney, Hugh J. 1995. BD #501 The horn silica preparation. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 12 (Summer). p. 3-7. Courtney, Hugh J. 1998. The Michaelmas preparation: BD #504 stinging nettle. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 24 (Fall). p. 3-7, 10-11. Courtney, Hugh J. 2000. The valerian preparation some additional notes. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 29/30 (Spring-Fall). p. 7-11. Courtney, Hugh J. and Michael Green. 2001. Practical observations: Observing the forces inherent in the dandelion preparation. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 34 (Fall). p. 4-6. Courtney, Hugh J. 2002. Achillea millefolium esoterica. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 37 (Summer). p. 9-11. Gardener, Malcolm. 2002. Are we collecting the best oak bark? A contribution to the discussion of prep quality. Biodynamics. Vol. 241 (May-June). p. 3-10. Goldstein, Walter. 2000. Experimental proof for the effects of biodynamic preparations. Biodynamics. Issue No. 231 (September-October). p. 6-13. Gregg, Evelyn Speiden. 1999. Making the biodynamic preparations. Biodynamics. Vol. 223 (May-June). p. 14-15. Jeyakaran, C. 2001. Kurinjis experience in growing biodynamic herbs and making biodynamic preparations. Biodynamics. Vol. 238 (November-December). p. 17-19. Korrow, Christy. 2002. Prep making efforts at Dogwood Spring Farm. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 37 (Summer). p. 11-12. Lisle, Harvey C. 2002. Taking a hard look at our horn silica. Biodynamics. Vol. 241 (May-June). p. 19-21. Smith, Patricia. 2000. How to make the valerian preparation (BD #507). Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 29/30 (Spring-Fall). p. 3-11. Smith, Patricia. 2002. How to make the yarrow preparation (BD #502). Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 37 (Summer). p. 3-9. Stevens, Joseph. 2001. Prepared valerian: The secret of finished compost. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 33 (Summer). p. 8-10. Williams, Hugh. 1994. Horsetail herb, Equisetum arvense BD 508. Applied Biodynamics. Issue No. 8 (Summer). p. 8-11. York, Alan. 1997. Working with preparation 500 (Part I). Biodynamics. Vol. 213 (September-October). p. 1, 4. == ==
New: The Soil Foodweb Multi-Media CD
Here is a resource that is now available. The Soil Foodweb Multi-Media CD Featuring slides and video from Dr. Elaine Ingham. $44.95 *Multi-media presentation on Soil Foodweb *Slide collection in medium resolution jpg images *Slide legend *Movie clips *Interactive self-learning slide presentation for PC users Elaine Ingham worked with Sam Ettaro with Unisun communications for a couple of years, and one of the products that resulted was this multi-media CD on the soil foodweb. This is the CD that features the slides from a study that demonstrated botrytis disease suppression on grape leaves when compost teas had 100% and 70% leaf surface, at the same time botrytis was applied at 70% leaf coverage. The grape leaves remained healthy. In contrast, when compost teas covered 50% and 10% of the leaf surface, botrytis infection was obvious. Sam is now in Pennsylvania with a multi-media business called Harmony Central. Harmony Central 806 Daisy St. Clearfield, PA 16830 814-768-9489 Local 866-470-0740 Toll-Free 814-768-7202 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.harmonycentral.org In addition, Harmony Central is the distributor for Elaine Ingham's audio CD's. Audio CD's in Soil Foodweb Series Volume 1: An Introduction to the Soil Foodweb - 2 CD Set - $9.00 Volume 2: A Plant Production Overview - 2 CD Set - $9.00 Volume 3: Turf Systems - 2 CD Set (EcoPak) - $7.00 Volume 4: The Compost Foodweb - 2 CD Set - $13.95 As a bonus, the The Soil Foodweb Multi-Media CD at $44.95 is now being shipped with Volume 2 in the Audio CD series, Plant Production Overview. This is a resource pointer, add this item to your Soil Foodweb + Humus Management Toolbox. Regards, Steve Diver
Re: New: The Soil Foodweb Multi-Media CD
I understand it like this. The Audio CD's mentioned are the original ones, and therefore same as anything you've seen before, and therefore old. Yet, The Soil Foodweb Multi-Media CD is new as far as being available for sale. It was in production and on-hold while business dealings between SFI and Unisun smoothed out. Now it is available. I waited a long time for this CD and I cherish my copy. Harmony Central is handling these, they are available, that's the main point. Steve Diver Steve - Do you have dates on these presentations? Are these the 'old' CDs or are they a new series. It was interesting. Last year at ACRES Elaine was hawking CDs. This year she wasn't doing that at either my confernece or ACRES. New stuff or old stuff?
