Paul DeCampo writes: >I am looking for a source of paramagnetic rock dust here in Otario, >Canada. Any ideas? > >Also, can anyone recommend any books, web sites or other sources of >information which address how biodynamics relates [relate?] to the >growing of grapes, particularly for wine production ?
Did you see my recent posts on organic + biodynamic viticulture? They summarize what you're looking for. The following links to BD-Now and Sanet web archives contain pages and pages of web- and print-based resources. Wine from Sky to Earth, biodynamic viticulture 14 September 2002 http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2002/bdnow/msg04338.html Organic & Biodynamic Viticulture resources, Part I 06 September 2002 http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2002/bdnow/msg04168.html This is the big list... look through this and savor the depth of biodynamic viticulture Re: BD Viticulture Quotes wanted | Organic vineyarding 05 September 2002 http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2002/bdnow/msg04160.html Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:14:59 -0500 To: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: USDA-OIG request for information | Organic Grapes & Viticulture http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0207&L=sanet-mg&F=&S=&P=22691 Now I will add the following notes. From my vantage point, the following 6-7 items compose the core literature of organic + biodynamic viticulture. The Core Literature of Organic + Biodynamic Viticulture, September 2002 snap shot: 1. 6th Int'l Congress on Organic Viticulture IFOAM http://www.soel.de/inhalte/publikationen/s_77.pdf 2. NY Organic Grape and Wine Production Symposium http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/faculty/pool/organicvitwkshp/tabofcontents.html 3. Wine from Sky to Earth book http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/2002/bdnow/msg04338.html 4. IPM Field Handbook for Winegrowing in Napa County http://www.nswg.org/ipmmanual.htm 5. Vineyards in the Watershed: Sustainable Winegrowing in Napa County http://www.nswg.org/book2002.htm 6. Two sites below, focusing on field trails, disease control, biorational products, and plant extracts: a. English papers on Fruit-Viticulture at Geman agriculture website: Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt f�r Wein- und Obstbau Weinsberg http://www.landwirtschaft-mlr.baden-wuerttemberg.de/la/lvwo/Veroeff/publications.htm b. 10th International Conference on Cultivation Technique and Phytopathological Problems in Organic Fruit-Growing and Viticulture February 4th -7th, 2002 at Weinsberg/Germany http://www.landwirtschaft-mlr.baden-wuerttemberg.de/la/lvwo/ecofruvit/start.htm 7. 7th International Congress on Organic Viticulture and Wine | IFOAM 2002 http://www.cog.ca/ifoam2002/owinec.htm The last item -- 7th International Congress on Organic Viticulture and Wine | IFOAM 2002 -- has not been published yet, but you can view the program and speakers. For rock dust, my web article lists Cairn Tech as a source in Ontario. Rock Dusts in Agriculture: Insights on Remineralization and Paramagnetism http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/paramagnetic.html Steve Goddard has demonstrated a home composting system based on a tumber, grass clippings, and rock dusts. His web article also lists Global Repair in Toronto as a source. He says the compost looks real good. I like this method as a backyard system that relies on fresh lawn clippings only, combined with rock dusts. It matches the resources of many home gardeners and it is based on an interesting process known to organic agriculture. Backyard Composting by Steve Goddard http://www.london-grove.pa.us/compost.htm Note: This web page will first roll over to an error page. Try it a second time, or play with the web address in your browser. It will load if you try again. In the following web collection, I provide some background ideas and resources on organo-mineral complexes and solubilization processes that occur when rock minerals are mixed with animal manures and composts. The same thing happens in the soil all the time, for example when green manures and fresh organic matter residues are added to the soil a population explosion takes place among micro-organisms; as they break down the organic matter they release organic acids as a byproduct; these organic acids help solubilize minerals that are normally tied up in parent rock material and amended rock mineral fertilizers, thus making the nutrients and minerals available for plant uptake, transport by microbes within the rhizosphere, or to become associated with the clay-humus complex. That is why rock phosphate run through a compost pile has bioavailable P equivalent to singer super phosphate. By mixing rock dusts with compost piles, such as "mineralized compost" first described by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, you promote this natural process. 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 Regards, Steve Diver
