North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hector Black <hblack1925@fastmail.fm>]

We found another use for granite dust.  When there's dew on the leaves of
the grapes and raspberries in the early morning, we throw it out to stick to
the leaves.  It doesn't kill the Japanese beetles, but they move away.  Wear
a dust mask as I"m sure it's not too good for the lungs.  The beetles go
until rain washes the dust off..  It would be interest for others to try
this during the summer and let us know if it works for them.  It's about the
only organic control for beetles that I've found aside from knocking them
off into soapy water.  Only limit is that you cannot use it when the
blackberries are forming as berries are too tender to have it washed off
them.
hector black, zone 6 middle tn.

----- Original Message -----
From: <list@ginda.us>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 1:24 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] downside of free potassium source


> 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.
> >>
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