Thanks for the "Radionics-Voodoo..." thread & GMO bits of info

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

I really enjoyed the "Radionics, Voodoo, Holy Cards and Third-class
relics" thread.  Graeme, Eric, Gil, Garuda, James, Roger, Lloyd,
Markess, Peter Michael, Rex (hope I haven't left anyone out.).  I'll
have to reread this a lot more to understand the whole subject.  I'm
sure glad this has been talked about.

I would like to see Eric come back on the list and have emailed him
asking him to write to Allan.

I am lurking because I am doing a total lead cleaning of our cabin with
HEPA vacuum, respirator and Tri-sodium phosphate.  It's brutal, but has
high priority so I can have a chelation for lead and mercury.  I haven't
forgotten promised frog for trade.  I'm just way behind.  I have a huge
really good frog that I may send if it comes out well in the next
firing.  I finally made myself a ceramic dowsing weight which will go
into that firing and I really appreciated receiving a picture of a
pyramid.  I'm hoping to get around to making ceramic large egg-shaped
receptacles for BC and 500 and prep storage.  Summer is a beautiful time
for me, but a really busy time, and it's been as high as 98ºF here in
the afternoons.  Thanks goodness for an arid climate.   Our garden is
beautiful.  We're hoping to get into the tower before winter.  It would
be so nice to have a bigger living space.  I'm thankful for our sails on
the lake.  It's so peaceful to be floating on the waves and feeling the
air. If anyone has ever been able to restore a decayed tooth, would you
please write to me privately.  I have one under a gold crown that didn't
show up on an X-ray until it had contacted the nerve.  I hate to have it
pulled.  Last resort.

Best to everyone,

Merla

P.S.: Here are some bits of info about GMOs that you may or may not have
seen already:


EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS BIOTECH REGULATIONS ON TRACEABILITY AND
LABELLING

The European Parliament on 2 July adopted in its second reading two
Commission proposals on the labelling and traceability of genetically
modified (GM) food and feed. The Parliament's vote will now have to be
approved by the European Council of Ministers, expected for later this
month. US farm groups and governmental sources strongly criticised the
draft regulations for being unworkable, while civil society groups
welcomed amendments introduced by the Parliament to regulate
co-existence between GM and non-modified crops.

Specifically, the European Parliament approved the thresholds adopted by

the Environment and Agriculture Ministers in late-2002, i.e. a threshold

of 0.9 percent, below which GM products would be exempt from labelling,
and 0.5 percent for the adventitious presence of GM organisms (GMOs)
that are unauthorised but have nevertheless been assessed as risk-free
(see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 11 December 2002,
http://www.ictsd.org/biores/02-12-11/inbrief.htm). They also amended the

draft regulations to allow EU member states to impose "appropriate
measures" to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in other products
("co-existence").

New regulations evoke various reactions
While the amendment to allow the implementation of co-existence measures

was hailed as an important step forward by civil society groups, which
have long been campaigning for strong measures to prevent contamination
(see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 10 March 2003,
http://www.ictsd.org/biores/03-03-10/story1.htm), they called for such
measures to be made mandatory rather than optional. Friends of the Earth

also criticised the 0.9 percent threshold as too high and called for
strict liability regulations.

US farm groups strongly criticised the Parliament's decision, which they

fear will create an even greater barrier to trade than the current de
facto moratorium on the approvals of GMOs, currently being challenged by

the US and others at the WTO (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 15 May 2003,
http://www.ictsd.org/biores/03-05-15/story1.htm). "With this new
labelling and traceability requirement, the EU has only made a bad
situation worse," said the American Farm Bureau, which urged the US
administration to continue to "aggressively prosecute" the WTO case.
Similarly strong criticism could be heard from US government sources.
"We think [the draft regulations] are unworkable, and unenforceable,"
said US Department of Agriculture trade official David Hegwood.

