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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Early Roots of the Organic Movement

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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Early Roots of the Organic Movement
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:27:41 -0800 (PST)

Thanks Paul, that is pretty exhaustive as far as thinking
on soil and plant nutrition is concerned. 
 
There is one item, though, that particularly appeals to me 
that isn't included here.
 
According to a text I read recently, Aristotle considered that
_soil is the stomach of plants_ in the sense that soil performs
many function like the mechanical and chemical breakdown of
organic materials which needs to occur before plants can access
these materials as food.  These functions are performed in the
body by the teeth, the digestive track and other body organs.
In fact, it is possible to see the root system of plants as a
digestive track turned inside out.  Both are colonized by
bacteria needed for processing food.
 
This, to me sounds like an explanation of plant nutrition as
intelligent as any provided by modern science.
 
I don't know were Aristotle is supposed to have said this and
the text from which I cite is in German.
 
Dieter


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