Indigenous Microorganisms + Korean Natural Farming Association
rhizospheric organisms and the rhizosphere. Yet, here is a paper on phyllospheric organisms, and how these endophytic organisms can help promote plant growth and achieve biological control of diseases AND insects on the leaf surface. Endophytic Microorganisms: A Review on Insect Control and Recent Advances on Tropical Plants Electronic Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3 No.1, Issue of April 15, 2000 http://www.ejb.org/content/vol3/issue1/full/4/index.html Well, I had promised several people to post resources on IM + KNFA, so here they are. Best regards, Steve Diver For the earlier SANET discussion on EM + IM, see: Re: Beneficial Soil Microbia Fri, 13 Dec 2002 http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0212L=sanet-mgO=AP=10020 RiverValley wrote: Hi Steve, Do you know where we can do for more info on IM. thanks, daniel
Re: Indigenous Microorganisms + Korean Natural Farming Association
Hey Allan - The language and resources I posted on BD practices as special culture approaches to take advantage of IMO's is accurate and revealing and expansive but certainly not the whole picture; nor should you assume that is what I imply. You can look at my resources in totality and easily see that life force energy and dynamic effects are all there in my attempts to share information on the bio-dymamic approach. BD-Now handles the subtle energy aspects of BD on a regular basis, so there's no fuss. I did promise to post notes and resources on subtle energy aspects of EM + Magnetic Resonance + Hado, weaving a thread back to the universality of Humus Management + Biological Energy Fields resulting from enlivened microbes, yet I'll do that some day in the future. Now I better go focus on workshop notes. Peace, Steve Allan Balliett wrote: I do not, however, for a minute, think that the bd preps are 'about' microbes. Forget the effects of using the preps, for now. Is anyone satisfied that the transubstantiation of cow manure to purest humus that occurs in a horn is accomplished by microbial action alone? If so, let me know.
Notes on the archives
Hey, the archives exist. Use them or don't use them. Sure, use some discernment as far as what you come across. Technology from 2 years ago may be different today. Yet, the same can be said printed literature; articles in magazines and scientific journals. Yet, if you create a bibliography and point to these literature citations, it is considered value-added organization of information. Why should email postings -- especially the good quality posts from the thinkers and practitioners present on BD-Now --be of any lesser value than their printed counterparts in this Information Age? I am a big user of Information Technology; i.e., all the various web tools and technology. Archives are a dynamic tool which help us organize all this information. That's my view on the matter. Here, I'll prove it. Two ways to use archives: 1. Read about two dozen email lists. Go to web archives and read what you want, and don't read the rest. No sense in analyzing this and insisting that I take all email directly to my inbox, is there? 2. Create a resource list based on pointers to web archives. Like this, as one example:: SANET Web Posts on Compost, Humus, Rock Dusts, Mineralization, Solubilization, Cover Crops, Soil Health http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/SANET-posts.html Notice that it also contains the thread on electrolyzed water. Friends, here you can access the complete thread super fast. Did you know this thread with Keishi Matsumura and Hugh Lovel exists in these few web archives only? The thing that intrigues me about Keishi Matsumura's post on electrolyzed water is that oxidized water makes good sense as a fungal and bacterial controlling mechanism. Many of these pathogens are surface-dwelling organisms on fruits and vegetables. If you can disrupt their membranes, throw off their ability to attach to the cuticle layer, or otherwise 'trip them out' with oxidized water, it apparently results in an eco-friendly pest management tool for the farmer. The same thing can easily be done for topical material in BD-Now, if you catch my drift on the value of the archives. Other uses of web archives exist, such as the search engine methods, but no need to go on and on. Warm regards, Steve Diver
Re: BD Now! Audio Files
Allan - When you posted the note about htttp://www.ibiblio.org/biodynamics a short while back, I went and listened to Percy Schmeiser. He was quite sincere and interesting to listen to. He struck a chord in my heart, and the activist spirit got to boiling about Monsanto police tactics. Seed is primal. We have got to protect farmers' rights to save seeds!! So I think the compilation of audio materials in a central location is well worth your effort, and over time the usage will grow and grow. In fact, I want to learn more about audio techniques and blend slides with audio for web-based delivery. Steve Diver
Re: Personal Security vs National Security
I don't have time to read through all the posts, but I got far enough to voice my opinion. Allan, sorry but I don't think much of your idea to move BD-Now to a private space and to expunge the earlier archives. I don't think much of YahooGroups, either. Yet, I will certainly join the private group and post occassionally if that is what you decide to do. The archives are very valuable and they are quick. A person has a whole library of information available by organizing links to the posts. The archives have convenient links instead of those convoluted links. If it is possible, keep the archives at csf.colorado.edu There are stranger and more far out things on the web than Steiner, BD, radionics, and trees as broadcasters. Some people lament that acceptance and widespread adoption of biodynamics is behind the times. BD-Now offers valuable knowledge and technical support for BD. Steve Diver
