Pluto-inflicted? (was: Re: to Jane Sherry)

2003-01-30 Thread Peace Beours
From: "Garuda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

...

Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 10:02:46 +1300

Re: to Jane SherryYes Moon Venus Saturn Pluto is the next few days
Power issues, control, emotional sensitivity, bottom lines are challenged 
all this week. Any persecutor, victim, saviour issues should be on display. 
Relationship hidden or delayed, cum denied matters all come to a head.
Keep an eye on the MArs transit to follow around the 15th Feb. (Can georgey 
boy keep his finger off the trigger from then on?)
Here is the rest of the worlds chance to keep the US back in some form of 
box. CAn we do it???
The perrennial question of Pluto inflicted people - how to manage the 
raging self obcessed psychopath that lives in the basement?.
GA

GA,
Is our Resident Pluto-inflicted, then? I thought the problem was a combo of 
brainwashed-to-value-money-mongerers/grubbers-above-all-else (c.f. 
decimation of envt'l regs/elevating of corporate enrichment schemes) and a 
reported IQ of 88.


Jane Parker  wrote
>Is it possible we are acting out of the macrocosmic paradigm right 
now on this micorsosmic scale?
Please we are brothers and sisters here, and I would urge and invite 
us to request of one another and ask of one another not point fingers or 
blame or sound condescending etc..in our communications with each and the 
other.





_
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online  
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963



Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Peace Beours
Perry,

Oustanding site: <> thank you! -- looks like I can put together the bubbler at the link 
you provided 
earlier(www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htm) 
for a grand total of less than $US12.00 (not counting the 2 5-gallon pails, 
which I already have, s/h for the aquarium supplies, and $ for the 
molasses).  That is:
$6.95 for air pump part#TL2
2.45 for aquarium 3-way gang valve part #810333, and
1.75 for 5 feet of aquarium air tubing part #FT316

A sweet deal indeed for a compost tea maker!

You wrote, << I'm doing it differently now, but with the same
   idea... of low cost. >> -- diferent how if you'd care to detail?
---original message---

Perry Clutts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Re: Perry's recnt posts
Thu, 30 Jan 2003 16:11:15 [snip]

_
Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail



digest mode ...dust, and drought

2003-01-30 Thread Peace Beours
Points well take, Martha and Friendly Moderator :),  regarding digests vs. 
individual posts, but since i'm lucky if i can do email as much as once per 
24 hrs, I don't think my conversation will lag much more with digests, and 
w/my slow modem, it saves time to open only one document than what lookslike 
20-30/day.

Regarding dust and drought, this shocking article:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=372786
Huge dust cloud threatens Asia
 By Geoffrey Lean in Washington
 26 January 2003
 Gigantic dust clouds swirling over China are threatening the world's 
most
 populous country with the first-ever "ecological meltdown", experts 
here warn.

 The clouds – which stretch for thousands of miles over Asia and have 
even
 reached across the Pacific to North America – are rising from a 
rapidly
 growing dust bowl in northern China that far outstrips the notorious 
one
 in the United States in the 1930s.
 It threatens to drive up the price of food and greatly increase 
starvation
 worldwide, and could lead to tens of millions of desperate Chinese
 environmental refugees.
 "No country has ever faced a potential ecological catastrophe on the 
scale
 of the dust bowl now developing in China," says Lester Brown, 
president of
 the Earth Policy Institute, based in Washington. "Merely grasping its
 dimensions and consequences poses a serious analytical challenge."
 Dust storms have been recorded in China for at least 2,700 years, but 
they
 are now increasing alarmingly both in size and in number. The Chinese
 Meteorological Agency says there were just five major storms in the
 country in the whole of the 1950s. This rose to 23 in the 1990s. But 
the
 first two years of this decade have almost equalled this figure 
already, with 20.

 The storms – which peak in late winter and early spring – can blot out
 daylight in Beijing and other cities, make it hard for millions of 
people
 to breathe and destroy hundreds of thousands of acres of crops. They 
have
 closed schools and airports in South Korea and Japan, and caused a 
Korean
 car factory to shrink-wrap its vehicles as soon as they come off the
 production line to stop them being spoiled.
 They have even occasionally crossed the Pacific: one in April 2001 
covered
 the west of North America from Canada to Arizona with dust.
 The clouds sweep up millions of tons of precious topsoil from Chinese
 fields and pastures. Gone in a single day, the soil will take 
centuries to
 replace. But this is just the most dramatic symptom of the 
accelerating
 spread of deserts across the country, which is home to nearly one in 
every
 four people on the planet.
 Between 1994 and 1999, the country's Environmental Protection Agency
 reports, the Gobi Desert expanded by 20,240 square miles, to within 
just
 150 miles of Beijing, New, smaller, areas of desert are erupting all 
over
 the country. In all, this "desertification" is affecting 40 per cent 
of
 the country's land. Partly as a result, harvests – which more than
 quadrupled between 1950 and 1998 – have fallen sharply, even as 
China's
 population and appetite grow.
 In Ganzu province alone, some 4,000 villages are facing being 
submerged by
 drifting sands, and the Earth Policy Institute believes that 
throughout
 the country tens of millions of people may be forced off their land,
 dwarfing the migrations of the "Okies" from the American dust bowl.
 The institute blames "over-cultivation, overgrazing, over-cutting and
 over-pumping" for the escalating catastrophe. Marginal land is being
 increasingly pressed into cultivation, but quickly turns to dust under 
the
 strain. The country's 290 million sheep and goats strip the vegetation 
off
 grazing lands. Cutting down forests removes the trees that bind soil 
to
 the ground. And excessive pumping of water from underground acquifers
 dramatically lowers water tables, drying out the earth.
 China is belatedly trying to get to grips with the crisis. It is 
planting
 26 million acres – a tenth of its grain-growing area – with trees. But
 many die because the soil is already too thin; and, say critics, too 
many
 are being planted around Beijing so as to try to "green" the city – 
and
 clean the air – before the 2008 Olympics.
 As the crisis continues, Mr Brown predicts, the world will soon feel 
the
 pinch. So far China has compensated for its falling harvests by eating
 stocks, but soon it will have to buy massive amounts of grain on world
 markets. He warns: "Grain prices could double – impoverishing more 
people
 in a shorter period of time than any event in history. It would create 
a
 world food economy dominated by scarcity rather than by surpluses, as 
has
 been the case over most of the last half a 

