Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

What Melendez meant when he said hauling in compost is "unsustainable", is the quantity he's considering.  I watched his video, which was apparently a presentation  at a garden center, and the things he said are in complete agreement with the dozen or so books I've read and courses I've taken on soil health and botany in the last year. He stated that he fully supports the use of composts and mulches as part of the program he recommends.  His "thing" is replenishing the soil microbes and assuring their food supply.

 

For me, there are only two things in question: Whether his product is truly different/better, and whether his commercial tone is appropriate for this forum.  I'd rather he was using the forum to explain the principles he's using.

 

Another thing to consider is that his focus is on the desert Southwest.  Although the principles are the same, are the materials and methods appropriate for New England?  The microbes are not the same for all environments or plants.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: rfreez

To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 5:35 PM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Not amused/ was another picture of humusgrowingin Arizona

I'm probably going to try Melendez's potion, but I agree that we need to
haul organic debris to our farms.  I hoard the leaves from my neighborhood,
and I make about 80 trips to a horse farm every year (sure wish I had a
bigger truck!).  I take the bagged leaves that I hoarded from my idiot
neighbors, rip open the bags, and make an 18 inch fluffy pile of leaves,
then I seal the top and sides of the pile with horse manure.

My ground (it can't be called soil) is New England red clay.  The topsoil
was scraped off by the $%@!ing developers who built my house.  So I'm
rebuilding this land from scratch.  I'm willing to try anything, including
Melendez's nostrum, and I will report back with brutal honesty about 2 years
after I use his product.  I will report on his product with both text and
pictures.  I'll give it 2 years, and I will only use it on a parcel of my
land, and keep another part as a "control" parcel.

By the way, I do some onsite composting.  I have a three pronged fork hoe
thingy I got from Ace Hardware, and it works great to pull up scrub grasses
jutting out of clay.  I pile up the scrub grasses, and make a layer cake
with either horse manure or chicken manure.  It's interesting to watch the
piles descend and descend as thermophilic composting happens.

I understand what Melendez is saying when he says, "hauling in compost is
unsustainable," but I disagree.  There will always be some form of compost
available, even if it's the rotting corpses of our fellow man.  Just make
sure you have a sturdy wheelbarrow.

So you see, it's a self regulating system.

Rob