Biodynamic farm position in Minnesota
-- Forwarding this farm position announcement-- We are a 500 acre biodynamic farm in the diverse landscape of central Minnesota glacial morraine with hills, forest, wetlands, and prairie. We are looking for a farmer to steward our land with its herd of beef cattle and gardeners to grow vegetables (fresh crop production, food processing, winter storage) and to share life with us in our community of 50 people, part of which are mentally handicapped. Farm management includes rotational grazing and herd management, small grain production, hay making, machinery maintenance, and special needs crew supervision. We have been a CSA in the past, would love to be again, and are open to creative ideas with a long term land worker. Life here includes living with and caring for people with special needs as well as being part of a community which celebrates festivals, makes decisions together, and much more. We have a large garden, a new food processing kitchen and bakery, and a woodshop and weavery. Single people and a family are welcome. We offer complete living expenses, including medical and dental, a three week paid vacation, and use of cars and equipment. If you are interested, please contact: Laura Briggs 15136 Celtic Drive Sauk Centre, MN 56378 320-732-1954 || 320-732-6365 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.camphillvillage-minnesota.org === ===
Re: The great international cowpie smuggling caper
Merla went looking for some cow manure on a BD farm to make her Horn Manure and her CPP. Some practical advice came back to use what you got, locally, even though it ain't exactly organic. Generally speaking I go along with practical advice like that. Get the engine running, the adjust the carburetor. Yet, the tale of the four cow pies comes to mind. All of these farms I have walked on in the last year, so my observations are fresh in my mind, and it is something I'm reflecting on. Ozark Farm #1: Rotational grazing; integrated with turkey manure and composting. I can go into long details about all the conservation practices and subsequent healthy indicators coming back to this farm. The farm is not organic but it is certainly a model of a sustainable grass-based livestock farm. The bottomline is the cow pie. These animals are healthy cows with healthy cow pies. The cow dung is quickly invaded by teeming hordes of insect life, especially dung beetles. Within a few hours it looks like an apartment dwelling with tunnels and honeycombs. Within a few days is has flattened to the earth. Nutrient cycling thus accomplished; organic matter returned to the earth. A living energy exchange has taken place. Ozark Farm #2: The farm has cows, yet it is a run down farm because they use continuous grazing and they medicate the cows heavily and use systemic insecticides to worm the cows. The forages are low grade and over run with weeds. When the cow pie hits the ground it just sits there. Weeks later it is still there in the same shape. The only insects visible are flies, indicators of a putrefactive microbial turn of events. There is no life in this cow dung, it is a rotting corpse of undigested organic matter. India Farm #3: The typical Indian peasant farm is integrated, working 1-3 acres of subsistance foods and cash crops with a bullock to raise a few extra rupees. The family lives close to their animals. They keep a cow for milk and yogurt, a few baby animals lounge about, and a bullock or two is there to work the fields. The woman gathers leaves and grass for bedding, and hay for fodder. The farmyard manure (FYM) is used to spread on fields, or used in a compost pile or to make vermicompost. The animals are healthy and contented. They exude a peaceful calm. It is against the law to kill a cow in India. The cows are naturally healthy and free of antibiotics and insecticides. The dung is free of contaminants, it is strong in quality and life force. The dung is used for soil fertility, for fuel cakes, and to smear on walls as an insulation, among other uses, including BD compost and CPP. India Farm #4: The farm uses water buffalo, so the dung is buffalo dung. A group of Indian farmers are visiting, sitting around drinking tea and discussing the merits of biodynamic farming. A question arises as to any differences in quality and power of CPP, cow pit pat, between cow dung and buffalo dung. The answer comes back from the more experienced biodynamic farmers that buffalo dung has 40% power. So I am reflecting on these observations and the quality of cow dung. I remember seeing those dead cow pies on an adjacent pasture, and then I think why not drive my pickup truck to a farm a little further away to gather cow manure of better quality. Steve Diver P.S. My colleagues at ATTRA put these two items together on nutrient cycling and dung beetles, of interest perhaps to some readers. The dung beetle pub is especially fun to read and think about. Dung Beetle Benefits in the Pasture Ecosystem http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/dungbeetle.html http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/dungbeetle.pdf Nutrient Cycling in Pastures http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/nutcycle.html http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/nutrientcycling.PDF
Re: Paramagnetic Rock Dust / Viticulture
://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/clay-humus.html Regards, Steve Diver
Re: BD Viticulture Quotes wanted | Organic vineyarding
