Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Feb 27, 2008, at 6:08 PM, Robert Walton wrote:

> > This sounds like a good book. I've been of the same thought  
> > sometimes,
> for instance bringing depleted land "up to speed" rapidly with
> chemical fertilizers and then maintaining them organically.

Jeff Gillman, the author, makes exactly that point. He feels it takes  
about three years to bring tired soil up to organic standards using  
mulch and compost. Many people just don't want to wait that long for  
fertility.

I once wrote a gardening pamphlet--I need to find and resurrect that-- 
where I said that if I were as rich as my brother I would put a foot  
or more of organic materials and mineral supplements on a new garden,  
then go take a round-the-world cruise.
> It's like buying organic apples from Chile. By the time they are
> shipped in, they may be better for me, but are they better for the
> earth? I think that sometimes we organic farmers/gardeners feel proud
> of the good we are doing when in fact organic fertilizers may have
> been brought in at more cost to the environment.

Yes. We are finally beginning to consider the energy costs of  
transporting foodstuffs from all over the world to our kitchens. I  
very much like the locavores.