Re: AmaranthusAndQuinoa

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
check with the people at Seeds of Change, also www.seedsofchange.com

They have offered these seeds for years.
-Allan




Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
I've got my wires x-d again.

Will things that compost just soaking in an ocassionally stirred 
barrel is good for curing foliar diseases. It is my impression that 
he thinks it is actually better, perhaps simply because it is easier 
and cheaper to make than the aerated variety. He also thinks that 
'just stirred' BC makes very good a very good foliar application and 
did publish an article on this in Biodynamics.

I hope this is helpful -Allan

 "good compost tea has all the microbiology a person needs for controlling
foliar disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already."

does this meaning stirring or just letting compost soak in water?


This is a 'typo,' buddy. Will was saying that good BARREL COMPOST 
(BC) has everything we need if we simply prepare it as directed 
(stir for 20 minutes) This was based on studies from his lab, not 
from conjecture.

Thanks for drawing this out. -Allan




Re: AmaranthusAndQuinoa

2003-01-30 Thread Roger Pye
Nelson Jacomel Junior wrote:


Florianopolis, SC, Brasil
January 30, 2003.
Dear friends:
I've searched our archives loking for the subject but found nothing. 


All I have on amaranthus is it's high in nitrogen, likes loose friable 
soils and dislikes some other cereal crops such as wheat and rye.

also check out
http://www.botany.com/amaranthus.html


roger



BD Brain Teasers

2003-01-30 Thread Roger Pye
1. Did Steiner really intend BD502-507 to be used solely in compost 
manufacture?

2. Did he identify equisetum as BD508 or was it someone else?

3. Is there a 'missing' BD509? If so, what might it and its purpose be?

*

Someone told me once, or I have read it and forgotten where, that the 
preps are not numbered sequentially but that 502-508 actually fall 
between 500 and 501. That is, the 'sequence' could be 500, 502, 503, 
504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 501.

The plant growth cycle is divisible into nine stages - mature seed, 
cotyledons, buds, leaves, calyx, petals, pistils, fruit, immature seed.

There are at least twelve major building blocks of life - eg calcium, 
magnesium, potassium, sulphur, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, phosphorus, 
silicon, sodium, chlorine, manganese.

There are also trace elements and other minerals that life needs - eg 
copper, mercury, iron, silver, tin, zinc, lead, aluminium.

Now if we look at the preps we find that some of these are represented 
and the plant stages fit conveniently as well.

500 - horn manure - calcium - (balances soil, encourages microbial life)
502 - yarrow - sulphur - copper - (seed)
503 - chamomile - oxygen - mercury - (cotyledons)
504 - nettle - nitrogen - iron - (bud)  
505 - oak bark - carbon - silver - (leaves)
506 - dandelion - hydrogen - tin - (calyx)  
507 - valerian - phosphorus - lead - (petals)
508 - equisetum - silica -  (pistils, stamen)
(509)  - ?? - ?? - (fruit)
501 - horn silica - light energy - (seed)

Given the exactitude of scientists it seems unlikely that Steiner 
numbered his preparations in the order they 'came off the shelf' but 
that he had a reason for assigning the numbers as he did.  One attribute 
all the preps have in common is energy. Could it be that in some way he 
assessed the amount of energy held within each prep, aligned it with the 
appropriate stage of plant growth, and numbered it accordingly?

Back in 1924 the soils of Europe held a natural fertility that isn't 
there any more. Germany and Austria had been saddled with a reparations 
bill for world war I which was virtually impossible to pay (no prizes 
for guessing which country was behind that). Farmers were under pressure 
to produce more with less, added to which commodity prices were falling 
and would not recover for at least ten years. Hence the use of 
artificial fertilisers which were adversely affecting soil fertility.

Steiner produced his preparations to counter those effects and take the 
soil back to its original fertility. How did he do that? Indeed, how did 
he know what that 'fertility' state was?

Let us now enter the realm of fantasy. Let us suppose Steiner had a 
device which enabled him to measure the amount of 'standing' energy held 
in things and that at some time pre-superphosphate era he had measured 
the soil and come up with an amount I shall call X enertrons. In 1924 he 
remeasured the soil and it had a reading of X minus 100 enertrons. In 
developing the preps, he conceived that:
horn manure would restore the level to X,
seed germination required an additional 200en,
cotyledrons another 300en
buds another 400
leaves another 500
calyx another 600
petals another 700
pistils another 800
fruit another 900
mature seed another 1000

His insights and experience led him to the development of matching preps 
and initially he numbered them to suit: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 
700, 800, 900, 1000.