The Parliament's vote will now have to be approved by the European
Council of Ministers, expected for later this month. The regulation
would then enter into force in September with a six-months compliance
period. While the European Commission has repeatedly said that the de
facto moratorium would be lifted once the regulations entered into
force, it remains unclear whether the US and others would drop their WTO

challenge even if approvals resumed.

What will be different under the new regulations?

- While the European food safety regulations introduced broad
traceability requirements for food, feed, food-producing animals and any

other substances intended for food use (see BRI

Re: BD Down under

[Merla Barberie]

James, Hugh, Lloyd, et al.,

I am interested in learning this route and I'm highly motivated.  The trouble
is that anything mathematical, mechanical or in the realm of physics is hard
for me to understand.  I am better at languages, art and literature...alas, but
I am persistent and like to do research on a subject and thoroughly learn what
I'm interested in, regardless.  I used to go to International Solar Energy
Society meetings back in the 80s and took courses. I didn't even understand the
four quadrants of a graph and put a graph in my paper in the wrong quadrant.  I
learned to do solar calculations and even did one calculation that involved
calculus. I'm sure radionics comes more easily to someone who is at home with
these subjects. When I do mechanical things, I have to write down each step in
order and follow it, cookbook style. Herb can help me gather materials for a
see-saw and understand the moment.  He has three-dimensional visualization and
will easily grasp relationships and weight.

I have used Radionic broadcast plus radionic testing of what substances would
give the best results

I assume you have a computerized radionic instrument that uses a witness to
test substances.  Is that right or do you have a simpler instrument?   It's
hard for me to learn what the potencies mean without the instrument in front of
me.  I think I have to start out with an FB and Malcolm Rae cards and I still
can't afford a refractometer, but I will get one.  I have old pertinent BD Now
posts on preps and radionics and anything else relevant to our situation saved
on the computer.

My understanding of energetics is purely faith-based.  I find it hard to
believe that I can actually control energy on some level or  soil polarity.
How do you broadcast via Polaroid photographs?  I can't even understand how you
can broadcast with a Malcolm Rae card. It's just a piece of paper with some
lines on it in a circle to me. It's got to be intention.  I'm a long, long way
from control. I need to get knocked in the head just so I can dowse.

If you are willing to bear with me, I am willing to work at it.  I'm swamped
right now because I had lead paint on old barn boards in my kitchen area in the
cabin.  We had to buy a HEPA vacuum cleaner and respirator and I'm cleaning
every inch of the cabin with Tri-sodium phosphate!  I'd rather do anything than
this, but it's some kind of karmic thing for me.

Best,

Merla


Lloyd Charles wrote:

From: "James Hedley"

> Dear Merla,
> If you want to potentise large quantities of spray material you could
> -- or conversely you could get Herb to make you a
> motorised see-saw, with substance on both ends.

BRILLIANT!

James Hedley wrote:

> Dear Merla,
> If you want to potentise large quantities of spray material you could
> try fitting as large a drum as you can mount and handle on to a two
> person children's swing, or conversely you could get Herb to make you a
> motorised see-saw, with substance on both ends.
> The problem with potentising large quantities by hand is:
> The amount of water used, and
> The labor used.
> Mechanize the process and you are part of the way down the track,
> however from my experience even the hand prepared preps and peppers are
> not anywhere near the potency of radionic substance i.e.: stirred preps
> on our place might start off at an energy reading of 640, stir them and
> you might get to somewhere about 1000, or an increase in energy of 50%.
> potentise the same preps (or substance) to say 3x and the energy has
> increased to around 10,000. Stirred preps maybe fine on poor soils, but
> once you start to get high vitality in your soils the BD 500 in some
> cases can knock the vitality down. the same with all the other preps, it
> is only by Radionic Analysis that you can tell what is going to happen,
> before you do it. Or if your soil really needs what you want to put out.
> A few months ago I wrote of some basalt soils on our farm that had
> plenty of mineralisation, extremely high paramagnetism, 5% organic
> matter and a vitality reading of 10% which is about as low as it can get
> and Brix of 8. Since then I have used Radionic broadcast plus radionic
> testing of what substances would give the best results, this has
> increased Brix to 22 and vitality to about 90%. No putting preps out by
> hand, all soil inputs are broadcast via Polaroid photographs.
> Part of the secret has been that we have been able to change the soil
> polarity from positive to negative. There is not any discussion on soil
> polarity on the list , however it is probably the one single factor that
> has the most influence on soil fertility.
> Good luck,
> James
> Dear Merla,
>
> Just finished a workshop in Traverse City, Michigan. We covered these
> issues from the easy side.  I'd love to show you. But I only got 2 out of
> 100 that were interested in my presentation at Moscow, November 7, 8 at
> your Idaho Organic meet. Don't know if I can get there on so slim a
> shoelace.
>
>

