Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>]

> Fascinating about the problem with Xmas and with WWOOFers. We see some 
> people buy a live tree and plant it outdoors for a Xmas tree. I suspect 
> the problem with WWOOFers is even worse with hosts that don't really have 
> much to teach and just need grunt work done. And suspect for some it's 
> just a brief break from college.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Grunt work is another thing that should not be taken for granted. We had a 
twenty year old who had never used a knife. Did not manage to break off a 
seed head of quinoa (soft enough for my grand daughter of 3 to do) and so he 
wanted a knife.  After half an hour we found him sticking the knife through 
the middle of the stem and then wiggling it about to abrade the tissues 
enough for them to let go. We had shown him how to cut but it was too though 
even when the knife was good carbon steel and very sharp.
We had people who got blisters on both hands trying and failing to lift a 
bucket (not full to overflowing) of water.
Sad stories aplenty.
john