However he already had 499 homeopathic remedies. So he kept the capital 
figures, prefixed them with '50' and knocked off the remaining zeros, 
giving him 501, 502 . . . 509, 501.  As he could not have two 501s, and 
did not have a 500 either, he took a further step and changed the first 
501 to 500.

As I said before, this is a fantasy. However, I do have a device which 
measures energy and this tells me that BD500 = 100, BD501 = 1000, and 
chamomile, nettle and dandelion = 200, 300 and 600 respectively. I can't 
measure the others because I don't have any but 5 out of 10 seems pretty 
good to me!

So - what is BD509 and what does it do?

roger









Alan York Presentation on line now

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Friends -

You can listen to the Alan York presentation from yesterday's PENN 
STATE Alternative Viticulture Conference in Middleburg, PA at the BD 
Now! pages now.

The title of Mr. York's presentation is:

"The Role of Viticulture in Successful Organic/BioDynamic Production 
and Organizing Principles in BioDynamic Agriculture"

Mr York is the Holistic Estate Manager for Ceago and BonTerra 
Vineyards and consults on viticulture around the globe.

He is the former garden manager of Alan Chadwick's Copulo Garden, the 
former President of the BDA and the former editor of the Biodynamic 
Journal.

This lecture is over an hour long. Please be patient as it loads. If 
you have problems, contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]

The url for this presentation is http://www.gardeningforthefuture.com 
(then go into the 'biodynamic' section (chose a button at the bottom 
of the screen) and click on the YORK banner.

Enjoy this. It's a treasure of farming and gardening wisdom.

-Allan



Re: AmaranthusAndQuinoa

2003-01-30 Thread Carla Mooney
I saw quinoa growing in Bolivia at very high altitude a few years ago - maybe you
should search the national herbarium there.  Best of luck it seemed the most
resiliant and nutritious plant ever.

Nelson Jacomel Junior wrote:

> Florianopolis, SC, Brasil
> January 30, 2003.
> Dear friends:
> I've searched our archives loking for the subject but found nothing. Amaranthus
> and quinoa has been introduced in Brasil some years ago. I've studied the
> plants with some search in the net and data gathered in Smartt & Simmonds's
> "Evolution of Crop Plants". Also I'm going to use Pelikan book. Here in
> southern Brasil we planted an experimental less-than-one-hectare area and I
> still need some more datails. (Seeds has been obtained from plants
> firstly introduced in 1998).
> So friends may I ask what else can you suggest?
> Thanks
> Nelson.
>
> -
> This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/




AmaranthusAndQuinoa

2003-01-30 Thread Nelson Jacomel Junior
Florianopolis, SC, Brasil
January 30, 2003.
Dear friends:
I've searched our archives loking for the subject but found nothing. Amaranthus 
and quinoa has been introduced in Brasil some years ago. I've studied the 
plants with some search in the net and data gathered in Smartt & Simmonds's 
"Evolution of Crop Plants". Also I'm going to use Pelikan book. Here in 
southern Brasil we planted an experimental less-than-one-hectare area and I 
still need some more datails. (Seeds has been obtained from plants 
firstly introduced in 1998).
So friends may I ask what else can you suggest?
Thanks
Nelson.

-
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/




Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Its
just a shame though that these stories, just like mine, of achieving frost
tolerance in wheat via high brix, are anecdotal and dont count!!  (sorry
Laura and Bill I believe you just like you would probably believe my brix
thing)


Lloyd et al - For the purposes of AY's request, it's fine if the 
reports are anecdotal. In fact, for these purposes, if you are 
talking about your own experiences, we won't call that anecdotal. If 
you are talking about a third party's good fortune, we'll have to 
consider that to be anecdotal. York (AY) is simply stating that he's 
never met anyone who has had repeated good luck with teas. He does 
not find it to be a reliable approach to managing a potentially 
lucrative crop. As he says "Let's face it, we're in business. I'm 
going with what works." In AY's mouth, though, this is never an 
excuse to grab the chem cans. He has a program of cultivation, 
fertilization, IPM and spraying that works for him.

I'll just put this out here for comment: Alan York and Will Brinton 
both state that they have never seen or heard of claims of crops 
reliably produced (this means year after year, something that 
excludes many variables: repeatability) through the use of radionics, 
except by people who are involved in selling radionics on some level. 
First person ndorsements to the contrary are encouraged



digest mode - you'll hate it

2003-01-30 Thread flylo
Digest really becomes frusterating and extremely bulky when so 
few people will actually refrain from copying out entire emails to 
which they're responding. Eventually, some digests may contain 
ONE solid new piece of information along with re re re re (and 
BDNOW posts can be lengthy on their own.)
My advice, don't try digest, especially as Allan says, it may not be 
easy to revert back to normal mail again.
martha

(still experiencing odd rages from people I'd least expect it, what 
gives? Even my mare crabbed at me. 
Planetary alignment? Can't be the weather, (Tx) experiencing cloud 
cover and 50 - 70* (F) range. really rather pleasant.)




Digest Mode: Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Your friendly moderator says:

With a digest-mode you lose the spontaeity of conversation and 
receive you message in bulk. This, I assume, doesn't matter if you 
are only reading your messages occasionally.

Listproc's definition of 'digest':

New messages are not sent to you as they arrive, but are
accumulated into digests that are periodically sent to you.

to set you mail to 'digest' mode, send a message to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with

	set bdnow mail digest

in the body of it. That should take care of it!

