Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
New Zealand's leading source of information on Organics & Sustainable Living
Levin Branch Newsletter - May 200701-05-2007Organic Growing News - 239 On Sunday 27 May we visit the home garden of Barbara and Hille van der Valk Barbara and Hille’s property features fruit trees, large vegetable and flower gardens and cows. They have also previously raised chickens and pigs. Their household rainwater collection system includes a first flush diversion mechanism. The meeting starts at 1.30pm. A $2 gate includes afternoon tea, and we will have a sales table with produce and plants. The meeting is open to the public. Barbara and Hille are at 111 Arcus Road, Te Horo. After crossing the railway line at Te Horo, continue around to the left into School Road. Arcus Road is off School Road on the left. At the end of the sealed section of Arcus Road, the road appears to branch in two. Take the right hand gravel track (the left is a private driveway) and follow it straight ahead and then around to the left. Number 111 is then the first gate on the right. For our June meeting, we are hoping to join the Tree Crops Association for their annual pruning demonstration. On July 29 Tony Robinson will talk to us about weeds at Thompson House, Levin. Our August and September meetings will also be at Thompson House, with details to be advised. COMPOST MAKING AT COMMON PROPERTY For our April meeting we returned to Common Property for a compost making demonstration. About 20 people attended, including a number of new faces. Two compost methods were demonstrated, a traditional “hot” heap and one using EM (effective micro-organisms). For the hot heap, the ground was cleared so that the heap sat on bare earth. It is especially important to remove invasive weeds such as couch grass, to prevent them infiltrating the compost pile. Ideally, the base or first layer should be of coarse or twiggy material, to assist aeration. It should be at least one metre wide and long, to maximise heat generation. Build the heap using alternating layers of dry, brown material, such as straw or dry leaves, and green material such as grass clippings or crop residue. The “browns” are high in carbon and the “greens” provide nitrogen, helping to achieve the desired carbon: nitrogen ratio. As each layer is added, water lightly to keep the heap damp. Add activators and inoculants such as cow manure slurry or a sprinkling of mature compost or good soil between the layers. These provide a range of beneficial micro-organisms that will help convert the raw materials into compost. As you add each layer, make sure to pull the material out to the edges so that the sides of the heap remain upright. Keep adding layers of material, activators and inoculants, watering as necessary, until the heap is at least one metre high. At this size, the population explosion of organisms leads to a rapid increase in temperature to 60° or 70° C or more, killing any pathogens or weed seeds within the heap. Keep the heap covered from the elements with tin, sacking, cardboard or whatever is to hand. As the pile begins to decompose, it will shrink noticeably. Toadstools and mushrooms growing out of the pile are a good sign. After a week or so, when the temperature begins to cool, turn the heap so that the outer layers end up in the centre, and vice versa. This way, the whole heap is subjected to the heat treatment. Fluff up any compacted material to re-aerate it, and gently water any dry patches. If you are energetic, you can turn the heap again in another week or two. This will help it to compost more quickly. Dave Johnston then led a demonstration building a compost heap with EM. These effective micro-organisms work best in anaerobic (oxygen-free) conditions, using processes such as fermentation to break down the source materials. Once again we started with bare earth, and built up the pile using alternating layers of straw, grass clippings, crop residues and other clean vegetative material. Dave used two forms of EM, the dry bokashi as used in the kitchen compost bucket system and the liquid EM1 formula. The liquid EM1 was diluted in water and used on the drier layers such as straw, and the dry bokashi was sprinkled over the moister green layers. Every so often, the entire pile was trodden down to press out the air. The pile does not have to reach any minimum dimensions, as it does not rely on heat generation to work. Also, it doesn’t shrink, but retains the same volume throughout. The finished heap was covered and sealed with plastic sheet to ensure that the environment remained anaerobic. Dave said that an EM compost heap should be ready to use in a few weeks. EM PRACTICAL WORKSHOP Dave Johnston will be holding a practical workshop for those interested in or already using EM on Sunday 10 June from 10am to 4 or 4.30pm. Topics include activating EM and EM Bokashi for use as a fertiliser and supplementary stock feed, fermented plant extracts (FPE) for plant and animal use, EM5 as an insect repellent, making EM Mudballs, used widely overseas for environmental cleanup, and using EM Ceramics in the home, farm, garden and environment. Cost will be $5 per person to cover materials and refreshments. Bring your own lunch. You must register, as seating and work area is limited. If there are enough people, another workshop will be held on Sunday 17 June. Contact Dave at lao@ihug.co.nz or 06-364-6101 At the start of the compost meeting, I read out an article by Dr Andersen, an American GP who has recently been in NZ. Dr Andersen is the leading proponent of “biological agriculture”, which states that human health can only be fully realised through fully nutritional food, and that such food can only come from soils which contain all essential minerals and which are full of beneficial soil biology. The article from www.bioagnz.com is reprinted here. Human health starts in the soil The average consumer and the typical doctor make little or no connection between human health and soil health. Even though we have an entire industry built around herbal medicines, nutritional supplements, diet, and lifestyle changes, most people