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  • From: Betsy <blevy AT rsocsun.tamu.edu>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: peat moss substitute
  • Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 09:28:00 -0700


Hi Alex - I'm curious (and don't know). Do you know if people are
experimenting with
harvesting really high bulk cover crops like kenaf or sudan grass for carbon
for composting?
I don't know the ins and outs of what that does to the land where the crops
are grown, or if
you return only part of the crop to the place it's grown, if that's enough.

Betsy

Alex McGregor wrote:

> 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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