permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Stone Age Farming: Eco-Agriculture for the 21st Century
By Alanna Moore
http://www.geomantica.com/  Alanna Moore's website GEOMANTICA
Python Press, Australia copyright 2001 isbn: 0-646-41188-8

A Review  by Bob Ewing

The opening words of Stone Age Farming echo a crucial message. You may have 
heard these words
or something like them before: We humans are destroying the earth upon which 
we  depend for
our very lives. Industrial forestry and industrial farming have and continue 
to damage the soil
upon which existence rests. What makes Moore's words stand out is that she is 
not preaching doom
and gloom but simply setting the scene before presenting a way out, in fact  
several ways out.

That there are alternatives, readily available alternatives to our current 
industrial
agricultural methods is the central message of Stone Age Farming. This book 
provides
the farmer, the urban gardener and all of us with not just hope, but a hope 
that is based
upon research and development. A hope which rises from tried and tested 
techniques which
have improved the health and vitality of the soil and those living on and 
dependent upon that soil.

There is an old gardening saying that goes like this: feed the soil. This is 
precisely what Moore
is talking about when she discusses the effects that adding rock dust to your 
land will have.

" A healthy soil requires an extensive range of trace elements to feed 
micro-organisms and sustain the humus
complex, and the finer the particles these are supplied in, the quicker the 
microbes can incorporate into it.
Basalt rock dust is one of the best sources of minerals, having a wide range of 
trace elements." (p.9)

Stone Age Farming also provides insights into the role that paramagnetism, 
which is defined
as a weak attraction to a magnet, plays in the development of healthy soil. 
"In soil it
(paramagnetism) is a measure of the soil's ability to attract and hold 
energy."(p11)

Moore's exploration of the world of subtle energies may be difficult for some 
to accept but for
those who are seeking ways to improve plant growth her well researched and 
documented work provides
the reader with genuine opportunities that need serious consideration. If you 
are concerned about
the world's food supply, the disappearance of topsoil, the shortage of water 
or simply want to raise
good, healthy crops for your family then read Stone Age Farming. The time it 
will take you to finish
the book will be time well invested in your and your family's future.