Here's some related resources on organic grape production and vineyarding; which you can poke through; a post I compiled for Sanet. We're in the process of updating the organic fruit production materials at ATTRA so I've been on the web identifying key resources. A lot of research goes into this sort of collection; for example, finding noteworthy English papers on organic viticulture buried inside a German language website. You will notice BD practices employed: herbal teas and plants extracts as a form of disease control, etc. Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:14:59 -0500 To: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: USDA-OIG request for information | Organic Grapes Viticulture http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0207L=sanet-mgF=S=P=22691 Regards, Steve Diver ATTRA
Organic Biodynamic Viticulture resources, Part I
This is a follow-up to the BD-Now post titled: Re: BD Viticulture Quotes wanted | Organic vineyarding 05 September 2002 http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2002/bdnow/msg04160.html Some of these organic viticulture resources are *very* good. You will also find BD mentioned here and there, especially in the European literature. These resources are so good they are worth summarzing in a new light; this time with a view towards key resources that address production of organic vineyards and wines, and also those specifically embedded with BD research, practices, and qualitative insight. Steve Diver ATTRA http://www.attra.ncat.org === Part I: The IFOAM Proceedings === Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on Organic Viticulture IFOAM | August 2000 | Basel http://www.soel.de/inhalte/publikationen/s_77.pdf 263-page PDF An IFOAM proceedings; a core resource in the organic viticulture literature. Includes quite a papers on the status of organic viticulture in Europe, New Zealand, and South Africa. They provide very good insight into acreage, trends, cultural practices, disease control practices, and organizational contacts. + Note to Allan Balliett: See Appendix I from the paper titled Organic Viticulture in Europe, on page 28, regarding the relative positive attributes of an organic wine. + Note to Allan Balliett: Also see page 61 in the paper titled Organic Viticulture in Greece, regarding the discussion on Concerning the real organic quality. Again, the IFOAM papers provide deeper levels of insight as to what constitutes quality typical of the organic and biodynamic family of agriculture. + Plant Protection in Organic Viticulture in New Zealand. Pages 65-68 See notes on biodynamic cultural practices. To produce the best wine you have to have the best grapes. To really attain the best grapes then they must be grown organically or better still bio-dynamically, and this has to embrace the three-folding order - environmental, financial and social. + Comparisons of Chemical Analysis and Biological Activity of Soils Cultivated by Organic and Biodynamic Methods Claude Bourguignon and Lydia Gabucci | France | pages 92-94 Contains some very interesting notes on BD viticulture. Though, it appears several pages of figures and tables featuring research results listed in the paper appear to be missing in this web version. This is a significant paper on biodynamic viticulture. Soil analysis results suggest the biodynamic method has a strong influence on soils which can be expected to extend to wine quality. Differences were found between two plots where organic and biodynamic methods were used: The difference between organic and biodynamic method was caused by the use of bio-dynamic preparations applied on the soil, on the leaves of the vines and on the compost used for fertilization. Yet: The same quantity of 5 tonnes / ha of compost was used on the two plots. Those are remarkable findings. The discussion provides these remarks: *If these results can be confirmed on other soils of wine yard it could be possible to conclude that biodynamic method has a strong influence on the bioavalability of soil elements. *The hypothesis which can be developed on the action of biodynamic method is the rhizospheric effect. *The wine send in its roots sugar and proteins through the sap. *These roots excretions are able to induce rhizospheric micro-organisms activity. *These microbes are responsible of the oxidation and chelation of soil nutrients which become water soluble and them assimilable by plant roots. *More experiments are necessaries to confirm or firm this hypothesis. + Function of the Soil in the Expression of the 'Terroir' Claude Bourguignon and Lydia Gabbucci | France | pages 101-103 When you get into terroir, you are touching on the integration of deep soil psychology and soil health. This is where biodynamic vineyarding, soil quality, berry quality, and wine quality really comes together. This paper is a must read for organic and biodynamic vineyardist. Less chemicals and more life in our wine soils must be le motif of the future wine makers. + Next, the two papers in sequence by Robert Bugg + Richard Hoenisch from UC-Davis on cover cropping and Clara Nicholls and Miguel Altieri from UC-Berkeley on biodiversity and biological insect control both belong in The Organic Vineyardist's Library. Cover Cropping in California Vineyards: Part of a Biologically Integrated Farming System | page 104-107 | Robert L. Bugg and Richard W. Hoenisch Plant Biodiversity and Biological Control of Insect Pests in a Northern California Organic Vineyard
Re: Compost Tea List