Be forwarned that I have no idea of how to turn digest off!

Later

-Allan



Re: organic vit

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Laura -

It was my understanding that downy mildew is the easiest to control 
with compost teas. The issue was whether compost tea would replace 
sulpher in an overall vineyard disease management program, not 
whether it could control downy mildew. The 3 seasons requirement of 
the original question was intended to eliminate variations in disease 
pressure from year to year. For example, due to the relatively low 
moisture of this past season, downy mildew was not the problem in 
this region this past growing season that it normally is.

So what kept the mildew away ? Noone is challenging your experience. 
That's what York is looking for: vineyard managers who will say that 
compost tea has worked for them.

-Allan



Allan

I wish I had gone to that conference but it was just a day after our own
Guelph Organic Conference.
 We worked with Dr. Elaine Ingham and used Aerobic Compost tea all last
season. I removed copper from our vineyard spray program entirely. For 20+
acres we used less than 50 pounds of sulphur all season.

So what kept the mildew away ? this is Ontario not the arid west coast that
Alan York it from. We have lots of powdery mildew AND we have something
they don't in California - we have downey mildew.



Laura Sabourin
EcoVit Ecologically Sound Horticultural Products
Tea-riffic Areobic Compost Tea and Acadian Seaplant Products
RR # 1
St Catharines, Ontario L2R 6P7
http://www.ecovit.ca





Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Allan,

did Will say what kinds of studies or testing ?

thanks,
daniel


will operates Woods End Lab, one of the oldest soil and microbiology 
labs in the country. Apparently he has published research on this 
topic in BIODYNAMICS. I'm searching for the article and will let you 
know more about it when I find it. -Allan



Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Lloyd Charles
Allan Balliet wrote> (bravely)
> Blame this one on me, folks, but one of the most astounding upshots
> of this week's conference was the chance to meet with experienced
> growers who have worked with compost tea and who have found teas to
> be much less effective than we have heard people proclaim them to be.
This was a very good post and despite Jeff's expected return was beneficial
to the cause - Allan's has drawn a couple of good replies from Laura and
Bill - using tea with good results - changing a spray program on 20 and 30
acres of vines away from chemical fungicides is a solid committment! . Its
just a shame though that these stories, just like mine, of achieving frost
tolerance in wheat via high brix, are anecdotal and dont count!!  (sorry
Laura and Bill I believe you just like you would probably believe my brix
thing)
L Charles




Re: organic vit

2003-01-30 Thread laura_s
Allan 

I wish I had gone to that conference but it was just a day after our own
Guelph Organic Conference. 
 We worked with Dr. Elaine Ingham and used Aerobic Compost tea all last
season. I removed copper from our vineyard spray program entirely. For 20+
acres we used less than 50 pounds of sulphur all season. 

So what kept the mildew away ? this is Ontario not the arid west coast that
Alan York it from. We have lots of powdery mildew AND we have something
they don't in California - we have downey mildew. 



Laura Sabourin
EcoVit Ecologically Sound Horticultural Products
Tea-riffic Areobic Compost Tea and Acadian Seaplant Products
RR # 1 
St Catharines, Ontario L2R 6P7
http://www.ecovit.ca




Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread RiverValley
Allan,

did Will say what kinds of studies or testing ?

thanks,
daniel
- Original Message -
From: "Allan Balliett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts


> >  "good compost tea has all the microbiology a person needs for
controlling
> >foliar disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already."
> >
> >does this meaning stirring or just letting compost soak in water?
>
> This is a 'typo,' buddy. Will was saying that good BARREL COMPOST
> (BC) has everything we need if we simply prepare it as directed (stir
> for 20 minutes) This was based on studies from his lab, not from
> conjecture.
>
> Thanks for drawing this out. -Allan
>
>
>




Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Perry Clutts



Hi,
***Perry, is there an equally simple way to get a digest form of the 
list emails?
 
Allan??? ... I don't know how digest works...*** What is an 
airstone?
 
It a manmade porous stone for aerating aquariums or tanks.
Check out www.aquaticeco.com there's everything 
you can imagine to do with air and they deliver.
I made a manifold out of pvc "T"'s and reducers. cheap
I'd start small and only invest what you are willing to walk away 
from... That's how I began a few years ago... With a 5 gallon bucket like on 
that site. I'm doing it differently now, but with the same idea... of low 
cost. 
 
Perry


Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
 "good compost tea has all the microbiology a person needs for controlling
foliar disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already."

does this meaning stirring or just letting compost soak in water?


This is a 'typo,' buddy. Will was saying that good BARREL COMPOST 
(BC) has everything we need if we simply prepare it as directed (stir 
for 20 minutes) This was based on studies from his lab, not from 
conjecture.

Thanks for drawing this out. -Allan



Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread RiverValley
Alan,

thanks for this post, I find it very interesting.  I have been interested in
compost teas for some time and have played with a brewer of my own creation.

