Re: Copper Culture?

**K* M* <k*@iol.ie>**

I'm familiar with much of the work cited on this page and there are  
problems with quite a lot of it. One is that many of the patented  
systems were so expensive to run that no one ever put them into  
practise or tried to replicate the original work, Another is that a  
good many of the papers stem from Stalinist Russia when scientists  
had the choice between reporting success or finding themselves in a  
Siberian labour camp - not suprisingly they usually took the former  
option.

But there has also been a tendency to simply dismiss these results as  
muck and magic and not attempt to replicate  them. Perhaps it is time  
someone did?

After all we have all seen the attitude of the scientific community  
to organic farming change drastically in our lifetime. I now find  
myself explaining to government ministers soil science that was  
dismissed by their predecessors' advisors - although the scientific  
work on which it is based was carried out between the 20s and the 50s  
but only acted upon by the then tiny organic farming community. And  
some of the science involved such as mycorrhizal interraction was  
seen working in practise by organic farmers but not understood. The  
development of technologies such as photo voltaic electricity makes  
experimentation far more viable.

I'm still waiting for someone to crack the scientific basis of  
biodynamic agriculture. I don't understand it, I don't believe in it,  
but I know that every biodynamic farm I know is getting healthier  
crops and better yields than it conventional and conventiona organic  
neighbours. But I can never find the energy and time to do it myself  
and see if it works for me - go figger. Could just be that biodynamic  
farmers, by the nature of the system, have to spend more time keeping  
a close eye on what is going on in their fields - a placebo effect.

Anyone got the time, energy and money to set up some properly  
validated experiments?

kathryn

On 16 Apr 2008, at 22:33, Sheri Ann Richerson wrote:

> They did all of their plants using copper so there was no  
> comparison plants.
> Here is what I have found so far
> http://ecosustainablevillage.com/new_page_11.htm
>
> Does anyone know of another good source for information?
>
>
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