Allan asks What's with the compost tea list? It moved from Ibiblio.org to YahooGroups. This seems like a simple matter, but it is actually quite a change that is less user-friendly and functional. Ibiblio email lists, which include Permaculture, are true listserv-style email lists with accompanying web archives. Ibliblio.org is hosted by a public institution which promotes information technology and resource sharing. YahooGroups is a WebMail-style email list. It has archives, yet it is based on WebMail-style archiving and access. This means you have to wade through the *very* slow load time at Yahoo to view each entry. Yahoo loads up with Java, and Java causes many computers to freeze up and crash. Also, you have to register with YahooGroups. Well, Compost Tea at YahooGroups exists, so it is still there. Yet, I voice opposition to bland-thinking when it comes to blanket adoption of corporate-hosted electronic web forums. Here are some examples of web archives: BD-Now - Biodynamics Now! [archives at CSF] http://csf.colorado.edu/biodynamics/ CSF hosts a number of lists. The beauty of this web archive is the simple web address assigned to each email posting. You can easily use this link as a referral to a previous posting of merit. BD-Now through The Mail Archive: Date Index http://www.mail-archive.com/bdnow@envirolink.org/maillist.html BD-Now through The Mail Archive: Thread Index http://www.mail-archive.com/bdnow@envirolink.org/index.html The Mail Archive is another way to access BD-Now, and it has the additional *power* of a search engine. However, The Mail Archive version only goes back to a certain point in time... May 2002? Permaculture Archives at CSF http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/lists/ The Permaculture Archives at Ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture/ Compost Tea List at Ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/compostteas/ The old site, fast loading with easy access. Compost Tea at YahooGroups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/compost_tea/ The new site, slow loading with not-too-easy access. You get the idea. Fascinating, I just tried the YahooGroup webmail archive and clicked on a single message. Instead of loading the message, a web page opens with a a large ad banner. Above the banner it says: Yahoo! Groups is an advertising supported service. Continue to message So, you have to click twice to read one message. To get back to the list of email messages, you also have to click twice. Each time, you have to wait for the webmail page to load. Is that what ecological agriculture is coming to? Instead of enhancing and facilitating the flow of information, we are constrained to corporate web hosts and their advertisements? Steve Diver
Cucumber beetle
In Nettle tea for insect repellant Allan Balliet wrote: My current problem - - one for the whole county - - is massive attacks of cucumber beetles. Any suggestions, aside from peppering? ATTRA has a new publication under final layout on cuke beetles, which will be soon be available in print and on the web. Contact the author -- Barabara Bellows [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- for details. How many acres or row feet of cuke crops? How much $ is the cuke crop worth at 120% yield, 100% yield, 75% yield, 50% yield? What cultural strategies are you looking at? What botanical insecticides are you looking at? How many applications will it take? What is the cost per application of botanicals? A promising tactic is the use of cucurbatacin feeding attractants (e.g., raising certain cuke crops as a trap crop), accompanied with botanicals. Just get the ATTRA pub. It's all there. Steve Diver http://www.attra.ncat.org
Microbial assay of BD preps at ICRISAT (India) = microbial antagonism
Here are the access points to research briefs from ICRISAT (India) regarding microbial assays of BD preparations. The study found BD preps contain antagonistic bacteria which are suppressive to Fusarium pathogen and infective to Helicoverpa larvae. Steve Diver Isolation of potentially antagonistic bacteria from special composts used by organic farmers http://www.icrisat.org/text/research/nrmp/researchbriefs/rup2.asp Excerpt: Some organic farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states of India, who use six different composts (popularly known as Biodynamic or BD preparations), when visited in 1998, reported lower incidence of diseases and insect pests than neighboring mainstream farmers. Further queries revealed that each compost was prepared using a different protocol, all proposed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (Proctor, P., Cole, G., Lyons, T., in Grasp the Nettle: Making Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Work, Random House, Ltd., New Zealand, 1997, 176 pages). These preparations were available commercially in Tamil Nadu. We counted microbial population in - different BD preparations after developing a method of counting antagonistic bacteria [see details]. Fusarium solani (causes black root rot of chickpea) was used as test organism. The colonies with maximum level of suppression of the fungus on a given culture plate were isolated. A total of 28 potentially antagonistic bacteria were from the BD-preparations. Purified isolates were characterized for Gram reaction, sporulation, and tolerance to desiccation. Twenty seven of the 28 isolates (96%) from the six BD preparations formed spores. All spore-forming bacteria survived for at least 108 days in a desiccator; some survived for at least 17 months (studies continuing). Antagonists surviving desiccation for long periods could be used in dry formulations as biocontrol agents. Some of the isolates showed suppression of disease causing fungi in plate culture (Figure 1). For More Details Click Here: A new method for identification and enumeration of microorganisms with potential for suppressing fungal plant pathogens http://www.icrisat.org/text/research/nrmp/researchbriefs/rup1.asp Excerpt: The organic farmers in Karnataka, India, when visited in 1998, also stated that their crops generally had less disease incidence than those of their neighbors following mainstream agriculture. It was guessed that soil of organic farms and some of the alternatives to chemicals used by them had high population of microorganisms that suppressed the growth of disease causing fungi. An urge to verify this led us to devise a laboratory method of rapidly identifying microorganisms with potential to suppress plant pathogenic fungi (antagonistic microorganisms) in the presence of other microorganisms and is described here. Source: ICRISAT-NRMP: Natural Resource Management Program | Research Briefs http://www.icrisat.org/text/research/nrmp/researchbrief.asp Microorganisms antagonistic to disease causing fungi are an important component of integrated disease management (IDM). We identified 28 strains of antagonistic bacteria from herbal composts used by organic farmers in India. The bacteria were identified (due to presence of a halo around their colony) using Two-layer method that allowed counting of their population in a compost sample. The method used Fusarium solani as a test host. Some of the isolates suppressed other disease causing fungi such as Sclerotium rolfsii when evaluated using Dual culture plated. Some also killed larvae of Helicoverpa armigera (pod borer) in laboratory studies. Twenty seven of the 28 were spore forming. Home: ICRISAT-NRMP: Natural Resource Management Program http://www.icrisat.org/text/research/nrmp/nrmphome.html
Northern Star Calendar from Brian Keats
Brian Keats' Northern Star Calender was on my mind this week, and I meant to post the web link to BD-Now so people will know a Northern version is now availabe, in addition to the Antipodean Astro Calendar for the Southern Hemisphere he's published for several years. Then I read Applied Biodynamics where Hugh Courtney published a review of Keats' Northern Star Calendar, which reminded me to follow up on this. Brian Keats Publishing http://www.acenet.com.au/~astrocal/index.html Northern Star Calendar http://www.acenet.com.au/~astrocal/calpage1.html The web page has sample views of calendar page layout and information distillation and display, so you can see for yourself if it resonates and seems helpful. Courtney says: This calendar should be particularly helpful in educating the practitioner to a greater attunement to celestial rhythms throughout each month, and a greater awareness of astronomical phenomena regarding planets, in particular, the moon. A useful companion to the two calendars (Stella Natura + Working with the Stars) mentioned above. Brian Keats has email, if you need to get in touch [EMAIL PROTECTED] Calendars can be purchased from Keats in NSW Australia, or from JPI in Virginia. [$10, 32 pages, color] All the Best, Steve Diver
RE: Thun trials, re-examined | Evidence for Lunar-Sidereal Rhythms in Crop Yield: A Review
Barrow - Nyet on scanning a journal article; likewise, re-typing. Like many journal articles, available in print only. ILL is your best bet. Perhaps, write to the publisher for options. - Diver Steve, Once again your fountain of information is highly appreciated. Acknowledging copyright laws, is there a legal way of posting this paper to BDNOW! for those who do not access to the Journal by more conventional means. Thanks Stephen Barrow
Thun trials, re-examined | Evidence for Lunar-Sidereal Rhythms in Crop Yield: A Review
Evidence for Lunar-Sidereal Rhythms in Crop Yield: A Review Nicholas Kollerstrom and Gerhard Staudenmaier Biological Agriculture and Horticulture, 2001, Vol. 19. p. 247-259. In this paper, a re-analysis of research data found significant lunar influence according to the Thun calendar. It especially addresses the research of H. Spiess published in 1990, which refuted the Thun effect. This paper contains the important literature citations on moon and plant growth; rhythmic nature of animals and plants; zodiac rhythms in plant growth; testing the lunar calendar; biodynamic calendars and crop management; cosmic influences on plant growth; etc. It is an essential paper -- in a series -- for the biodynamic library, in reference to biodynamic calendars, cosmic influences on plant growth, and planting by the moon. Steve Diver
Re: Thun trials, re-examined | Evidence for Lunar-Sidereal Rhythms in Crop Yield: A Review
Here is the journal I cited, Biological Agriculture Horticulture It is a primary source of scientific literature on alternative agriculture. Biological Agriculture Horticulture http://www.bahjournal.btinternet.co.uk/ Current Contents with Abstracts are available online http://www.bahjournal.btinternet.co.uk/current.htm Though, the latest issue (Vol. 19, No. 3) which contains the paper by Kollerstrom and Staudenmaier has not yet appeared online. Nonetheless, the Table of Contents provides title and abstract only. The Table of Contents to back issues provides a historical record and access point to the many interesting papers published in Biological Agriculture Horticulture. Back Issues: Biological Agriculture Horticulture http://www.bahjournal.btinternet.co.uk/search.htm How to access an article: Unfortunately, this journal does not provide online papers. Likewise, few land-grant university library's carry this journal. We usually tell farmers who wish to obtain a journal article like this to submit a request through Inter-Library Loan. Even a local, rural librarian can put an article request like this into the system. Fyi, Section 12.0 of the RGOSVP from ATTRA contains a list of magazines, newsletters, and journals pertaining to Organic Farming Sustainable Agriculture 12.0 Magazines Newsletters on Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture | Resource Guide to Organic Sustainable Vegetable Production http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/vegetable-guide2.html#a120 Agriculture, Ecosystems Environment is the other prominent journal for alternative agriculture http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/agee/ For example, Volume 88, Issue 2, February 2002 of Agriculture, Ecosystems Environment is a special issue on Soil Health as an Indicator of Sustainable Management Steve Diver Evidence for Lunar-Sidereal Rhythms in Crop Yield: A Review Nicholas Kollerstrom and Gerhard Staudenmaier Biological Agriculture and Horticulture, 2001, Vol. 19. p. 247-259.
