North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[list@ginda.us]

I live on a granite outcropping, with crumbling bits of weathered 
granite all around, so the "free granite dust" discussion is 
interesting, but not something I will act on.  But I want to stand up 
for aluminum.  Several years ago, it was  noticed that there was 
aluminum in the brain tissue of people with alzheimer's, and a lot of 
studies were started to see if dietary aluminum was a risk factor.  As 
far as I can tell, they have all turned up nothing - that is, there 
doesn't appear to be a link between dietary aluminum and alzheimers.  
That's not so surprising, as aluminum is really, really common, and we 
probably all eat enough of it to be coating in tin-foil (okay, aluminum 
foil) a dozen times over in a normal lifetime.  The alzheimer's link 
seems to be a problem with metabolism, not diet.  (There are even some 
studies now that suggest the aluminum-seeded tangles may be something 
the brain does to try to protect itself from the underlying problem, 
although that's far from established.)

I'm sure there's some toxic level of aluminum in soil, as there is for 
every other element.  But unless you are very high in aluminum, I bet 
the tombstone dust is safe to apply to your soil.  (Just don't inhale 
any, as Donna warns.)

Ginda


On Mar 5, 2005, at 12:39 PM, Charles Paradise wrote:

> 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.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nafex mailing list
> > nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> >
> > **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
> > All other messages are discarded.
> > No exceptions.
> > ----
> > To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can 
> > be used to change other email options):
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> >
> > File attachments are NOT stripped by this list
> > TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
> > Please do not send binary files.
> > Use plain text ONLY in emails!
> >
> > Message archives are here:
> > https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> >
> > NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>
> **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
> All other messages are discarded.
> No exceptions.
> ----
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can 
> be used to change other email options):
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
>
> File attachments are NOT stripped by this list
> TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
> Please do not send binary files.
> Use plain text ONLY in emails!
>
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
>
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/