Guest guest Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 > > > One nutritionist I met said there is no difference in " nutrition " > from eating organic or not. Time to find a better nutrionist! It has been proven over and over again that commercial agriculture products are becoming more and more void of nutients. This is common sense! If you deplete the soil of minerals obviously less minerals will be in your food. For example, a casual glance at inorganic carrots and organic carrots shows a remarkable difference in color. due to the lack of beta carotene that is currently found in commercially grown carrots. Of course if you are referring to fake organic produce such as what is for sale in whole foods, there is no difference except in price phil philip gelb phil http://philipgelb.com http://myspace.com/inthemoodforfood http://myspace.com/philipgelb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 As with most either/or choices, the true answer is neither. Neither the organic ferts you list, nor the chemical ferts, are a good choice. Look up " veganic gardening " or see the book Growing green : animal-free organic techniques / by Jenny Hall and Iain Tolhurst. If you need a fertilizer, the best choice is compost. Second choice is a seed meal, such as soybean meal. If you want to burn money, some manufacturers of organic ferts offer a " vegan blend " . The long answer is to take care of the soil biology. I went to a talk this week by J. Lowenfels, the author of Teaming with Microbes, which is about soil ecology. If you haven't come across this information on *why* organic gardeners say " feed the soil not the plants, " and why to avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides and rototilling, here's a very brief summary. For details, see the book. As Lowenfels described this elegant system, 60 to 70 percent of a plant's energy goes to producing exudates that it drips out through its roots to attract bacteria and fungi, who in turn attract nematodes and protozoa to the root zone. To get carbon, the protozoa eat bacteria, and the nematodes eat bacteria, fungi, and other nematodes, and poop out the rest, which feeds the roots. The plant can change the exudates it produces if it wants different foods! That's because different exudates will attract different bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and protozoa. The huge diversity of soil biota helps the good guys keep the bad guys in check. A common way to destroy the microbiology in the soil is to add salts (nonorganic fertilizers). The salts kill the bacteria and fungi by dehydrating them, with the result that the plant can no longer feed itself and becomes dependent on its fert fix. In addition, without bacteria and fungi, the other parts of the food chain start dying off as well. The soil food web is also responsible for soil structure. Bacteria create slime that glues soil particles together, and fungi weave threads to create larger soil aggregates. Larger fauna in the soil, such as mites and earthworms, create pathways for air and water. Lowenfels called worms taxicabs for bacteria and fungal spores, distributing them through the soil. To destroy soil structure, the most common methods are rototilling and using pesticides. To bring soil back to life, you can do the following: 1. add a quarter inch of good quality compost 2. use appropriate mulches -- dry leaves for perennials, shrubs, and trees (which prefer the form of nitrogen produced in soils where fungi predominate), or straw/grass clippings for annuals (which prefer the form of nitrogen produced in soils where bacteria predominate) 3. use properly prepared aerated compost tea, made with good quality compost 4. apply mycorrhizal fungi, especially in a new garden that's been rototilled or chemically fertilized. (also, try to avoid walking on the root zone. Lowenfels said palm trees were dying in Hawaii and redwoods were dying in Calif. because tourists were walking all over the root zone, which kills fungi) At 3:33 PM -0700 4/10/09, vampexorcized wrote: Hi, If anyone would offer some understanding, regarding the choice between choosing organic or not organic fertizers. -Organic fertilizer contain : Fish blood Cow blood Chicken blood Human fecal substance Manure And anything else I not listed -non organic: All those chemicals & anything else I not listed One nutritionist I met said there is no difference in " nutrition " from eating organic or not. All your two cents or more or less is appreciated. Thanks for your help, Quan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Thank you Philip & Yarrow for your input! I feel more at ease. quan --- On Fri, 4/10/09, yarrow <yarrow wrote: > yarrow <yarrow > Re: [southBayVeggies] Organic or not organic > " vampexorcized " <vampexorcized, " Southbayveggies " > Friday, April 10, 2009, 11:44 PM > > Re: [southBayVeggies] Organic or not > organic > As with most either/or choices, the true answer is > neither. > > > Neither the organic ferts you list, nor the chemical > ferts, are a > good choice. Look up " veganic gardening " or see > the book > Growing green : animal-free organic techniques / by Jenny > Hall and > Iain Tolhurst. > > > If you need a fertilizer, the best choice is > compost. > Second choice is a seed meal, such as soybean meal. If you > want to > burn money, some manufacturers of organic ferts offer a > " vegan > blend " . > > > The long answer is to take care of the soil > biology. > > > I went to a talk this week by J. Lowenfels, the author > of > Teaming > > with Microbes, which is about soil ecology. If you > haven't come > > across this information on *why* organic gardeners say > " feed the > soil > > not the plants, " and why to avoid chemical fertilizers > and > pesticides > > and rototilling, here's a very brief summary. For > details, see the > > book. > > > > As Lowenfels described this elegant system, 60 to 70 > percent of a > > plant's energy goes to producing exudates that it drips > out > through > > its roots to attract bacteria and fungi, who in turn > attract > > nematodes and protozoa to the root zone. To get carbon, the > protozoa > > eat bacteria, and the nematodes eat bacteria, fungi, and > other > > nematodes, and poop out the rest, which feeds the roots. > The plant > > can change the exudates it produces if it wants different > foods! > > That's because different exudates will attract > different bacteria, > > fungi, nematodes, and protozoa. The huge diversity of soil > biota > > helps the good guys keep the bad guys in check. > > > > A common way to destroy the microbiology in the soil is to > add > salts > > (nonorganic fertilizers). The salts kill the bacteria and > fungi by > > dehydrating them, with the result that the plant can no > longer > feed > > itself and becomes dependent on its fert fix. In addition, > without > > bacteria and fungi, the other parts of the food chain start > dying > off > > as well. > > > The soil food web is also responsible for soil > structure. > Bacteria > create slime that glues soil particles together, and > fungi > weave > > threads to create larger soil aggregates. Larger fauna in > the > soil, > > such as mites and earthworms, create pathways for air and > water. > > Lowenfels called worms taxicabs for bacteria and fungal > spores, > > distributing them through the soil. To destroy soil > structure, the > > most common methods are rototilling and using pesticides. > > > > To bring soil back to life, you can do the following: > 1. add a quarter inch of good quality compost > 2. use appropriate mulches -- dry leaves for > perennials, shrubs, > and > > trees (which prefer the form of nitrogen produced in soils > where > > fungi predominate), or straw/grass clippings for annuals > (which > > prefer the form of nitrogen produced in soils where > bacteria > > predominate) > 3. use properly prepared aerated compost tea, made > with good > quality compost > 4. apply mycorrhizal fungi, especially in a new garden > that's > been > > rototilled or chemically fertilized. > > > > (also, try to avoid walking on the root zone. Lowenfels > said palm > > trees were dying in Hawaii and redwoods were dying in > Calif. > because > > tourists were walking all over the root zone, which kills > fungi) > > > > > At 3:33 PM -0700 4/10/09, vampexorcized > wrote: > Hi, > > If anyone would offer some understanding, regarding the > choice between > choosing organic or not organic fertizers. > > > > -Organic fertilizer contain : > > Fish blood > > Cow blood > > Chicken blood > > Human fecal substance > > Manure > > And anything else I not listed > > > > -non organic: > > All those chemicals & anything else I not listed > > > > One nutritionist I met said there is no difference in > " nutrition " > from eating organic or not. > > All your two cents or more or less is appreciated. > > > > Thanks for your help, > > Quan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.