Limestone is mostly pure Calcium carbonate and
calcium is an essential nutrient for plants. However it is very important
to have this in balance with magnesium, potassium and sodium in your soil. If
you are surrounded by limestone quarries it is not unlikely that you already
have enough of it and not enough of one of the other elements.
Can't be sure without a soil test.Your soil pH
might be an indication of that. If it is anywhere neutral (pH 7 or higher) I
would not add more lime. If your soil is acidic (below pH 6) then more lime
might be beneficial but I would still not overdo it.
I have seen cattle die here in Ireland of "grass
tetany" = shortage of magnesium after a farmer limed is land. If it is not good
for cows it is no good for people either.
john
This article brings me back to a
question Ive wondered about for years. Ive read many time about rock
dust but find it defined in different ways. Since we are basically
surrounded in our county by limestone quarries, would dust from the quarry be
a beneficial item to try to get? I cant imagine they wouldnt have it
but who knows none are locally owned any longer its all Martin-Marrietta.
Just pondering -
Joan Windwalker Farm Ottawa,
KS
> From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> > Reply-To:
Healthy soil and sustainable growing > <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org> >
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:40:11 -0700 > To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org> >
Subject: [Livingontheland] Rock Dust Grows Extra-Big Vegetables >
> > Rock Dust Grows Extra-Big Vegetables (and Might Save Us from
Global Warming) > by Paul Kelbie, Scotland Correspondent >
Published on Monday, March 21, 2005 by the Independent/UK > http://www.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=622128
> > For years scientists have been warning of an apocalyptic
future facing the > world. With the prospect of an earth made infertile
from over-production and > mass reliance on chemicals, coupled with an
atmosphere polluted by greenhouse > gases there seems little to
celebrate. But belief is growing that an answer to > some of the
earth's problems are not only at hand, but under our feet. > >
Specialists have just met in Perth to discuss the secrets of rock dust, a
> quarrying by-product that is at the heart of government-sponsored
scientific > trials and which, it is claimed, could revitalise barren
soil and reverse > climate change. > > The recognition of
the healing powers of rock dust comes after a 20-year > campaign by two
former schoolteachers, Cameron and Moira Thomson. They have > been
battling to prove that rock dust can replace the minerals that have been
> lost to the earth over the past 10,000 years and, as a result,
rejuvenate the > land and halt climate change. > > To
prove their point, the couple have converted six acres of open, infertile
> land in the Grampian foothills near Pitlochry into a modern Eden.
Using little > more than rock dust mixed with compost, they have
created rich, deep soils > capable of producing cabbages the size of
footballs, onions bigger than > coconuts and gooseberries as big as
plums. > > "This is a simple answer which doesn't involve drastic
life changes by > anyone," Ms Thomson said. "People don't have to stop
driving cars to do this, > just spread some rock dust on their gardens.
We could cover the earth with > rock dust and start to absorb carbon in
a more natural fashion which, along > with reducing emissions and using
a combination of other initiatives, will > have a better and faster
response." > > Before the Thomsons began their "good life"
experiment, erosion and leaching > were so severe in the glen where
they set up home that nothing had been grown > there for almost 50
years. The basis of their theory is simple. By spreading a > thin layer
of the dust over the land, they are able to mimic the earth's > glacial
cycles which naturally fertilise the land. > > Since the last ice
age three million years ago, the earth has gone through 25 > similar
glaciations, each lasting about 90,000 years. "We are 10,000 years >
into an interglacial - a hiatus between ice ages - meaning modern soils are
> relatively barren and artificial fertilisers are needed," Mr Thomson
said. > > "By spreading the dust we are doing in minutes what the
earth takes thousands > of years to do - putting essential minerals in
the rocks back into the earth." > > Over the years the couple,
who established the Sustainable Ecological Earth > Regeneration (Seer)
Centre charitable trust in 1997 to test their ideas, have > slowly
convinced others of their theory. They recently won a grant of almost >
?100,000 from the Scottish Executive to conduct Britain's first official rock
> dust trials. > > The couple claim the technique may also
play a significant role in the fight > against climate change as
calcium and magnesium in the dust converts carbon in > the air into
carbonates. Such is the interest in the theory that Nasa in the > US is
examining it in preparation for growing plants on other planets. >
> The couple say that the rock dust means that crops don't need water
to produce > harvests of magnificent vegetables. "It would be perfect
for Third World > countries that are usually unable to grow crops
because the land is so dry," > Ms Thomson said. "This could hold the
solution for them." > > "There is no doubt that, when rock dust
is mixed with compost, it has a > dramatic effect on crop yields," said
Alistair Lamont, president of the > Chartered Institution of Waste
Management, who is impressed by the Seer > experiment. "Future waste
strategy is going to rely heavily on the diversion > of biodegradable
municipal waste from landfill, and one of the treatments > involved is
composting so we need to find a home for that compost. > >
"Agricultural land is something we need to work on and the benefits of rock
> dust in combination with compost can be seen at the Seer Centre at
harvest > time. We need to get farming to take on board the value of
remineralisation > and re-fertilisation. > > Mr Lamont
added that evidence showed that, since 1940, the mineral content of >
vegetables had fallen dramatically in this country. "We might be encouraged to
> eat a lot of vegetables but many don't contain the quantities of
minerals that > we need," he said. > >
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