Re: BD in Hawai'i

[Merla Barberie]

Hi Tony,
I just sent some valerian flowers to Ellen Sugawara, HC 01, Box 900,
Kaurakakai, HI 95748.  She grows taro and ginger Bio-Dynamically. 
She's tried to get valerian flowers there, but the climate isn't right
for flowering, it seems.  She was outgoing and knowledgeable.
Best,
Merla
Rambler Flowers LTD wrote:

 Hi
folks  I have  had a group of 8 young people from the Wai'anae
Organic AG Centre visit  me as part of their 10 day visit to New Zealand
. They left with big smiles on there faces, a heap of information and a
promise from me to email them details about BDNOW and a list of some of
the interesting info that comes from this list. Which I have done so.Who
are the BD contacts in Hawaii's please.  These are keen young people
who want to repair the damage been done to their fragile environment. They
want to learn more about BD in  the tropics. Thanks
for any helpCheers Tony
RobinsonNewZealand

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Re: BD Down under

[Merla Barberie]

James, it took us hours and hours to spray our tansy and knapweed D-8
solution six times (two different weeks when the moon was in a fire sign).
We came home at midnight twice.   I think radionics is the answer for large
acreages.  I'm still trying to understand how to potentize 4 gallons of D-7
pepper.  What do you use to put it in to hang it from a tree and whack the
&*#!!! out of it?  I'm still wondering if I ground the ash correctly and
potentized each succession correctly.  Whenever I start doing radionics,
that's going to be a whole new level of learning what to do on a material
level and on a spiritual level.

Best,

Merla

James Hedley wrote:

> Greetings from the Land of the Wizards of Oz, :-)
> Earlier this month 6 members of Central West Biodynamic Group had a
> social prep spraying day at one of our members who had been drastically
> effected by the drought.
> We had 2 stirring machines (one 60 gallon and a 90 gallon) and 2 sets of
> flow forms running into a 400 litter tank, along with the brand new fire
> tanker which bought the water for the spraying out. As usual there was
> some problem with at least one pump, nothing much that a few willing
> hands couldn't fix. The first load of spray headed out at about 3'oclock
> and continued on until after dark. Back up again before daylight to get
> the 501 out. In all we got preps out over 200 acres that were sown that
> weekend as the gods must have heard that the preps were going out and
> gave us an inch of rain. The property is 1500 acres with around 800
> acres under cultivation, so it would have taken all of us at least 4
> days to put out the preps only on the cultivation area.The whole
> exercise gave all of us a n insight into the difficulties of broad acre
> application of BD preps. Itut the preps out in between stirring  and
> spraying
> The biggest problem is that the time when the preps go out usually
> coincides with the time for sowing. In many instances the sowing gets
> done and the preps wait for a less busy time(if there is one). It is
> easy to see that there is a future for radionics in broad acre cropping.
> Our member manages 1500 acres by himself, quite a feat. It is not
> uncommon in Australian cropping for one man to manage very large areas.
> Just try sowing down 800 acres in a few days because there is enough
> rainfall to at least get a germination, even although there is minimal
> subsoil moisture.
> One must give full praise to the broad acre farmers who have not even
> come out of drought yet still expend large amounts of money to put
> another crop in, full of hope and not much else there for them. For many
> farmers it will be very tough, if they can hang on, if there is no crop
> this year.
> Something like 95% of NSW is still drought affected, although
> fortunately our property has had 22 inches of rain since March.
> We had really good mileage from Hugh Lovel's Workshop at Albury, however
> I have found that Radionic broadcast of sea water and the use of
> Radionic color therapy on the atmosphere has enabled the rain to move in
> a further 30 km from the east. More on the results of sea water
> broadcast in another post.
> Regards
> James Hedley
>
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Re: Can error be turned to advantage?

