Tarryall.net
. . . a Guide for Living Energetically
. . . a Guide for Living Energetically
Nutrition for Soils . . .
For all intents and purposes, soil equals health.
Without a healthy soil as a base, plants grown on
weakened soil are, in and of themselves,
considerably weakened in their nutritive content
and thus those consuming the plants are equally
weakened in their general health. And yet, our
modern soils are alarmingly lacking in nutrients.
The Beginning
Originally farmers used crop rotation and let the fields lie
fallow to recoup one year of every seven. The only fertilizer
that was used was animal manure from grazers, browsers or
scavengers such as poultry and even pigs who even "plowed"
and scratched up the soil while foraging and thus aerating
it. Some kitchen gardens also added all kitchen waste such
as is provided with compost. But most of that changed in
the early 20th century.
It is interesting to note that current chemical fertilization
methods began with marketing stockpiles of gunpowder
(phosphates) left over from WWI and anhydrous ammonia
developed to harden jungle soil in the South Pacific into
runways for WWII bombers. Land grant universities tend to
promote chemical use because fertilizer and pesticide
conglomerates are major fiscal benefactors. However,
scientists are discovering cumulative side-effects to such an
approach.
Soil Fertilizers
It has been noted that just two years of heavy nitrogen
application with no addition of organic matter, that soil can
become so hardened and compacted, that farmers are forced
to use rippers and bigger, more expensive tractors to break
up resultant clumps. Ultimately, more is required to effect
less.
The use of NPK fertilizers is heavy enough that the EPA is
finding that in some areas, nitrogen runof from fields is
actually higher than the amount applied that season. In
reality, those fields have reached nitrogen saturation which
destroys humus (natural soil and it's inhabitants which are
needed for healthy soil) and creates severe nutrient
imbalances.
The nitrates that make their way into food, are converted by
intestinal bacteria into dangerous nitrites. The elderly,
babies, and those on antacids do not have enough stomach
acids to kill the bacteria and so suffer from nitrosis or
nitrogen poisoning. This in turn causes meth-
hemoglobinemia which is a reduced oxygen-carrying capacity
of the blood. Not only dangerous to humans, pregnant cattle
and horses fed high nitrogen feeds can miscarry due to the
lack of blood oxygen and the binding of Vit A so necessary
for mineral usage.
We ourselves experienced this one year when we
inadvertently fed high-nitrogen hay (unfertilized but
contaminated by high-nitrogen irrigation runoff from other
fields) and lost 3 horse fetuses. The maximum contaminant
level for nitrate-nitrogen in public water is 10 ppm.
Herbicides & Pesticides
In reality, NPK is rarely used alone but rather in conjunction
with herbicides and pesticides necessary to quell
opportunistic attacks on relatively weak plants which grow
fast and green but have little strength or nutritive value.
Such chemicals, especially the carbamate insecticides and
triazene herbicides have been shown in a 5-year study
headed by Dr. Warren Porter of the University of Wisconsin,
to enact with nitrates thus forming substances which have
"measurable detrimental effects" on the nervous, immune
and endocrine systems (Pesticides & Aggression by Peter
Montague, www.rachel.org).
It is Dr. Prter's conclusion that: "The usage [of carbamate
insecticides and triazene herbicides] has continued to climb.
There's an enormous amount of [chemicals being used] right
now. There was a recent study that examined the urine of
people across the country, [asking] if people are being
exposed. On average, anywhere from five to seven
compounds were being excreted. There's a great deal of
exposure to the general populace. And yes, he toxicities
have definitely changed being measured in the parts-per-
trillion range. I would point out that fetuses are sensitive to
chemicals in the parts per quadrillion range."
Unfortunately, all these chemicals, and then some, also
leach into formerly potable water, including wells. A recent 2
year study done by Colorado State University was reported
on by the Denver Post [01/20/05 by Theo Stein]. The study's
co-author, Lori Sprague, said "There's the potential for these
chemicals to enter water sources wherever there's human
activity." The study concluded that water far from known
sources now contained measurable amounts of not only
agricultural chemicals but also antibiotics, hormones,
detergents and the like.
Mineral Loss
Another side to modern agricultural methods is the loss of
soil mineralization. If minerals are not within the soils
themselves, there is no possibility of them being contained
within crops grown on those soils. Minerals, especially all
trace minerals, are vital for every single function within
living creatures.
