Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

I'd question whether nitrogen alone (in any form) would increase the
nutrient value of food produced. Without a balanced compost or legume cover
crop it may just speed up weak growth and attract pests and disease. The
worst outbreak of aphids I ever had was soon after using too much high-N
fish emulsion on some starter pots of herbs.  I absolutely agree that today
our food nutrient content is pathetic and dangerous, but a main culprit in
obesity, IMHO, is plaque-forming, artery blocking transfatty acids found in
the hydrogenated oils that show up in most baked goods and many other
processed foods like margerine. Heart disease and obesity were quite rare a
hundred years ago. And we've heard lots of reports that when healthy Asians
turn to a Western diet they start putting on weight right away and develop
the degenerative diseases so common here. 

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau 
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 8/3/2006 at 11:22 AM Art Corbit wrote:

>Hi Laurie,
>
>Your horse is doing exactly what a lot of us people are. We are eating a
>lot of food and pooping a lot. What causes that is the fact we are getting
>very little actual food value in the food we eat. The reason the seeds are
>passing on through the horse is it's digestive system is all out of whack
>from over eating. Humans do the very same. Horse manure is normally about
>as good as you can get as far as grass seeds are concerned. A horse will
>normally digest the seeds. This isn't true with a cow. I never liked to
>use Cow manure because of the seeds.
>
>Here is what you are into. The minerals are way down in your pasture and
>probably any hay you buy. The horse eats the grass and all the manure
>isn't going back on the pasture where it came from. Any that you use on
>the garden slowly depletes the minerals in your pasture. 
>
>Early in the Spring you need to put Urea (Nitrogen 46-0-0) on your
>pasture. This will improve the food value in the grass your horse eats.
>Our bodies, and your horse's, is loaded with sensors that alert the brain
>to many different things concerning the human body our brains live in.
>When your energy level starts to drop these sensors pick this up and
>inform the brain which starts to demand you eat. This is the biggest
>reason so many people in this country are over weight. They are not
>getting what they should be from the food they eat. The only problem your
>horse has is over eating trying to stay healthy.
>
>As for your compost operation it sounds like you are doing pretty good but
>you may need to remove the plastic and water the pile now and then. 
>
>Art
>
>
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Laurie Ann Powell 
>  To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org 
>  Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 9:55 AM
>  Subject: [Livingontheland] Soil Building
>
>
>  Thanks again, everyone, for the great information flying back and forth
>on this list! It's so helpful!
>
>  I'm working on beds for next season with Materials On Hand, and would
>like suggestions on whether there is anything in particular that is way
>out of balance.
>
>  I'm layering:
>
>  Cardboard
>  Feed Sacks
>  Fresh Horse Manure
>  Composted Goat Manure
>  Wood Chips
>  Last year's compost
>  Leaf mould 
>  Hu-more (a commercial product containing humate) 
>  Plastic sheet over all
>
>  Am I missing anything obvious for getting the best soil in the shortest
>time?
>
>  Also, a Horsey question: I know and can testify personally that horse
>manure heavily reseeds the grass and weeds they eat.  Ours seems to
>actually digest very little of what she eats, which I've heard is "normal"
>but I wonder. I notice that ours eats a lot, poops a lot, and is never
>satisfied. How did horses work in ages past if they needed to eat so much?
>
>  Is it possible that there is an enzyme shortage, just as most people
>have because of our pathetic food? Should I put making silage high on my
>priority list, for the sake of my horse, my garden and my goats, who have
>to share the pasture? Would it help?
>
>  Thanks, 
>  Laurie Ann
>
>
>       
>
>
>
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