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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

I'm in a drought area which is different than a desert area.

The acidity or alkali nature of an area is determined by what was there, 
what is there and what the water brings and what the water leaves behind. 
I'm knee deep in Doug Fir and Ponderosa pines and about 6 types of oak. 
Very acid area.

Head on down to Sonoma County, over between the Russian River and Bodega Bay
and you'll find a place locally called Purple Dirt.  Tons of rain during
part of the year and then absolutely no moisture the balance of the year.
As the soil dries out each year it accumulates more and more salts.  You
can't get much more alkali.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Jones" <billj AT harborside.com>
> snip<
> It that why my greenhouse, where it never rains at all, has a layer of
> white alkali just as in a desert?
>
> > If you are growing your own peat moss (sorghum, not "muck") then that is
> > what happens to the surrounding ground.  Once the peat is "dead," it stops
> > the ionizing.
> I'll have to read Bev's post before I respond to that.