Hello,

We are very new here, and we are very excited to get some rock dust onto our garden.

We live in SE Idaho and we have access to a lot of volcanic rock. We collected some today and have pounded quite a bit into dust.

How much dust do we need to mix into our garden? We have around 900 sq. feet.

Thanks so much,
Donna and Casey

Hi

First of all I must note that I am not a practiced user of rock dust. I did make a bit more than ten years ago and applied about 8 pounds to a 4'X 8' bed but I left before being able to notice any results. I did just do a bit of a search and found the following URLs which not only include suggestions for the amount of rock dust to apply but also some rough plans for a bicycle run rock crusher. I reside in the Silicon Valley where I'm afraid the soil is largely too contaminated to trust growing anything here for consumption and I do not have access to farmable land.

One of the following URLs is from this web site.

http://www.activecompost.com/Co-uti...eral%20Fines%20and%20Compost.pdf

http://www.seercentre.org.uk/Cammis...withwords.swf?POPUP_ENABLED=true

http://www.remineralize.org/primer.php

http://www.invisiblegardener.com/ma...ne_magazine/rock_dust_framed.htm

http://www.chelationtherapyonline.com/articles/p15.htm

Hopefully you get a better answer from some one else but I think the above URLs might give you a good idea of how much you want to use and the factors you need to consider and explore for your soil's needs.

Hope you find what you need.

Chip

Sorry not to get to you sooner,

See the Application Conversion Rate Chart in the Rock Dust Primer.

http://remineralize.org/primer.php

Please get back to us with any other questions that you may have. Please let us know your results. It would be great if you get good results to list the source of rockdust in our resource section.

Joanna
Remineralize the Earth

Hi Donna & Casey~ You might also want to consider setting up your
garden rows or beds so you can use different quantities on the same
crop and observe how the crops respond. Personally I try to do a
first time generous remineralization of about 10 tons/acre or .5 lbs./sq.
ft. (or more) if I have enough dust on hand, then try to add at least
another light dusting before the next crop (or perennial growing
cycle) so I know I'm continually building up the soil with minerals
(and whatever compost I have ready) from crop to crop and year to
year. I think the world's farmer's and gardener's and forester's
would thoroughly enjoy this approach and its results if they'd give it a
fair trial! ~Don