When Will Brinton said,

 "good compost tea has all the microbiology a person needs for controlling
foliar disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already."

does this meaning stirring or just letting compost soak in water?

daniel
- Original Message -
From: "Allan Balliett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 10:20 AM
Subject: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts


> Blame this one on me, folks, but one of the most astounding upshots
> of this week's conference was the chance to meet with experienced
> growers who have worked with compost tea and who have found teas to
> be much less effective than we have heard people proclaim them to be.
>
> Alan York asks people to ask the hard questions. He says a hard
> question right now is 'Do you know of a vineyard that has effectively
> controlled foliar disease with compost tea for three seasons.'  He's
> willing to back this question down to one season. (The unusually dry
> summer this past year has eleviated foliar diseases across the board,
> tea or no tea.)
>
> Vicki Bess, who is a compost tea advocate who spoke at this
> conference, felt that the push to diversity and high counts is not a
> push towards teas that really work on the soils or even the leaves.
> She said, and Will Brinton concurred, that it is the feeds in the
> teas that select the final microbial mix and these microbes were not
> necessarily the ones that would do as good of works as ones commonly
> dominant in dry compost. Will Brinton  stated that there is not need
> for pumped up populations of microbials. He feels that this is
> unfounded, unscientific hysteria. He went on to say that good compost
> tea has all the microbiology a person needs for controlling foliar
> disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already!! Think about
> it folks:
>
> Even better: Compost tea and brewer sales people in Pennsylvania have
> received letters from the EPA telling them that they cannot sell
> their products as disease control products because there is NO
> SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE EFFECTIVE.
>
> Again - I'm sharing this info for your own evaluation. I've got egg
> on my face, of course.
>
> -Allan
>
>
>
>




Crystallization ???

2003-01-30 Thread sherwood
I was hoping someone could expound on the period of crystallization that
is occurring now. Whatfor and how.

What changes are some of you doing now regarding prep applications now vs
other times of the year. Would one want to alter application (let's say
501 on the soil in the evening), or just ramp up the schedule and apply as
much as possible in the same fashion as the rest of the year.

Is this period the same for both northern and southern Hemispheres. If so
then it couldn't be related to the season of winter...no? Is it the
earth's realtionship to the sun, or its position relative to the rest of
the universe that might cause this period to happen now?

Just looking for a better understanding...

Ed

PS Had some wonderful crystals around these parts (northern Florida) last
weeklows in the upper teens (apologies to the rest of the world for
the imperial bias) with more that 14 hours of subfreezing temps for two
nights. Now we're in the 'warm zone', temps in the 70's, and they're
calling for a seabreeze front to develop today (normally a late
spring,early summer occurance).  =:-0





COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Blame this one on me, folks, but one of the most astounding upshots 
of this week's conference was the chance to meet with experienced 
growers who have worked with compost tea and who have found teas to 
be much less effective than we have heard people proclaim them to be.

Alan York asks people to ask the hard questions. He says a hard 
question right now is 'Do you know of a vineyard that has effectively 
controlled foliar disease with compost tea for three seasons.'  He's 
willing to back this question down to one season. (The unusually dry 
summer this past year has eleviated foliar diseases across the board, 
tea or no tea.)

Vicki Bess, who is a compost tea advocate who spoke at this 
conference, felt that the push to diversity and high counts is not a 
push towards teas that really work on the soils or even the leaves. 
She said, and Will Brinton concurred, that it is the feeds in the 
teas that select the final microbial mix and these microbes were not 
necessarily the ones that would do as good of works as ones commonly 
dominant in dry compost. Will Brinton  stated that there is not need 
for pumped up populations of microbials. He feels that this is 
unfounded, unscientific hysteria. He went on to say that good compost 
tea has all the microbiology a person needs for controlling foliar 
disease - WITHOUT BREWING IT other than we do already!! Think about 
it folks:

Even better: Compost tea and brewer sales people in Pennsylvania have 
received letters from the EPA telling them that they cannot sell 
their products as disease control products because there is NO 
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE EFFECTIVE.

Again - I'm sharing this info for your own evaluation. I've got egg 
on my face, of course.

-Allan



Bad news for organic agriculture

2003-01-30 Thread Barry Carter
News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
--

Dear News Update Subscribers,

As we reported in our last News Update, the wheat industry is having
their annual meeting this week. The news coming out of the wheat
industry conference is not good for supporters of organic agriculture.

It had previously appeared that the wheat industry was fairly united in
opposing the introduction of genetically engineered wheat. Now that
opposition seems to be eroding rapidly as the article posted below
titled "U.S. farmers to help win GM wheat acceptance" will explain.

If the U.S. government approves genetically engineered wheat and the
wheat industry supports its introduction, there will soon be millions of
acres of genetically engineered wheat planted in the United States. And
if genetically engineered wheat gets approved, genetically engineered
rice will likely be next.

Although wheat and rice pollen does not travel as far as corn pollen,
the potential for contamination of organic wheat and rice from the
genetically engineered varieties is practically inevitable if millions
of acres get planted. And make no mistake about it, there will be
millions of acres of genetically engineered wheat and rice planted in
the United States in this decade unless supporters of organic
agriculture are successful in opposing it.

When Jeremy Rifkin spoke about the threat of genetically engineered
crops at the Natural Products Expo East meeting in Washington, DC last
October, he stated, "This is a life and death issue for your industry."
He went on to say that if we don't stop it in the next five years, it
will likely be to late to save organic agriculture.

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods hopes the organic and
natural food industries are paying close attention to what is developing
in the battle to bring genetically engineered wheat to market.

As the article posted below states, "While two years ago, the wheat
farmers viewed Monsanto's GM wheat proposal with some suspicion and fear
of losing markets, this week's annual gathering found firm support for
Monsanto and eagerness to obtain the potential benefits the technology
might offer."

