Vegetable Gardening Tips, Advice and FAQ's

Rock Dust & Compost Continued

Q. What if it is granite dust? I don't understand that example.

A. I wasn't slamming granite dust, but only suggesting that it is different from limestone - and by inference that every kind of dust is going to be somewhat different.

That is not to say that whatever rock dust you use won't have beneficial minerals in it. They probably do, but WHICH ONES, and HOW MUCH OF EACH, that is the question.

It's the guessing, that can help you or hurt you, and you never know which or how much, that we are trying to eliminate.

Also, everyone is not going to be able to find rock dust to put on their garden. Our belief is that EVERYONE should be able to grow a garden of healthy vegetables and fruit sufficient to feed themselves and their family. This is why we tell people exactly what to do, and we give alternatives in the event they can't obtain certain fertilizers - or even any fertilizer at all.

Following is a general statement of beliefs and "Mission" having to do with fertilizers, which shows one way in which we differ from most charitable organizations:

We subscribe to the idea that "Of him to whom much is given, much is required," and that we in the more developed countries must take it upon ourselves to assist our brothers and sisters who are not so blessed with material things.

To us this means we must even go beyond sending food or clothing, and actually help the people help themselves! While the best among other groups we've seen work to teach and help people with gardening, etc. they all are content to leave them in the 19th century, with only compost and manure as their source of nutrients.

Our experience has confirmed our belief that when people are taught properly, and then given all the materials necessary for success (including mineral fertilizers), either as a regular loan or a "pay it forward" loan, they do far better and are much more likely to have a sustainable gardening experience, than if they only have manure.

This is why the training projects we conduct do not count on locally available manure, compost, or even rock dust, but we search for and make available all of the mineral nutrients to our students. In every country we've visited the nutrients can be found, but most often the small family farmer has been limited by cost to manure and compost, with an occasional purchase of nitrogen fertilizer, and that's the main reason they remain in poverty! Even in America, without mineral fertilizers, a farmer was only able to feed a few people.

The foregoing is intended to help you understand part of the reason we don't encourage organic gardening, and to help you recognize the value of your many contributions to the Foundation, for which we are extremely grateful! Thanks for your continuing interest and support of good gardening.

Last Modified: 2005-03-22 Number of views: 2595