[Merla Barberie]

Your palaver today really interests me.  You're right, Roger, I couldn't
and wouldn't forward your messages today to the Weed Supervisor or the
University of Idaho researchers.  They're not ready for it.  You're
absolutely right in just doing it.

I am hosting a Biological Control for Knapweed Workshop on our road this
Friday where the U. of ID researchers are going to deploy a weevil that
eats knapweed seeds.  This is the latest thing in weed control here.  We
have lots of knapweed on our right-of-way.  It's been a rainy spring and
seeds have germinated.  We sprayed the D-8 peppers for knapweed and tansy.
It is affecting the knapweed and tansy population, but the powers that be
will not see this and I'm not planning to tell them.  They will only get a
report on the things they understand.  You are way ahead of us.

We've only been sprayed with 2,4-D, etc. (Curtail and Escort) once in 1999,
but the hormone is still in the ground.  Seeds that germinate in the
sprayed area are unnaturally larger than the same plants up our private
right-of-way.  It's a self-fulfilling prophesy that the species they have
declared "noxious" will continue so they can continue to spray every three
years.  Changing the "soil" properties either by material or energetic
means is the way and it's going to take time to figure it all out.
Somehow, I hope the powers here have faith in me and will allow us to
continue to experiment with non-chemical methods.

I spoke at a Weed Awareness Day program about our volunteer research here
which is just scratching the surface. The evaluation sheets they got asked
for more "organic" information next year.  Little by little.  I don't think
the governmental groups will be able to do it financially in their present
paradigm.  My feeling is that it's got to be grassroots people demanding
"natural" approaches to agricultural problems and doing it themselves.  I
think the ideas are spreading on that level.

I would very much like to learn your proprietary protocol...someday.

Hopefully,

Merla

Roger Pye wrote:

> To tell you the truth, James, I think we're way ahead of the ball game -
> but perhaps they're searching feverishly through USDA regs to see if the
> human and/or spiritual control of natural energy flows is allowable in
> the modern agricultural context  :)
>
> I'll be in Dalgety later this week by the way.
>
> Roger
>
> James Hedley wrote:
>
> > Hi Roger,
> > Seems as if we have a good discussion going among the Wizards of the
> > Land of Oz. Surely there must be some 0f our American subscribers who
> > have experience in this subject that they can bring to bear on the
> > subject of changing polarities in soils to affect changes.
> > It certainly is a fascinating subject soil polarities and geopathic
> > stress areas.
> > James
> >
> >
> > Garuda wrote:
> >
> > >How are you "changing the energy of the farm to cut down bredding
> > rates"? Is
> > >this being achieve without peppering
> > >
> >
> > Yes. In terms of mammals I have an innate dislike of peppering for
> > several reasons, not least of which is that it does nothing about the
> > actual problem, just moves it on to someone else's shoulders.
>
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Water has memory...

[Merla Barberie]

 

 Icy claim that water has memory

19:00 11 June 03
Lionel Milgrom

Claims do not come much more controversial than the idea that water
might retain a memory of substances once dissolved in it.
The notion is central to homeopathy, which treats patients with samples
so dilute they are unlikely to contain a single molecule
of the active compound, but it is generally ridiculed by scientists.

