Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Which soil amendments? There may be good substitutes close at hand. I don't 
know of a good substitute for rock phosphate in bulk, but there are other 
sources of phosphorus in smaller amounts without getting into the 
superphosphate - more expensive and bad stuff. That stuff as you probably 
know is rock phosphate washed with sulfuric acid which I've heard leaves 
increasing amounts of sulfur in the soil.

I'm always interested in finding better sources for the inputs I can't grow 
or find nearby for free. I think someone mines greensand near the Gulf of 
Mexico (as well as New Jersey), but never heard of Maxicrop.

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not 
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only 
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it.
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/27/2006 at 10:42 AM Laura McKenzie wrote:

>Folks I'm needing some inputs (about 300 pounds worth) but the only place
>I
>can buy them is from the Farmer's Co-op. I spent Saturday morning calling
>everywhere I can think of within a 60 mile radius of Birmingham, Alabama.
>There is only one store that sells SOME of what I needed (Rock Phosphate,
>Greensand, Maxicrop).   As with seed sources, I don't really want to
>support
>anyone selling genetically modified seed.  If you look at the Alabama
>Farmer's Co-op website you'll find lots of GM seeds as well as the usual
>arsenal of herbicides and pesticides.
>
>   Because my son is getting an Ag degree in Kentucky, I drive through TN
>and my folks live north of Atlanta.  But I'm unfamiliar with those areas.
>Does anyone know of a place that sells organic soil amendments in the
>Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington or Atlanta area?
>
>Shipping and handling for products from Peaceful Valley is just too high.
>
>Thanks for any ideas!
>Laura
>
>><>``    ><>``     ><>``     ><>``      ><>``    ><>``    ><>``
>Laura's Homeschooling, Garden, and Genealogy Site
>is found here: http://home.att.net/~ekyorigins
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