Re: Peat

**L* R* <g*@leereich.com>**

A peat bog has some depth of peat to it, measured, I believe, in  
feet. To state a renewal rate of 100 years, what depth is renewed in  
that time period? My understanding that the renewal rate would be  
measured in mere inches, if that, over a hundred year period.

Lee Reich, PhD
garden@leereich.com

Books by Lee Reich:
The Pruning Book
Weedless Gardening
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
A Northeast Gardener's Year

On Apr 2, 2007, at 12:10 PM, Jeff Ball wrote:

> I have been a supporter of Canadian sphagnum peat moss for over 20
> years.  I have visited the bogs in Alberta and I have spoken to the
> peat moss association on several occasions - just so my bias is out
> in front.
>
> Anything written about peat in England is apples and oranges to
> Canadian sphagnum peat.  European and much of eastern European peat
> is not renewable; it is not from the sphagnum plant.  So to worry
> about peat being a non-renewable resource in England is a legitimate
> concern.
>
> Sphagnum peat is renewable, although the industry did not start to
> get into the renewing business until about ten years ago.  Now all
> the bogs harvested in Canada go into a renewing mode.  Yes, it takes
> 100 years for a sphagnum bog to renew.  But it renews.  Canada is
> larger than the U.S. and about half of the land is spagnum peat
> bogs.  The Co2 released in the harvesting and processing and shipping
> of peat is miniscule compared to the CO2 produced by cars in just one
> American city.
>
> Coir is touted to be better than Canadian peat because it comes from
> coconut trees and they are clearly renewable.  What is not observed
> is that now most new coconut groves are created by clearing even more
> of the rain forest.  Is that a reasonable trade off?  Coir happens to
> be superior to peat in some professional green house applications
> because it resists the development of algea better.  After that,
> Canadian peat is just as effective as a potting mix or soil amendment
> as is coir.
>
> At the current rate of harvest, it would take several hundred years
> to use up all the available peat in Canada.  In 100 years, the
> renewed bogs come into play and we have a truly renewable garden
> product.
>
> In the next month or two yet another national gardening magazine or
> newspaper story will again moan about the use of Canadian sphagnum
> peat moss not being a renewable resource.  That story will never die
> and it is a bad story.
>
> Jeff Ball
> jeffball@usol.com
> 810-724-8581
> Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
> Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com
>
>
>
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