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

Re: Raised bed questions.

> To answer the question "Why are you avoiding animal products?" I should
have
> mentioned it in the original message. First off the free manure in my
area
> would come from large scale poultry and dairy operations. These animals
are
> full of hormones, antibiotics and who knows what else. I wouldn't want
any of
> that to end up in my veggies. Secondly, I'm a vegetarian and would rather
not
> use animal products if at all possible. Bat guano sounds safest to me,
but
> alas I have no bat cave.

Admittedly I'm an aggie who happens to manage an animal feed mill and
therefore have a somewhat warped perspective here... :)  but I'd much
rather use animal manure on my garden than venture into the guano
trade...rabies come to mind as a possible side-effect.  Several rabid bats
have been found here in Ohio recently.  Also, if I remember correctly from
Vet Sanitation eons ago, rabies may be transmissible by aerosol means in
caves?  Somebody can (and probably will!  :)  correct me if this
is wrong.  

Dairy feeds can't contain antibiotics when fed to the milking herd--it is
illegal, and you would be amazed at the steps we take as an industry to
prevent it.  Cows can be injected with a hormone to enhance milk
production--the same hormone is also produced naturally in the cow.  These
products are broken down in the soil as is guano, earthworm castings or
just about anything else.  If we didn't have large-scale agriculture today,
a lot of people would be hungry tonight--just too many people to feed today
the way my grandparents farmed even 60 years ago, and most people don't
want to work that hard anyway.

    I'm not anti-green--got raised beds myself that do a pretty good job of
feeding us--I just hate to see a one-sided argument without putting in my
thoughts.  
> 
> The raised bed sounds like a good idea. Do you build a frame of some sort
> around the raised bed? If so, what materials are used? And how high
should
> the raised bed be? My property is on a slight incline and the raised bed
in a
> frame might eliminate any erosion problems.

What we did was lay out 4 ft wide beds and put black plastic landscaping
edging around them...got it on clearance at a good price this time of year
(aggies are cheap, too...)  There's an outfit in Nebraska that recycles
milk cartons into plastic sheets that are almost unbreakable and cheaper
than wood, tho I have to find their address--we cut the sheets into 1-ft
wide strips and attached to re-rod posts inside the edging.  We get
composted sewage sludge (talk about vitamins, hormones and drugs!!  :) 
from the city and work that in once a year.

We enjoy the group, just had to get this off my chest.  Thanks for the
opportunity.

Bill Huhman
central Ohio
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index