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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Dave Bennett" <dbennett AT micoks.net>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: re: stockless farming
  • Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 8:12:00 -0500


Martin,

I've never used animal input until this year. (No reason for the change other
than I have free access to an unlimited amount of well composted horse
manure.)

Typically I used kelp. When I lived in Pacific Grove & San Diego in CA I
would go to the beach & bring back loads of the stuff. I'd dig my beds down
16" & fill them to the top with the kelp. I'd cover them with soil 4" at a
time until I had only a 3 - 4" mound (2 - 3 weeks usually). Then I'd plant
seed. Everything (except potatoes) grew very well & quite bountifully in this
system.

When I came to the Midwest I used grass clippings. Not as spectacular as the
kelp, but it worked fine.

I'm keeping records on my new system to see if there is any noticeable
difference between the two systems. (I figure this is a 5 year project to get
any useful data.)


Martin Cooke <m.cooke AT dcs.shef.ac.uk> wrote:
__________
>Is anyone out there practising stockless market farming (or what is
>called vegan organics by some)? Here, I mean no inputs of animal origin,
>whether or not they're generated on one's own farm.
>
>As a subsidiary Q, does anyone know of successful attempts at
>*sustainable* stockless farming, where all fertility is generated on the
>farm without animals? I'm particularly interested in the ratio of
>productive to green manure land required. I've seen some putative ratios
>in Coleman's book (1:1 for already fertile land), but does anyone
>practise it?
>
>This question is inspired by a spate of letters which appeared in
>today's Guardian newspaper (UK), including one from a certain Mr Avery
>:-), attempting to link organic food with food poisoning, presumably
>through the use of insufficiently composted animal manure. Not that I'm
>accepting his claims (and don't want to start a debate on them here),
>but its interesting to consider whether vegan organics is beyond
>reproach to the likes of Avery.
>
>Martin
>
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Dave




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