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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
- To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Subject: Re: Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques)
- Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 11:50:52 -0500
Miranda,
Very glad to see you know the difference between farming and university
ed/research.
You must have done both. I get a big laugh (in private, of course) from
Extension, USDA
and University Ag people who tell us about how we should use their systems,
since they
can grow more per acre. Most have no idea of what Return On Investment
means. And
don't understand when I ask why I should spend thousands of dollars to get a
few dollars
more income. Not to mention the environmental and soil degradation.
And, Alison- I wonder if supporting letters from all of us who want the
results of your
research would help when you apply. I would be willing and maybe others out
there would
be. It could show a need for some answers. The tough part may be that US Ag
still does
not care about quality- beyond cosmetics and size. We may have to wait for
them to
catch up. Too bad we have such a hard time getting funding for things that
really
matter to us and consumers.
By the way, I've said many times that farmers are way ahead of scientists and
are the
true researchers. And this coming from a formally trained scientist- YIKES!
Alex McGregor
Walden Farm
Miranda Smith wrote:
> Maybe you could ask the SARE representative (the person to whom Alex
> referred you) about working with someone at a different University. If you
> could, I'm sure that people on this list, including me, know people who
> would be happy to work with you.
>
> Yes, it wasn't inexpensive to use lights, nor was it sustainable. I could do
> it because I was in a teaching situation where I had to have them anyway. So
> I figured--as long as I've got them, why not grow some nice greens. . . It
> makes a lot of difference to be running an educational facility rather than
> a farm.
>
> I'm also interested to know if the time of seeding and early growth makes
> any difference. --Light levels in most places don't get really really low
> until late October. And--does the soil temperature make a difference? It
> seems to me that it should, but I don't know. As far as I do know, no one
> knows for certain:
>
> A) if nitrite levels are excessive in greens grown in low-light conditions,
> and
>
> B) if they are, why does this happen?
>
> Could the types of microbes that are active affect it? My bet is that this
> is probably as important as the types of nitrogen and humus that are in the
> soil.
>
> But, sad to say, all of that is speculation.
>
> I really hope you get a grant.
-
Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques),
Wiediger, Alison, 02/01/2001
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- RE: Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques), Miranda Smith, 02/01/2001
- Re: Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques), Alex McGregor, 02/01/2001
- RE: Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques), Miranda Smith, 02/01/2001
- RE: Nitrate Acc (was greenhouse ques), David Inglis, 02/01/2001
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