Author Rex Ewing points out from an equine standpoint in
Beyond the Hay Days, that "Farmers fertilize with nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium, and occasionally calcium, but
that leaves 18-20 minerals essential to horses (and
horsemen) that are not being returned to the ground...The
demineralization of our soil is not the slow process we might
imagine. Tests done on dehydrated alfalfa meal by the
National Academy of Sciences between 1973 and 1981
yielded some disturbing results. Copper dropped from 11.2
ppm down to 9.5 ppm during that period. Iron went from 330
ppm to 270 ppm, and zinc fell from 21.5 ppm to 19.4 ppm."
In looking at these figures almost thirty years later, it would
appear that vital system functions are deleteriously affected
at the very time when we are being assaulted by more and
more chemicals which strain our bodies to their utmost and
beyond.
What to do
We need to return to traditional farming methods and leave
most of these recent fads behind. Healthy soil is actually an
organism containing up to 2 tons of living beings per acre.
Crops grown in healthy soils are stronger and do not put out
the chemical "stress indicators" that draw insects to them.
This in turn can eliminate for massive amounts of
insecticides. Proper mulching, rotation, and companion
planting eliminate even more unwanted insects while
dramatically reducing the need for massive amounts of
herbicides. We need to let the earth lie fallow and rest
every few years and provide it with proper food like
composted vegetation and animal matter. We need to tread
the ground with a light foot and deep respect for it is our
mother in truth.
From the standpoint of economics, not only is organically
grown food more healthful for both consumers and the soil
itself, but researchers have found that organic farming can
yield up to three times the amount of food in developing
countries as what's grown by conventional methods. And, on
the same-sized plot of land.
To learn more about what constitutes a truly healthy soil,
visit www.acresusa.com. And for the very best balanced
fertilizers, visit my page on Dynamite Soil.
For all intents and purposes, soil equals health.
Without a healthy soil as a base, plants grown on
weakened soil are, in and of themselves,
considerably weakened in their nutritive content
and thus those consuming the plants are equally
weakened in their general health. And yet, our
modern soils are alarmingly lacking in nutrients.
The Beginning
Originally farmers used crop rotation and let the fields lie
fallow to recoup one year of every seven. The only fertilizer
that was used was animal manure from grazers, browsers or
scavengers such as poultry and even pigs who even "plowed"
and scratched up the soil while foraging and thus aerating
it. Some kitchen gardens also added all kitchen waste such
as is provided with compost. But most of that changed in
the early 20th century.
It is interesting to note that current chemical fertilization
methods began with marketing stockpiles of gunpowder
(phosphates) left over from WWI and anhydrous ammonia
developed to harden jungle soil in the South Pacific into
runways for WWII bombers. Land grant universities tend to
promote chemical use because fertilizer and pesticide
conglomerates are major fiscal benefactors. However,
scientists are discovering cumulative side-effects to such an
approach.
Soil Fertilizers
It has been noted that just two years of heavy nitrogen
application with no addition of organic matter, that soil can
become so hardened and compacted, that farmers are forced
to use rippers and bigger, more expensive tractors to break
up resultant clumps. Ultimately, more is required to effect
less.
The use of NPK fertilizers is heavy enough that the EPA is
finding that in some areas, nitrogen runof from fields is
actually higher than the amount applied that season. In
reality, those fields have reached nitrogen saturation which
destroys humus (natural soil and it's inhabitants which are
needed for healthy soil) and creates severe nutrient
imbalances.
The nitrates that make their way into food, are converted by
intestinal bacteria into dangerous nitrites. The elderly,
babies, and those on antacids do not have enough stomach
acids to kill the bacteria and so suffer from nitrosis or
nitrogen poisoning. This in turn causes meth-
hemoglobinemia which is a reduced oxygen-carrying capacity
of the blood. Not only dangerous to humans, pregnant cattle
and horses fed high nitrogen feeds can miscarry due to the
lack of blood oxygen and the binding of Vit A so necessary
for mineral usage.
We ourselves experienced this one year when we
inadvertently fed high-nitrogen hay (unfertilized but
contaminated by high-nitrogen irrigation runoff from other
fields) and lost 3 horse fetuses. The maximum contaminant
level for nitrate-nitrogen in public water is 10 ppm.
