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market-farming - Re: peat moss substitute

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  • From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: peat moss substitute
  • Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:21:28 -0400


Liz,

Maybe you haven't caught on yet. I'm NOT using pet or coir for farming,
plants... I AM
using it as a necessary part of all the elements that allow me to compost all
our waste
and not dump raw sewage into the surface and ground water via a septic tank.
The surface
water in this area is so full of fecal choloform bacteria that we have been
warned to
avoid any contact with it. The soil is shallow here and sewage flows along
the
underlying rock to surface streams.

And you believe an industry association. We could carry your thinking
forward and
believe the American Forestry Assoc, the Tobacco Assoc., the assoc. made up
of ag chem
cos., the AMA, etc.

So you tell me. Is it worse in the total picture to use a waste product
which travels
whatever distance or to mine something which also has to travel some
distance? (Canada is
not just around the corner from here.) And all the plant material I've tried
from our
land won't work for what we're doing. I DO use the dried stems from our
garlic
(shredded) for bulking. The only thing I haven't tried is sawdust- no
sources close by-
we only have chip mills eating up our hardwoods. (But the chip mill industry
says we're
planting more trees than they're cutting. What they're not saying is the
trees being
planted are pine mono-crops by pulp and lumber companies. These require
massive chemical
inputs as do all massive mono-crops. But I digress.)

By the way, in a conversation with Elliot Coleman, he said he has stopped
using soil
blocks because there is so little high grade spaghnum left that it's no
longer available
in the States. The Canadians are keeping it all for themselves. He used to
drive a
truck to Canada to buy it, but developed another way of starting plants.

Bottom line- we must all seek to lessen our impact since we turned from a
part of
balanced nature to an agricultural/city dwelling/resource gobbling species.
This means
to me that I will continue to refine our systems and that requires weighing
everything
and seeing where the needle points. And I say to you what I say to all those
who
criticize: Consider how you may refine what you do, using what you see going
on in the
world rather than being a critic. This action will lead us all forward
rather than
making us all catatonic cynics.

Alex

Liz Pike wrote:

> Peat is a finite resource?? And coir fiber that must be shipped thousands
> of miles from the South Pacific is a better substitute?? Sorry, I'm still
> skeptical. From what I've read, peat is building up faster than we use it.
> Can we possibly grow/strip/ship that many coconuts to replace it?? This
> sounds like another "pc" issue to muddy more farming waters. Please send
> proof, enquiring minds wanna know.
>
> "Annually, peat moss accumulates at more than 70 times the rate it is
> harvested." The Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association. (Concern for the
> environment was one of the driving forces behind the formation of the
> Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, and remains so today.)
>
> Here's a link comparing the 2 products:
>
> http://www.peatmoss.com/pm-coir.html
>
> Liz Pike
> Morningstar Gardens
> Pollocksville NC
> ICQ 46954468
>
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