do not connect the logical dots between human health and soil health. There are literally thousands of scientific journal articles directly correlating lack of nutrition and exposure to pesticides with human illness. Everything from fatigue and chronic illness to behaviour and birth defects has been linked to nutrient imbalances and/or pesticide exposure. A priori, every one of these nutrient and pesticide issues originates from a soil imbalance, soil health issue. Nutritional supplements are very important adjuncts to a holistic health plan and I use them extensively in my medical practice. The problem is that we cannot live by supplements alone and, in fact, to achieve the ultimate health we all seek, we must receive full and comprehensive nutrition via the food we eat. Figuratively speaking, on a scale of 0 to 100 with 0 being death and 100 being perfect health, the best supplements in the world will only get us to about 75 or 80. For most people that would be great and IS great compared to the average person walking around today. To get that next 20 to 25 points of improved health, we must have food - real food with comprehensive and dense nutrition. Only when the nutrients are naturally complexed in the tissues of living plants and animals will they provide us with the nutrition necessary to gain that last increment of full health. Unfortunately this is impossible today. According to USDA and British Ministry of Foods statistics our food is 30 to 60% lower in basic nutrients today than it was 50 to 60 years ago. This decline has occurred in spite of all the technological advancements in agriculture. In reality, it is because of the purported technological advancements such as hybridization, genetic engineering, purified N-P-K fertilisers, and pesticide chemical weapons. The agriculture industry of today, called the Green Revolution, was the dream child of the chemical weapons industry of WWI and WWII. No longer having people to kill directly after the war, the industry looked for other ‘villains’. Weeds, diseases and insect pests were the politically and aesthetically correct targets. The agricultural chemical industry was launched. Out of this industry sprang the use of chemical nitrogens, high analysis phosphorous and potassium fertilisers and, subsequently, a plant breeding industry that selects and breeds plants that grow the greatest volumes of product on these narrow spectrum, high analysis fertilisers. As a natural result of using these fertilisers, weeds, diseases and insect pests problems exploded lending additional prestige to the chemical weapons now available to kill these ‘villains’. Any mention of comprehensive nutrition or independent research along this line was suppressed. In fact, around 1950, a formal policy was adopted at USDA and the Land Grant Ag Universities across the US to transition from independent, publicly funded research to private, industry funded research. Of course those that had the money for such funding were then and are today the chemical weapons manufacturers. Recent reports indicate that as much as 75 to 80% of all ag and medical research is funded and controlled by the chemical/drug manufacturers. It is crucial we understand that these poisons do not and never will provide nutrition to plants, animals or humans. Following this point is the fact that weeds, diseases and insect pests are present and sassy because the grower has created the perfect environmental condition for them to be present and sassy. Over 70 years of chemical weapons use on our food and soils has not solved one disease, weed, or insect pest problem. Actually, we now have resistant weeds, diseases and insect pests in addition to pesticide contamination of our food and environment. Appropriate nutritional management of the soils naturally eliminates the diseases, weeds and insect pests while increasing yields, profitability, food nutritional value, taste, and shelf-life. Nutritional management for balanced soils also corrects environmental pollution, soil compaction and erosion, and enhances soil carbon dioxide fixation to reduce greenhouse gasses. With comprehensive nutrition, our bodies will have the nutrients to better detoxify the many chemicals found in our environment and in the current food supply. As soil nutrition improves, the farmer needs fewer and fewer pesticides to grow the crop to the point where their use can be eliminated. This is not just organic production because of a philosophical belief. This is biological farming based on natural science. Getting needed comprehensive nutrition into our diet starts with getting comprehensive nutrition into the soil. A plant is only as good as the soil on which it is grown. A plant cannot provide to the consumer any nutrition not present in that soil. Doctors’ admonishment to “eat a balanced diet” is a ridiculous testament to their complete lack of understanding of what ‘balanced’ means. One cannot make something from nothing. If the nutrient is not in the soil, it won't be in the plant grown on that soil, in the diet of the consumer and subsequently not in the consumer's body. Thinking that you can get iodine, lithium, selenium, chromium, germanium, and other essential trace elements by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables when the fruits and vegetables are completely void of these nutrients is like balancing a budget by spending more when expenses are already greater than income. In order to reverse our slide into degenerative diseases and to be truly healthy, we must focus on soil health. This means considerate re-mineralisation of our soils and re-establishment of beneficial soil biology. It means demanding that farming practices increase soil humus levels that allow more nutrition to get to the plants. It means placing the emphasis on the nutritional density of the food we produce, not solely on production volumes. And it means demanding that our agricultural systems make the changes needed to create health in the soil. Our health rests on it. – Dr Arden Andersen, September 2006 |
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Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
