permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 12/30/2010 1:13 PM, Elaine Ingham wrote:
> Like a
> human being living on a diet of Tums to neutralize stomach acid, it
> is only a short-term fix, a "playing with symptoms", and not a cure
> for the problem.  With human digestive system problems, you can never
> solve the problem by taking Tums (which is lime for human
> consumption, right?).  Now until you address the CAUSE of constant
> acid indigestion will the condition change.  So, fix the ulcers, or
> change the food being eaten, but address the problem, because
> applying lime does not, ever, solve the problem.

Some people (like me at one time) live in a fog as they try to deal with 
poor digestion and even acid reflux. Most of the time the solution is 
simple: probiotics and eating habits
eat a simple uncomplicated diet involving some cooked food and a lot of 
fresh raw food
eliminate things one is allergic to
consume natural unpasteurized sauerkraut, kim chee, kombucha and other 
naturally fermented foods as well as cultured probiotic supplements (New 
Chapter offers the best with four excellent products)
Literature:
Ann Wigmore Hippocrates Health Handbook and many more excellent works
on foodc ombining, fermented cultured foods (rejuvelac, seed cheese and 
other vegan probiotic cheeses]
Viktoras Kulvinskas "Survival In the 21st Century" contains excellent, 
accurate food combining information and chart [combining for maximum 
nutrition through maximum digestion], sprouting guide, sprout farms,
cultured foods, rejuvelac, and more. F.M. Lappe [combining for maximum 
protein from multiple vegetable sources].
Sandor Ellix Katz: "Wild Fermentation"
Bill Mollison: "The Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition"

<><>
> What is the CAUSE of
> lower-than-desirable-for-the-crop-you-are-trying-to-grow pH?  Until
> you fix the CAUSE, you will never stop having to apply the toxic
> chemical.
>
> Why would most row crops, which need neutral or only slightly
> alkaline pH, cause the soil to become more acid?  There's something
> very wrong there...... yep, the soil is sick.  What causes soil to
> have an acid pH?  What's going on with the organisms in the soil?
>
> Uptake of NITRATE by plants does not acidify the soil.  If you want
> to invoke scientific papers that "show" that uptake of nitrogen
> causes soil to become acid, please pay attention to the fact that
> those papers paid no attention to what they were doing with oxygen,
> and compaction, in their studies.  They incorrectly interpreted the
> result of anaerobic conditions developing in their soil with what
> goes on with nitrogen uptake and pH.
>
> It is the biology in the soil that determines soil pH.
>
>
> Until the habitat in the soil is changed so that beneficial bacteria
> and fungi are selected for by the soil environment, low pH problems
> will eternally haunt you.
>
> So, waste your money every year on more, and more and more chemicals?
> That's the definition of a more-on, or moron, farmer, right?
>
> Or fix the CAUSE of the problem, and never again have to apply toxic
> chemicals in order to control pH?
<><>

What a great (to me) new piece of information, pH moderation by 
site-specific naturally-selected microorganisms. This is certainly 
important to add to a farmer's working knowledge of his craft. It never 
occurred to me and I had not run across this, so far, in the literature
I have read. It ought to turn some folks' thinking around.

I am of the opinion that quarry rock dusts may also have an effect on pH 
and certainly on the growth of grasses, clovers and other plants. I came 
to this conclusion after observing successions of communities of these 
thriving around my stockpiles of pyrophyllite and granite dusts.
The effect may actually be to nourish and stimulate colonies of 
beneficial soil microorganisms, which in turn, alter soil Ph, as you 
have described, as opposed to doing so directly, temporarily.
Q:
So, another challenge, how to build soil that will have the optimum pH 
for specific crops. Is this a factor that can be manipulated in any way?
Possibilities:
1) any kind of IM, EM, ACT, various other compost teas, fermented plant 
extracts and similar soil amendments
2) any particular types of compost made up of varying ingredients
3) commercially available organic soil amendments:
all sorts of quarry rock dusts: pyrophyllite, granite, basalt, feldspar, 
other (volcanic tuff)
oyster shell
pulverized seashell meal
hi cal lime
aragonite
azomite
fish meal
crab waste
seaweed, dry or liquid
blood meal
manures of all sorts
guano
greensand
rock or colloidal phosphate
dolomitic lime
soybean meal
alfalfa meal
others
4) irrigation and drainage strategies
5) cropping methods:
wide beds
raised beds
row
Fukuoka
grid
random pattern broadcast seeding of tilled soil for field crops (Middle 
Ages method perhaps)