For further information on the threat genetically engineered crops pose
to organic agriculture, you may want to read the book "Saving Organic
Rice" by Alex Jack. It features a forward by Michael Potter, President
of Eden Foods, and is available through The Campaign's online store at:
http://www.thecampaign.org/store.php

Craig Winters
Executive Director
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

The Campaign
PO Box 55699
Seattle, WA 98155
Tel: 425-771-4049
Fax: 603-825-5841
E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaign
for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass
legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered
foods in the United States."

***

U.S. farmers to help win GM wheat acceptance

By Carey Gillam

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan 29 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat farmers were moving to
help Monsanto Co. overcome customer apprehension to the world's first
genetically modified wheat, which is moving closer to regulatory
approval both in the U.S. and abroad.

"Consumers trust farmers," said Monsanto wheat industry affairs
spokesman Michael Doane. "We've been investing in this technology... now
for probably a decade. We're entering a new part of the project and need
industry help to educate decision makers."

After spending more than a decade - and tens of millions of dollars - in
development of a genetically modified wheat that allows farmers to more
efficiently control weeds, Monsanto has hit a critical juncture, said
Doane, who was spending this week at a meeting of key wheat industry
players in Albuquerque.

Doane said the company needs farmer groups to step up global educational
efforts to overcome the fears of millers and bakers and food companies
who have seen the food industry rocked by controversy over genetically
modified crops.

And the farmers are on board. While two years ago, the wheat farmers
viewed Monsanto's GM wheat proposal with some suspicion and fear of
losing markets, this week's annual gathering found firm support for
Monsanto and eagerness to obtain the potential benefits the technology
might offer.

"Rather than sitting on the sidelines hoping that it wins acceptance...
we're trying to help out," said National Association of Wheat Growers
(NAWG) CEO Darren Coppock. "It is very much a partnership (with
Monsanto)."

As one sign of the new market outreach underway by growers, NAWG is
forming a group made up of players up and down the food chain, including
leading fast food giant McDonald's Corp., to formulate a united front
for GM wheat when it hits the market.

The group hopes to have 

Perry's recnt posts

2003-01-30 Thread Peace Beours




Hi, Perry, you gave some appreciated info in 2 recent posts... here's a 
couple followup questions:

<<"Perry Clutts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
  BD NOW!! subscribe/unsubscribe
  Date :  Tue, 28 Jan 2003 07:56:01 -0500

   The BDNOW E-mail list is open to all. Subscribing is easy: ...
   To unsubscribe from bdnow, simply ... >>


***Perry, is there an equally simple way to get a digest form of the list 
emails?


<<
   This list is archived at:
   http://csf.colorado.edu/biodynamics/

   However, I found this site that has a much better search
   http://www.mail-archive.com/bdnow%40envirolink.org/
   Perry>>

*** Excellent indeed, thank you!


<<"Perry Clutts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
  Re: NYT Article/Homemade Compost tea Machine
   Hi Merla,

   Check out this site.
   
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htm
   It gives good instructions  (w/ photos) on how to build a small 
tea
   machine... not really a machine, but a bucket bubbler. The
   instructions show a manifold and several hoses. I just use a 
long
   airstone that fits across the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket.>>

*** What is an airstone?

Thank you for this URL.

Also, does anyone know of an online source for the gang valve ("manifold"), 
aquarium hose and pump called for?  No aquarium shop anywhere near me.

TIA :)

_
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online  
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963



Thanks

2003-01-30 Thread Merla Barberie
Thursday:  Thanks to prkerjake, moen creek and Gil for observations
about the microcosm mirroring the macrocosm.  Your gentle understanding
helped me to forgive myself for my harsh reaction, yet recognize where
it came from and deal with the cause in an effective, but gentle way
with good result.  I am very grateful.

This is why I like this list so much.  You all drive me to greater
spiritual understanding.

Thanks to all who made political posts about the GE Fish and wheat  and
the 1/2 cup of rice to Bush.  I noticed.

Steve, I forwarded your post on the Viticulture Conference to my brother
who grows grapes and makes wine from western grapes with a wine group.
He is just beginning to be interested in organic and has lots of pests
in the South.  I can't go after him too hard, but keep hoping he'll
begin to understand.

Herb is ecstatic about a book lent to him by an archeologist
friend--1421-The Year China Discovered the World.  This morning I got
him to explain starting in the beginning with sky hooks about how the
Chinese learned how to tell latitude and longitude by the stars long
before westerners did without use of water clocks.  A retired British
submarine captain who had circumnavigated the world through his
periscope went to 600 museums around the world to tell about the Chinese
circumnavigations by 250 - 450 ft long junks in 1421, which not known
because the Mandarins destroyed their information for political reasons,
from mss., maps and artifacts they left all around their route.  Just
the right book for a history&boat junkie!  He says its on a par with
Darwin's The Origin of the Species.  

This afternoon I am going to Moscow, Idaho, home of the U. of I for the
Western Sustainable Agriculture Conference for the weekend.  I was lucky
enough to get a scholarship again and this makes it possible for me to
attend.  They are finally getting some political motivation, I hope.
Historically, they have tried to stand on the fence.  We will see.
Benbrook is giving a talk on GMOs.  You may have read the speech I sent
the list that he gave in Asilomar.  I am driving with Jill Davies and
hope to learn a lot on the trip.  See you again on Sunday night.

Best,

Merla




Re: A brief p.s.

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Perhaps that is the real
reason people don't speak up, for fear of being blasted.


I'd like to address this one final time. the 'lurkers' I'm referring 
to are people who have approached me at conferences and have told me 
that they do not contribute to BD Now! because they know they would 
speak their hearts to the list and they know that this information 
would be available in public archives.

