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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] rock dust - is it really necessary?

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  • From: "Jordan Fink" <jordan@riseup.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] rock dust - is it really necessary?
  • Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:19:09 -0800 (PST)

I have read Hamaker... it is possible to read something and have a
different opinion. In my opinion, Rock-Dust has significant benefits. I
have also noticed that going to a spa has significant benefits but it
doesn't mean it's necessary.


a year ago i wrote Dr. Igham:
"> Dr. Ingham,
>
> I remember from our conversation that you said that research is showing
> that most soils have enough nutrients for healthy plants and people but
> it's a matter of the soil biology making it available...
>
> Could you direct me to some of the research that's showing
> this?"

her reply:

> the research being done is by the Zero Tillage Farmers Association in
> Manitoba - North Dakota

> www.mandakzerotill.org
>
> also, we have and are doing a great deal of that research. We haveinfo
> that we present, but have not published in scientific journals.


also, you wrote saying: "Composting is a short term solution to returning
minerals via humus to the soil. Whatever minerals or trace elements that
were *not* available to those plants will not magically appear when they
return to the soil as compost. Minerals and trace elements get used up."

actually there is no return of materials to the soil in compost-tea.
Actively Aerated compost teas only deliver organisms to the soil, not
minerals or humus.

if i may, i'd like to compare this to a similar idea in permaculture: what
is a desert?

some may say that a desert is a landscape with too little rain- from this
perspective the answer is to get more water to irrigate: dam rivers, tap
aquafirs, etc.

another way of looking at a desert is that it is cause by too much
evaporation. from this veiw we can mulch, improve infiltration and
storage, and find ways to use water over and over again. in this way the
same volume or precipitation can be used again and again and create a
green oasis.

think of the nutrients in soil the same way... so called poor soils still
have sand and clay and silt- these are obviously not being broken down in
impovershed soils. when you have organisms present they can have an
exponential effect on the accessability of the already available
resources.

i feel like your e-mail to me is full of the logic that since one thing
works it must be the answer. what i'm saying is, yes rock dust works...
i've seen it... i also hold that it is unnecessary.

-j





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