Re: rock dust improves soil fertility

[Guest guest]

Where can you get the stuff?

From a local quarry or something?

Is granite dust good? How can you tell?

Googa

> >

> > In seeking some help for my oldest daughter's current round with

a

> > chronic skin issue, we encountered the thinking that humans can

> get > their minerals from vegetables and don't have a need for milk

> past weaning age.

>

> ...

> > All of my gardening studies have led me to the conclusion that we

> > simply must have raw milk due to terrible soils and the lack of

> > availability of quality produce. ...

>

> > Today while out, we also picked up a few soil amendments to

> > hopefully get some of the trace minerals back into my own garden

> and

> > will continue to work on my pasture and soil to produce healthier

> > foods.

> ...

> >

> > May all your gardens be bountiful and nutrient-dense!

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Everything you need to know about using rock dust as fertilizer is

here, http://www.remineralize.org/

>

> Where can you get the stuff?

>

> From a local quarry or something?

>

> Is granite dust good? How can you tell?

>

> Googa

>

>

> > >

> > > In seeking some help for my oldest daughter's current round with

> a

> > > chronic skin issue, we encountered the thinking that humans can

> > get > their minerals from vegetables and don't have a need for milk

> > past weaning age.

> >

> > ...

> > > All of my gardening studies have led me to the conclusion that we

> > > simply must have raw milk due to terrible soils and the lack of

> > > availability of quality produce. ...

> >

> > > Today while out, we also picked up a few soil amendments to

> > > hopefully get some of the trace minerals back into my own garden

> > and

> > > will continue to work on my pasture and soil to produce healthier

> > > foods.

> > ...

> > >

> > > May all your gardens be bountiful and nutrient-dense!

> > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

A good quick intro to the topic is at < www.championtrees.org >

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Bedrock into Biology

turning sunshine into sugar

To restore topsoil, our first action must be to assure an abundant supply of essential elements. These elements are supplied in the form of "minerals"—complex combinations of chemical elements. Minerals are usually metals combined with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, other non-metals, and water. These minerals are blended together in crystalline and amorphous forms as the rocks of the Earth.

Soil is made from rocks. Soil is decayed rock. Rocks are weathered and worn by wind and water into dust, grit and sand. The raw, elemental minerals exposed by this breakdown are then digested, reformed and transformed by microbes, algae, lichen and other simple lifeforms. The simplest organisms perform the primary task of transforming minerals into protoplasm.

Plants then combine these carbon-bound soil minerals with sunshine, water and carbon dioxide to create sugars, the universal fuel for biological life. Through the miracle of photosynthesis, magnesium in chlorophyll liberates oxygen and sunshine is captured in carbohydrates. As in the chlorophyll molecule itself, the minerals form the heart of biological cells, and supply the electric charges required to fire nature's chemical reactions.

Rocks are not equal in their ability to provide nutrients. Some rocks consist of only a few elements; others contain a wide diversity of elements. Some rocks contain too many heavy metals, others consist of a wide diversity of trace elements. Some rocks contain an abundance of silica; others consist mainly of clay-forming minerals. Determining what rock is best to renew one type of soil or soil condition becomes complex and fraught with technical uncertainties, unknowns and uncontrolled variables.

to Aes smaller particle size

The ideal natural form to feed elements to soil is as the insoluble minerals available from finely ground up rocks. To maximize the conversion of rock minerals into protoplasm and plant nutrients, the best strategy is to grind the rocks to powder. This increases the surface area of rock that is exposed and accessible to soil microbes. A normal fist size rock has a surface area of a few square inches, but ground to the consistency of fine sand, the rock has a surface area of several thousand square feet. This means microbes can much more rapidly access and consume the rock's minerals, and thus more rapidly digest them into plant nutrients. The finer the rock is ground, the greater the exposed surface area, and the more rapidly the soil microbes will digest it.

General recommendations are to grind rocks to at least 200 mesh, which is finer than fine sand. Several successful rockdust fertilizers are 400 mesh or less—as fine as talcum powder. One new product —Summa Minerals—will pass 22% through a 2500 mesh screen.

These finely ground dusts can be difficult to handle, cake up when wet, and easily disburse on windy days. A few manufacturers have granulated or pelletized their products to make them easier to handle and spread with a mechanical spreader.

Rocks are not equal in their ability to provide nutrients. Some rocks consist of only a few elements; others contain a wide diversity of elements. Some rock contains too much heavy metal, others consist of a wide diversity of trace elements. Some rocks contain an abundance of silica; others consist mainly of clay-forming minerals.

For maximum vitality, it's important to supply soil with ALL the nutrients that are essential for plant and animal growth. Not merely the organic elements and major elements—Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Calcium (N-P-K and Ca)—but all the elements, especially the trace elements.

There are at least a dozen other elements, beyond the major seven, that science now knows are needed for healthy plants. Many more—such as molybdenum—needed by specialized soil microbes, which fulfill special functions to create soil and fertility, such as synthesizing certain enzymes, vitamins, antibiotics, or other critical biolmolecules. Most are required in extremely tiny amounts—micrograms or less—and thus are called "trace elements."

Most trace elements dissolve into water faster than the major elements. So, in an average soil, trace elements leach out of soils faster than major elements. This removal of trace elements is accelerated by acid rain, soluble chemical fertilizers and excessive tillage. The consequence is that all soils eventually and easily become deficient in minor or trace elements. Continued doses with N-P-K and lime fertilizers will not resolve these deficiencies, and, in fact, will make them worse.

Trace elements play a key role in the function of many enzymes and hormones. One consequence of this is that a very tiny amount trace element has an exceedingly great effect on the healthy function of plants and animals. For example, it is well-known that insuffient iodine will induce goiter, a disease of the thyroid gland. And a deficiency of cobalt will leave us without vitamin B12, and thus unable to manufacture red blood cells. Neither is needed in more than a microgram per day—an amount which will easily fit on the head of a pin.

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> > >> > > In seeking some help for my oldest daughter's current round with > a > > > chronic skin issue, we encountered the thinking that humans can > > get > their minerals from vegetables and don't have a need for milk > > past weaning age.> > > > ...> > > All of my gardening studies have led me to the conclusion that we > > > simply must have raw milk due to terrible soils and the lack of > > > availability of quality produce. ...> > > > > Today while out, we also picked up a few soil amendments to > > > hopefully get some of the trace minerals back into my own garden > > and > > > will continue to work on my pasture and soil to produce healthier > > > foods. > > ...> > > > > > May all your gardens be bountiful and nutrient-dense!> > > > > >> >>

[Guest guest]

Some quarries will have a list of the minerals in their product.

Finer is better. I have basalt about an hour from me. The fines are a

waste product for them so they sell it cheap. I applied 1 ton to the

acre in '02 and am putting more on this year.

Granite dust has A fair amount of potasium as well as many other

minerals.

Bread from Stones is a good book on the subject.

Cheyenne

>

> Where can you get the stuff?

>

> From a local quarry or something?

>

> Is granite dust good? How can you tell?

>

> Googa

>

[Guest guest]

yes, I've looked at it, the recommendation for me is to get some more

humus and low magnesiusm limestone along with some other trace mineral

amendments. My phosphorous and potassium levels are already quite

high, so the rock phosphate wasn't recommended.

I've been putting bunny manure, goat manure, leaves, compost, on for

the past 7 years, and had no idea about the calcium deficit.