Remineralization In Rural Brazil

A research project in Bahia proves remineralization to be an effective adjunct strategy for remote impoverished communities to produce higher yields of quality crops while remaining independent from chemical fertilizers and government subsidies. (more…)

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Rock Dust and Pest Control

Among organic methods of pest control, rock dust is one of the safest for people, soil, and plants. (more…)

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RTE’s Coordinator Jorge Villaseñor Garibi Researches and Promotes The Use of Rock Dust Throughout Mexico

“The biggest challenge in teaching about the use of rock dust is breaking the paradigm of a sixty year-long tradition of using chemical fertilizers,” said Jorge Villaseñor Garibi in a recent interview for Remineralize the Earth (RTE) that explored his experiences with training Mexican farmers in the use of rock dust. (more…)

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Delving into nutrient density

In the middle of the fertile Willamette Valley in western Oregon, farmer Bob Wilt walks the rows of his 75-acre organic blueberry farm critically plucking ripe fruit for analysis. What he’s looking for is not sweetness or pest resistance (though these factors are certainly involved), but the fruit’s nutrient density. Thus far, his berries measure up. Test.   (more…)

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Farmer Campaigns for Nutrient Dense Food Production

Beginning in the 1950s, America’s farmers were told to get big, or get out. It wasn’t just a slogan, it was USDA policy, a mantra recited by several secretaries of agriculture. That mindset, combined with a post-WWII explosion in chemical fertilizer use, made our farms larger and more productive than ever — but at a high price, with many small farmers vanishing and the introduction of new kinds of environmental challenges. (more…)

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John Todd – Ecology From 40,000 Feet

“When we’re flying at 40,000 feet and we look down, we see a marvelous amount of innovation in agriculture, environmental restoration, green architecture, in systems design and in renewable energy development,” Dr. John Todd tells Organic Connections. “The news on the ground has never been richer, more diverse or in some respects more global. There probably isn’t a continent on which we don’t have something happening, and that just wasn’t the case 20 years ago.” (more…)

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Transforming Barren Land Into Fertile Ground

If you were to choose a place to plant your dream vegetable garden, it would probably not be in the foothills of the Grampian Mountains in Strathardle, Perthshire, Scotland. The upland site is infertile, acidic and exposed to severe weather. Around 85 percent of Scotland is classified by the European Union as a “less-favoured area” for farming, and this region, plagued by lifeless, silty soil and boulders, falls right into that category. Yet it was exactly here that Cameron and Moira Thomson settled and decided to become self-sufficient by creating their own garden, ...

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Remineralizing the Landscape: Creating Fecundity in the Garden

Landscape professionals each year put countless amounts of plants in the ground. Their success and their client’s happiness requires that these plants establish themselves quickly and then grow with vigor. Consequently, any experienced landscape professional attends to each plant’s requirements, working hard to make sure each plant gets exactly what it needs. This usually means focusing on fertilization and pH requirements while locating each plant in a spot where it will get the necessary amounts of moisture and light for it to feel at home. All these considerations ...

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Maximizing Nutrition in Backyard Gardens

by Ben Grosscup (forthcoming) Massachusetts Organic Food Guide, 2009-10 Is it possible to grow food with exquisite flavor, beautiful shine, extraordinary nutrition, and extended shelf-life? According to growers who have done it, not only can farm-sized growing operations do it, but with the right tools and knowledge, people can do it in their own backyards. Practitioners of this kind of growing say their goal is to maximize crop nutrient density - the amount of nutrition per volume of crop - and that this can be done in a manner entirely consistent with certified organic ...

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Earthworms and Bacteria Enjoy a Symbiotic Relationship with Rockdust

The Eco-Logic of Vermiculture By Uday Bhawalker Each organism has a role and occupies a niche. In fact, shown by the Russian ecologist, Gause, about 30 years ago that each niche has only one organism with its specific food. If another organism is introduced, it either gets wiped out or creates its own micro-niche by living symbiotically with the first, for example, by using the waste matter of the first organism as food. Ecology of worm bins Let us use eco-logic to understand the ecology (ecology: the relationship between organisms and their environment) of worm bins. ...

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