This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: How to Make Topsoil: Azomite part 2

David Yarrow wrote:
> 
> At 12:59 AM 12/28/97 -0800, Darryl Clark wrote:
> >Hello David:
> >Do you know of any good east coast sources for mineral dust of the
> >Azomite kind?
> 
> try peaceful valley farm suppl;y in maine?
> or david milarch in michigan.
> or call peak minerals headquarters in branson, missouri.
> or check the rockdust list on the champion tree website.
> http://www.danwinter.com/ChampionTrees/rockdust.html
> 
> >Interestingly, I have a little test going between two
> >carambola seedlings.  One is growing in a so called "professional"
> >growing medium mixed with purchased compost. The other is grown in
> >common Carolina red clay mixed with sand and home made compost.
> 
> clay and sand are quite good as a base for topsoil.  needs some rock powder
> to provide raw mineral elements for primary digestion into biomass.  and the
> compost not only provides organic matter, but bacteria to innoculate the mix.
> 
> >plants were started indoors and are under the same grow light and on the
> >same water schedule.  The seedlings are the two most robust growers
> >selected out of 8 that were planted from the same original fruit. The
> >clay/sand/compost developed some sort of fungal fuzz on the soil surface
> >near the beginning of the experiment, but since the plant didn't seem to
> >care, I didn't try to intefere.  Now, only four months later, the
> >clay/sand/compost seedling is more than twice as large as the one
> 
> great!!   twice as large!!!  and healthier, too.  commercial mix is more
> sterile medium to support roots and nutrient solutions than living matrix.
> 
> >started in packaged mixes.  It also is much better branched, and seems
> >to be widening the gap between growth rates. The other seedling looks
> >like what I previously thought was normal for a seedling it's age,
> >before I tried this experiment.
> 
> not just size.  look for more subtle indications of vigor.  erectness.
> sturdiness.  depth and intensity of color.
> 
> >What do you think: Is it the clay, the sand, or the home made compost
> >(leaf mold and sawdust compost) that's making the difference?
> 
> leaf mold is an excellent microbial inoculant; might need manure to supply
> those special teeny beasties that lurk in the guts of animals, too.  and,
> yes, some nitrogen, although leaf litter contains lots of cellulose
> dissolving microbes that don't choke on a high carbon diet.
> 
> the clay is a key player in passing nutrients around in soil.  there is
> probably no or little clay in commercial mixes.  clay has very strong
> electrostatic and electrolytic attractions to hold soil together and give it
> body.  and to hold nutrients in loose but available associations.  root
> hairs like to get tangled up in clay particles.  and also soil microbes and
> fungi.
> 
> more and more evidence by biologists studying soil with micro-microscopes is
> showing how soil microbes and fungi gather around roots (magically, i guess)
> and pump nutrients into the root hairs.  plants probably dole out some sweet
> stuff (sugar sap) as a reward for being spoon-fed bioplasm minerals.
> 
> however, beware seeing the sand as just so much chemically inert silica
> crystal.  first of all, those tiny silica microchips are ion generators --
> they like to liberate electrons -- in polarized streams -- at select
> frequencies.
> 
> besides a rock powder, another great ingredient to nurse your green babies
> on is earthworm castings.  hi quality manure -- from microbes, not
> herbivores or birds.
> 
> one definite plus about the azomite is it has an very broad spectrum
> analysis for trace elements.  it supplies a complete and diversified menu to
> microbes.  and it is from an ancient inland sea that collected and
> concentrated dissolved minerals from young rocky mountains and volcanic regions.
> 
> ~ david
> *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> David Yarrow at TurtleEyeland
> P.O. Box 6034, Albany, NY 12206
> 518-458-8144
> dyarrow@igc.org
> http://www.danwinter.com/yarrow/
> http://www.danwinter.com/ChampionTrees/
> Eve, the earthworm sez: "If yer not forest, yer against us."
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index