Kathryn:
>I suspect it leads to the best farmers being the ones who actually observe
>their farms right down to the tiniest details and learn to live with what
>they discover rather than being the ones who learn it out of books and
>think that if they do what it says in the book they will do as well as the
>person who wrote it - who probably did the observation thing, though
>frequently one wonders when you read some of the rubbish that gets repeated
>from one book to another. Which isn't to say throw away the book but is to
>say remember the guy who wrote the book was living on a different patch of
>earth
Good for you. These are truths that need to be stated often. As an author I
am appalled at the amount of stuff that gets repeated without verification
of original statements. And one of my themes is to not expect what works
for another grower to work for you. There are a multitude of conditions of
soil, climate, air, solar aspect and more that affect the growth of plants
and animals in each place. The pH of soil, air, rain varies from region to
region. Mineral content, structure, texture, drainage, organic content of
soil varies widely even among neighboring fields. Yes, there are some
fairly reliable generalizations but it is naive to expect any author to
speak to the conditions of your garden. Who was it who said that the best
fertilizer is the footsteps of the gardener?
Gene GeRue
Author: How To Find Your Ideal Country Home: A Comprehensive Guide
http://www.ruralize.com/
Gardeners can look their potatoes in the eye and feel good about what they
see there.
