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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] The Truth About Organic Gardening
  • Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:36:15 -0700


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.





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