Herbicides & Pesticides
In reality, NPK is rarely used alone but rather in conjunction
with herbicides and pesticides necessary to quell
opportunistic attacks on relatively weak plants which grow
fast and green but have little strength or nutritive value.
Such chemicals, especially the carbamate insecticides and
triazene herbicides have been shown in a 5-year study
headed by Dr. Warren Porter of the University of Wisconsin,
to enact with nitrates thus forming substances which have
"measurable detrimental effects" on the nervous, immune
and endocrine systems (Pesticides & Aggression by Peter
Montague, www.rachel.org).
It is Dr. Prter's conclusion that: "The usage [of carbamate
insecticides and triazene herbicides] has continued to climb.
There's an enormous amount of [chemicals being used] right
now. There was a recent study that examined the urine of
people across the country, [asking] if people are being
exposed. On average, anywhere from five to seven
compounds were being excreted. There's a great deal of
exposure to the general populace. And yes, he toxicities
have definitely changed being measured in the parts-per-
trillion range. I would point out that fetuses are sensitive to
chemicals in the parts per quadrillion range."
Unfortunately, all these chemicals, and then some, also
leach into formerly potable water, including wells. A recent 2
year study done by Colorado State University was reported
on by the Denver Post [01/20/05 by Theo Stein]. The study's
co-author, Lori Sprague, said "There's the potential for these
chemicals to enter water sources wherever there's human
activity." The study concluded that water far from known
sources now contained measurable amounts of not only
agricultural chemicals but also antibiotics, hormones,
detergents and the like.
Mineral Loss
Another side to modern agricultural methods is the loss of
soil mineralization. If minerals are not within the soils
themselves, there is no possibility of them being contained
within crops grown on those soils. Minerals, especially all
trace minerals, are vital for every single function within
living creatures.
Author Rex Ewing points out from an equine standpoint in
Beyond the Hay Days, that "Farmers fertilize with nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium, and occasionally calcium, but
that leaves 18-20 minerals essential to horses (and
horsemen) that are not being returned to the ground...The
demineralization of our soil is not the slow process we might
imagine. Tests done on dehydrated alfalfa meal by the
National Academy of Sciences between 1973 and 1981
yielded some disturbing results. Copper dropped from 11.2
ppm down to 9.5 ppm during that period. Iron went from 330
ppm to 270 ppm, and zinc fell from 21.5 ppm to 19.4 ppm."
In looking at these figures almost thirty years later, it would
appear that vital system functions are deleteriously affected
at the very time when we are being assaulted by more and
more chemicals which strain our bodies to their utmost and
beyond.
What to do
We need to return to traditional farming methods and leave
most of these recent fads behind. Healthy soil is actually an
organism containing up to 2 tons of living beings per acre.
Crops grown in healthy soils are stronger and do not put out
the chemical "stress indicators" that draw insects to them.
This in turn can eliminate for massive amounts of
insecticides. Proper mulching, rotation, and companion
planting eliminate even more unwanted insects while
dramatically reducing the need for massive amounts of
herbicides. We need to let the earth lie fallow and rest
every few years and provide it with proper food like
composted vegetation and animal matter. We need to tread
the ground with a light foot and deep respect for it is our
mother in truth.
From the standpoint of economics, not only is organically
grown food more healthful for both consumers and the soil
itself, but researchers have found that organic farming can
yield up to three times the amount of food in developing
countries as what's grown by conventional methods. And, on
the same-sized plot of land.
To learn more about what constitutes a truly healthy soil,
visit www.acresusa.com. And for the very best balanced
fertilizers, visit my page on Dynamite Soil.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| The information contained on this webpage has not been evaluated by the FDA. This information in not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material provided is for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health program. |
| ". . . all animals get their food directly or indirectly from plants, and all plants get their food from the soil. Therefore, mineral-deficient soil may be one of the greatest original sources of disease in the world today. According to D.W. Cavanaugh, MD, of Cornell University, 'There is only one major disease and that is malnutrition. All ailments and afflictions to which we may fall heir are directly traceable to this major disease.' Simply stated, food crops grown on depleted soil produce malnourished bodies, and disease preys on malnourished bodies!" Mark Anderson & Bernard Jensen from Empty Harvest: Understanding the Link Between Our Food, Our Immunity, and Our Planet |