Re: ATTRA: Organic Potting Mixes for Certified Production
Hi Allan - Here is the excerpt on sand from the publication itself. I think it explains it pretty good and brief. I once made the mistake of purchasing fine sand for greenhouse production instead of course sand, and you definitely want the course type for improved drainage etc. Want to try something interesting with potting mixes? See my slides on organic greenhouse vegetable production; starting on about slide 43 is the shallow bed method of production for raising sprouts in a greenhouse and for produciing transplants outdoors; i.e., those are Russian farmers laying plastic on the ground, it is then covered with about 3 inches of a manure or compost-based potting mix, then seeds are sown via dribble or broadcast; thus you can raise thousands of bare root transplants in a small area without the hassle of plastic plug trays to one day dispose of; a secret revealed, though not commonly done, is that you can also raise certain crops to maturity and never transplant out of the shallow bed; e.g., lettuces, greens, beet tops, etc... and if you stake the plants up, you can also do shallow bed production of tomatoes, peppers, and cukes; altogether, an intensive method of production in a small space. I believe the Russian farmers used aged manure, sawdust, and sand. Wood is an abundant resource up north, and sawdust was commonly used in potting mixes / shallow bed mixes. In my view, a geotextile weed barrier would make a nice ground cloth as an alternative to plastic mulch; thus, another use for super low-maintenance weed barriers in agriculture. Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production slides [2960K PDF] http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/ogvp-print.pdf Interestingly, the Russian farmers were *totally* into the Mittleider method; one of the farmers had attended a Mittleider workshop and that is how they went about organizing their approach to just about everthing: bed production, plant spacing, fertilizing, greenhouse design, etc. They were doing truck farming on a 6 bed + drive row + 6 beds pattern making up about 10 acres, and those shallow-bed-raised-bare-root transplants were hand transplanted into the field using a marker stake to set out twin rows of broccoli, cauliflower, beets, etc. If you live in Alaska, on a parallel lattitude with Russia, you know that selection of crop variety adapted to *long* daylight conditions is critical; otherwise the cole crops will button, and that sucks more than a elephant getting a drink of water after a hot day on the Zambezi Plains. A garden rake, perfectly sized in width, was used to create a well in the center of the bed running the full length of the field, thus creating a grow bed and also to create a reservoir for irrigation. So the Mittleider method goes beyond soilless grow boxes, which is what you get by looking at books like More Food From Your Garden, though I know a few hoop house farmers who still find those books doublely inspiring as an early model of hoop house production. The Mittleider Method -- Food for Everyone Foundation http://www.growfood.com Best, Steve Diver Excerpt from Organic Potting Mixes for Certified Production Sand. Choice of sand in a growing mix can make a difference. Coarse sand -- called builder's sand -- adds air space to the potting mix. Fine sand settles into the spaces between other ingredients and makes a dense mix that tends to exclude air. Clean, washed sand has a near-neutral pH and little if any food value for plants. Sand is much heavier than any other ingredient used in potting mixes. The added weight is good for tall, top-heavy plants that might blow or tip over, but it is not the best choice for plants that will be shipped or moved a lot. Sand is the least expensive and most readily available larger particle material.
ATTRA: Organic Potting Mixes for Certified Production
BD-Now, Here's a significant piece in the ATTRA series on organic greenhouse production, of interest to farmers raising vegetables, herbs, and nursery stock; available now in PDF. Steve Diver ---BeginMessage--- New item on the ATTRA web page: Organic Potting Mixes for Certified Production HTML http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/potmix.html PDF http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/potmix.pdf A 20-page PDF Organic Potting Mixes for Certified Production is a revised and expanded publication from ATTRA, written by George Kuepper and Katherine Adam as part of the organic greenhouse series. Farmers and greenhouse growers who raise certified organic transplants and nursery stock for vegetable, herb, and fruit production need to use potting mix ingredients that meet organic standards. Since most commercial potting mixes contain synthetic fertilizers and wetting agents, many of them are allowed. Fortunately, a number of commercial organic potting mixes are available. The Further Resources section contains a list of 12 suppliers that sell either a complete organic potting mix or suitable ingredients. Still, many growers choose to blend their own. Thus, the bulk of this publication addresses suitable substrate media that can be used to to formulate an organically approved potting mix. It also addresses issues relating to NOP rules such as compost and manure; mad cow disease and use of bone meal; as well as health concerns with vermiculite and asbestos, etc. A few helpful resources are listed, as background reading on preparation of horticulturally-sound potting mixes, organic production guidelines for potting mixes, etc. Finally, the Appendix contains Recipes for Growing Media, a compilation of about 35 recipes, gleaned from the organic practitioner literature over a 12-year period, that can be used as a guide to mixing your own. === Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) P.O. Box 3657 Fayetteville, AR 72702 800-346-9140 501-442-9842 Fax http://www.attra.ncat.org ATTRA is a project of NCAT - National Center for Appropriate Technology ---End Message---