That's it, cut, dried, turned to dry on the other side, tested and 
stacked: When I spoke of 'lurkers,' I was referring to people feel 
inhibited because they feel they are agreeing to long term exposure 
of their values and intimate thoughts to a world of strange and 
strangers. I was neither judging nor criticizing these people, I was 
simply saying that are individual experiences here are the wealth we 
have to bring each other. We are missing full experience of our 
greatest resources if some of us do not feel comfortable publishing 
on BD Now! and sharing what we have learned, what we know, and, 
frankly, what we'd like to learn.

-Allan



A brief p.s.

2003-01-30 Thread Jane Sherry
Hi Allan,
I also need to ask you if you don't think the drop outs & lurker problem
might be connected to the rude way in which people who speak their mind are
attacked on this list? You started a thread about lurkers and folks who
don't speak up, creating a climate of fear and people are so quick to attack
on this list, as I know from many years experience. Perhaps that is the real
reason people don't speak up, for fear of being blasted.

Just a thought, one which I've had for weeks, now.

Blessings,
Jane




Biodynamic Viticulure was Re: not to change the subject...

2003-01-30 Thread Allan Balliett
Steve's right. This was an incredible event. So good to see how 
pragmatism will overcome dogmatism in the right cricles! Alan York is 
a very well respected viticulturist. He gave an incredible 
presentation, which he entitled 'Holistic Estate Management.' York, 
as you probably know, has a very strong background in biodynamics and 
in landscape architecture. His vineyards work well and are beautiful!

Of interest to this group: the one book that Gunther Hauk recommended 
on biodynamics to this entry group was the Statler book: Biodynamic 
Agriculture. This is a hardback, textbook-style publication that 
usually costs about $65. I think that Mr. Lovel has a few that he'd 
like to sell at cost, however. (Contact him in private.)

Alan York made the statement 'Perhaps the only thing that we know for 
certain in biodynamics is that cows don't shit in horns,' meaning 
that we cannot undervalue the human envolvement in quality 
hortculture. Gunther pointed out how the decline of the planet 
through age would be reflected in the development and maintainance of 
our bodies unless we make certain that the foods we eat have been 
stimulated to bring in more of the substances that we really need. 
(The preps are those stimulants.)

An incredible event, this one was. I'm looking forward to the 
Biodynamic Viticulture Conference down here in Loudoun County Nov 14 
of this year. Steve Storch, Alan York, and Hugh Courtney will all be 
speaking, along with many others.

If anyone is interested in hearing the Alan York tape, please contact 
me off-line.

Thanks

-Allan

Just home from Harrisburg, PA where the Cornell Extension hosted their first
Organic / biodynamic viticulture conference.  Speakers on biodynamics
included Gunther Hauk from the Pfeiffer Center, Alan York of Hopland
California.  Alan has extensive vineyard experience and has acheived Demeter
Certification for Ceago and Benziger Vineyards in California.  I brought my
stirring machine and tea brewer and some preparations.  Lots of interest and
I will offer a hands on workshop in the Spring at a Vineyard in PA.  This was
attended by about two hundred vineyard owners and managers.  Some of my
neighbors on the south fork of LI attended.  Another indication that BD is
alive and well and growing, imagine that Cornell agents said the word
biodynamics...sstorch





FW: Diane Harvey's Righteous Rant

2003-01-30 Thread Aurora Farm
Sometimes even the strongest language isn't enough...

Juggernaut Rising: Part Four



America the Hideous

By Diane Harvey

[EMAIL PROTECTED]



The United States of America is about to murder, in cold blood, a large
number of hungry, ragged and generally debilitated human beings. An enormous
army of Techno-Goliaths is being launched halfway across the world to
demolish a poverty-stricken population with a dazzling display of
overwhelmingly inescapable death and destruction. The revolting new policy
of instantaneous mass death is being referred to as Shock and Awe, but there
is nothing new about it. It’s called a Blitzkrieg and its pedigree is well
known.  And after as many mommies and daddies as possible are torn limb from
limb, and their children set on fire, we will steal their last remaining
natural resource. To prepare the way for outright theft, our courageous
military is sallying forth to make short work of the lame, the halt, and the
blind.



We are about to cruelly torture and destroy innumerable lives already
brought low by a coarse dictatorship, simply because we want what they have
and we have the firepower to take it. Ultimately, it is the citizens of this
nation who are collectively responsible for all of the unthinkable,
unimaginable agonies about to unfold. In our name, and with our tacit
consent, our nation is about to commit hideous atrocities so that We the
People can continue thoughtlessly to waste, for a short while longer, more
energy and resources than anyone else on earth ever has. It is easy to blame
the disgusting criminals in power, but nevertheless, the majority of
Americans has callously accepted this disastrous leadership. There was never
anything theoretically in the way of half the country marching on Washington
and demanding sanity Or Else.



And yet there never really was the slightest chance that this, the first of
the Lifestyle Wars, would be prevented. To deflect the American juggernaut
on a downhill roll, a significant percentage of citizens of this nation
would have had to show up bodily on the streets of Washington, and remove
the wheels by hand.  Sociopathic governments in search of sustenance can
only be stopped by overwhelming numbers of awakened citizens who recognize
the rankest form of brutalitarianism when it clubs them in the face. In our
case however, even the astonishing act of setting fire to the Bill of Rights
failed to register on the overall population. On the whole, Americans don’t
care about anything at all except being as comfortable as possible. We know
this because if we did care, none of this would be allowed to happen.



