North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Charles Paradise <machelp@attglobal.net>]

Been there, done that...the granite dust from tombstone cutting works well as 
a soil amendment...now here's possible downside:

The material used to polish blast and shine granite tombstones is aluminum, I 
believe aluminum oxide.   The aluminum they buy in boxes, and they buy it 
every year.  My way of thinking, that can only mean that the aluminum is 
ending up mixed with the granite dust.   Can anyone prove this?

Can anyone prove that the aluminum constitutes a hazard applied to crops?  
Aluminum is implicated as a symptom of alzheimer's building up in the brain 
tissues of those with the disease...is it a cause of the disease or merely a 
symptom?  Remember aluminum is everywhere in the soil.

I belive I first read about the free granite dust from something Lee Reich 
wrote...

Donna, thanks huge for your calculations on the Zinc, what a huge help!!!   
And may I ask, why apply Boron?  I know pears have a considerable Boron 
content in the fruit.
Charlie Paradise
zone 5 with many tombstones and granite dust...

kieran or donna wrote:

> While we're talking soil supplements, I thought being NAFEXers and thus
> naturally thrifty,  you might like to know about a good source of granite
> dust.  Granite tends to be high in potassium, which has a reputation for
> helping control plant diseases.  In addition, people like Harvey Lisle who
> are interested in paramagnetic vs diamagnetic rocks and their different
> effects on the soil, will tell you that an area like Tennessee which has
> only diamagnetic rock (ie limestone) can benefit greatly from adding
> paramagnetic rocks like granite or other volcanic rocks.  The expense in
> getting such rock dusts is the transportation, since they are so heavy, but
> our local mortuary does the hauling for me.  All I have to do is take my
> buckets and a tin can and go scoop the stuff out of their barrels.
>     Now, it depends on how fancy a system they have for dealing with it, one
> place has a sealed room they only open once a year, but the  place I go to
> has the dust blown into a barrel, and when they've filled up 3 barrels, they
> take it and dump it.  It's very heavy, I don't put more than about a gallon
> per bucket.  The dust is dangerous, you don't want to breathe it.  I am
> relieved when it's been rained on, harder to handle but easier to transport.
> If it's dry, I handle it carefully, and then pour a little water on top.
> You can't drive down the highway with open topped buckets of the dry stuff
> in a pickup, it'll all blow out.  Ask around, the smaller the business,
> probably the simpler their system and the easier to deal with the owners.
> Donna
> P.S.   Try getting out a catalog with some natural soil products, and add
> the price of granite dust to the cost of shipping, it will make the free
> stuff look very attractive indeed.  Of course, those of you living on
> paramagnetic rock don't need it.
>
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