BD spraying equipment
BD-Now - This question has probably been covered in the past. If you know which links to BD-Now web archives do address this, you can point me to those. The question has to do with an appropriate sprayer for BD preps. A farmer has inquired about stainless steel equipment and copper equipment, and whether there are any differences to be noted. What are some popular brand names sprayers used for BD preps. What is the usual ball park price range. As I recall, the nozzle size and ability to handle the BD preps is a factor. We used the Solo backpack sprayer on the last BD farm I worked with, but I seem to recall there are another couple brands of sprayers BD farmers like to use. Thanks, Steve Diver
Elaine Ingham, Soil Foodweb, Compost Tea, Clay-Humus
Soil Foodweb Week at BD-Now: Here are some additional resources as background material to the soil foodweb week at BD-Now, Elaine Ingham's work with compost teas, etc. Notes on Compost Teas: A 2001 Supplement to the ATTRA Publication Compost Teas for Plant Disease Control http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/compost-tea-notes.doc This is a brand new update to the ATTRA publication from 1998. It lists the equipment suppliers for compost tea brewers and their websites; it provides a summary of Elaine Inghams' characteristics for healthy soils, composts, and compost teas; it provides an intrepretive summary of the key points to compost teas; and it provides a big collection of web links to resources on compost biology, compost teas, compost disease suppression, etc. Some of these web links are exceptional resources from Ingham, Brinton, OFRF, CWIMB, etc. A complementary compost tea item on my web page, PowerPoint slide notes from the seminar at Mtn. Organic Grower's School in NC: Compost Teas: A Tool for Rhizosphere-Phyllosphere Agriculture [Six slides per page -- print for quick reference format; = 1303K] http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/compost-tea-print.pdf Next, my home-spun treatise on clay-humus: clay-humus, food and shelter for the soil foodweb, clay amendments, rock dust amendments, applied microbiology, paramagnetism, bioenergetics, biodynamics, eco-farming, Luebke compost, etc. Clay-Humus: The Seat of Soil Fertility; A Treatise on the Vital Role of Clay-Humus Crumb Structure and Organo-Mineral Complexes in Soils http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/clay-humus.html Finally, Web Resource Collections on Soil Biology Sustainable Soil Management: Web Links to Make Your Worms Happy! http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/soil-links.html Content: Web resource list from ATTRA Soil Biology Information Resources For Land Managers, Resource Professionals, and Educators http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/survey/SQI/SBinfo.htm Content: Web resource list from NRCS-Soil Quality Institute Steve Diver
Re: Albrecht System for soil testing and fertilisation
and SARE funds, Shonbeck completed the most thorough and extensive literature review and summary of this soil testing philosophy and fertilizer recommendation system. That is not one of the items online, but it should be noted as resource in case somebody is interested. If you are the kind of person that likes to have a long list of citations (Agronomy Journal, Soil Science, etc.) and brief abstracts of their content, that's what I'm talking about. In other words, the literature review that Schonbeck compiled in addition to the aforementioend information sheets is an especially noteworthy contribution to this topic. In fact, it is a widely expressed view among soil science types in sustainable agriculture that BCSR works better under the montmorillinite soils typical of the Midwest, where Albrecth and the 2nd generation eco-farming advisors like Neal Kinsey tend to focus their work. Neal Kinsey and Gary Zimmer are probably the two leading experts on the Albrecth system, and I don't think you can talk about this topic without including their views and experience. Kinsey, for example, explained to me that he doesn't agree with the view that BCSR is geocentric. One additional point worth noting, is that BCSR is just one part of a holistic approach to soil science that Albrecth and Kinsey bring to the table. If you do get to attend one of Kinsey's seminars, it is a fascinating expereience to learn about minerals, minerals levels, soil testing, and mineral balancing and their cummulative influence on soils and plant health. Steve Diver
Photo Gallery: Planting Bed Spader Machine @ Shinbone Valley F
Allan - We talked about the handout featuring the planting beds and tractor-spader combination used by Ed Kogelschatz at Shinbone Valley Farm, a biodynamic farm in Georgia. That handout is now located on my web page, Rhizosphere II. This is an MS-Word .doc, so you just click and download to your computer for viewing as a word processing document with photographs and text. Photo Gallery: Planting Beds Spading Machine at Shinbone Valley Farm [MS-Word.doc download; 10 pages with 18 photos; an Ed Kogelschatz and George Kuepper handout] http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/shinbone-farm.doc George Kuepper will have a new, expanded handout at the Southern SAWG meetings coming up in Chattannooga, January 25-27th. Ed and Ginger Kogelschatz' farm will again be featured at the field day. The participants at last year's field day said it was one of the best they'd attended. The Kogelschatz farm speaks for itself, complemented by the fact that Ed and Ginger are wonderful people. It was fascinating to listen to Ed describe his BD compost, and the tractor + spader + cover crops + modified brush-hog + planting bed system, etc., including the elusive yet certain quality of vegetables and herbs they produce. Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group - 2002 Conference http://www.attra.org/ssawg/ Field Trips http://www.attra.org/ssawg/fieldtrips.html Steve Diver