The raw greed and pathetically flimsy tissue of lies being offered as
justification for all this leaves a rational person stunned, in another form
of Shock and Awe. The architects of the new policy of Brutalitarian rule are
counting on the fact that most Americans are not rational, and have no
desire to think about the meaning of any of this. In this, the designers of
this new and deliberately terrifying Monstrous America are correct, so far.
As long as people sit in front of the perpetual hypnosis machines and choose
to pretend they don’t really know what is happening, then the Lifestyle Wars
and state-sanctioned genocide in our behalf will continue. The future of our
once-noble country is apparently to demand ever-larger piles of innocent
human bodies to burn as fuel for our standard of living. We will manage the
incredible feat of denial only by resolutely ignoring the obvious truth and
willingly believing the transparent lies of our despicable leaders. Doesn't
all this sound very familiar, historically speaking? Yes, in chilling Shock
and Awe, one must understand that it certainly does.




not to change the subject...

2003-01-30 Thread SBruno75
Just home from Harrisburg, PA where the Cornell Extension hosted their first 
Organic / biodynamic viticulture conference.  Speakers on biodynamics 
included Gunther Hauk from the Pfeiffer Center, Alan York of Hopland 
California.  Alan has extensive vineyard experience and has acheived Demeter 
Certification for Ceago and Benziger Vineyards in California.  I brought my 
stirring machine and tea brewer and some preparations.  Lots of interest and 
I will offer a hands on workshop in the Spring at a Vineyard in PA.  This was 
attended by about two hundred vineyard owners and managers.  Some of my 
neighbors on the south fork of LI attended.  Another indication that BD is 
alive and well and growing, imagine that Cornell agents said the word 
biodynamics...sstorch




Re: FW: News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

2003-01-30 Thread Eric Myren
HI I AM NEW HERE. The following is a clipping from the USDA organic rules.

"The National Organic Program Final Rule does not allow the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), including genetically engineered crops. Because of extensive trialing worldwide of about 2 dozen GMO crops, many scientists assert that no crop seed can now be guaranteed 100% GMO-free. Tolerance levels and acceptable testing methods have yet to be spelled out by the National Organic Program. Such determinations will presumably be finalized by October 20, 2002. Companies are already using various methods of testing (especially for grains and soy) and will provide this information to customers upon request."

I know deep in my soul that the use of genetically engineered food degrades my connection to spirit and it upsets me greatly that the great beast Monsanto is about to unleash its brand of filth on another staple of our diet. The only way I can think of to get these people to stop doing what they are doing is for humans with higher functioning to infiltrate these companies and slowly change their direction. Otherwise I do not believe that they are going to wake up enough to stop what they are doing.  Even with things like the Mississippi river dead zone, an area the size of New Jersey spreading out into the Gulf of Mexico that is devoid of life. Staring them right in the face. 

Thanks for reading thisPeace Eric

On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 11:18 AM, Barry Carter wrote:

Dear Friends,

Thought that this might be of wide interest on this list:

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
--

Dear News Update Subscribers,

Posted below are two articles of significant interest.

The first article from Reuters is titled "U.S. wheat industry wrestles
with GMO wheat issues." The wheat industry is meeting this week in their
annual meeting and the issue of genetically engineered wheat is a major
topic of discussion and debate.

Monsanto is actively attempting to get approval of both the U.S. and
Canadian governments to sell genetically engineered wheat. Monsanto
claims that even if they get government approval, they are not going to
begin selling the genetically engineered wheat until the wheat industry
is ready for it to be introduced. But we only need to look at Monsanto's
track record to know that their credibility and motives are highly
suspect:
http://www.thecampaign.org/monsantofiles.php

Many U.S. and Canadian wheat growers do not want any genetically
engineered wheat to be grown because they have seen what has happened to
exports of corn and soy since the introduction of the biotech varieties.
The 15 European Union nations and other countries around the world
refuse to purchase North American corn and soy because of concerns about
contamination from GMOs. The loss of exports has cost our farmers
hundreds of millions of dollars.

If genetically engineered wheat is permitted to be planted in the U.S.
and Canada, it will inevitably contaminate the non-genetically
engineered varieties. So if genetically engineered wheat begins to be
commercially grown here, Europeans, Australians and consumers worldwide
are likely to demand wheat from other sources.

And speaking of exports to Europe, this leads us to the second article
which is titled "EU calls for U.S. restraint over biotech complaint."

The United States is considering filing a complaint with the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in a effort to force our genetically engineered foods
on European citizens.

In the article below, David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and
Consumer Protection, states, "If consumers see that something is done to
force a situation which they do not want, I think the effects would be
adverse."

A couple weeks ago, The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
issued an ACTION ALERT to President Bush, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert
Zoellick, and Iowa Senator Charles Grassley asking them not to raise a
WTO challenge on the European Union moratorium on genetically engineered
foods. If you have not yet participated in our ACTION ALERT on this
matter, you can do so at:
http://www.thecampaign.org/alert-WTO.php

Craig Winters
Executive Director
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

The Campaign
PO Box 55699
Seattle, WA 98155
Tel: 425-771-4049
Fax: 603-825-5841
E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaign
for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass
legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered
foods in the United States."

***

U.S. wheat industry wrestles with GMO wheat issues

By Carey Gillam

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat industry meetings this
week will be dominated by fierce debate over genetically modified whea