Holding such a heretical view famously cost one of France's top allergy
researchers, Jacques Benveniste, his funding, labs and
reputation after his findings were discredited in 1988.

Yet a paper is about to be published in the reputable journal Physica A
claiming to show that even though they should be
identical, the structure of hydrogen bonds in pure water is very
different from that in homeopathic dilutions of salt solutions.
Could it be time to take the "memory" of water seriously?

The paper's author, Swiss chemist Louis Rey, is using thermoluminescence
to study the structure of solids. The technique
involves bathing a chilled sample with radiation. When the sample is
warmed up, the stored energy is released as light in a
pattern that reflects the atomic structure of the sample.


Twin peaks

When Rey used the method on ice he saw two peaks of light, at
temperatures of around 120 K and 170 K. Rey wanted to test
the idea, suggested by other researchers, that the 170 K peak reflects
the pattern of hydrogen bonds within the ice. In his
experiments he used heavy water (which contains the heavy hydrogen
isotope deuterium), because it has stronger hydrogen
bonds than normal water.

   After studying pure samples, Rey looked at
solutions of lithium chloride and sodium chloride.
   Lithium chloride destroys hydrogen bonds, as does
sodium chloride, but to a lesser extent. Sure
   enough, the peak was smaller for a solution of
sodium chloride, and disappeared completely for a
   lithium chloride solution.

   Aware of homeopaths' claims that patterns of
hydrogen bonds can survive successive dilutions,
   Rey decided to test samples that had been diluted
down to a notional 10-30 grams per cubic
   centimetre - way beyond the point when any ions
of the original substance could remain. "We
   thought it would be of interest to challenge the
theory," he says.

   Each dilution was made according to a strict
protocol, and vigorously stirred at each stage, as
   homeopaths do. When Rey compared the ultra-dilute
lithium and sodium chloride solutions with
   pure water that had been through the same
process, the difference in their thermoluminescence
   peaks compared with pure water was still there
(see graph).

"Much to our surprise, the thermoluminescence glows of the three systems
were substantially different," he says. He believes
the result proves that the networks of hydrogen bonds in the samples
were different.


Phase transition

Martin Chaplin from London's South Bank University, an expert on water
and hydrogen bonding, is not so sure. "Rey's
rationale for water memory seems most unlikely," he says. "Most hydrogen
bonding in liquid water rearranges when it freezes."

He points out that the two thermoluminescence peaks Rey observed occur
around the temperatures where ice is known to
undergo transitions between different phases. He suggests that tiny
amounts of impurities in the samples, perhaps due to
inefficient mixing, could be getting concentrated at the boundaries
between different phases in the ice and causing the changes
in thermoluminescence.

But thermoluminescence expert Raphael Visocekas from the Denis Diderot
University of Paris, who watched Rey carry out
some of his experiments, says he is convinced. "The experiments showed a
very nice reproducibility," he told New Scientist.
"It is trustworthy physics." He see no reason why patterns of hydrogen
bonds in the liquid samples should not survive freezing
and affect the molecular arrangement of the ice.

After his own experience, Benveniste advises caution. "This is
interesting work, but Rey's experiments were not blinded and
although he says the work is reproducible, he doesn't say how many
experiments he did," he says. "As I know to my cost, this
is such a controversial field, it is mandatory to be as foolproof as
possible."

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Farmer's Right to Save Seed Attacked from GRAIN

[Merla Barberie]

Subject:
 [NEW from GRAIN] Farmers' privilege under attack
Date:
 Wed, 11 Jun 2003 09:57:55 +0200
   From:
 "GRAIN - Information" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 To:
 




NEW from GRAIN
___

TITLE: Farmers' privilege under attack
AUTHOR: Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN)
DATE: June 2003
URL: www.grain.org/publications/bio-ipr-fp-june-2003-en.cfm


FARMERS' PRIVILEGE UNDER ATTACK

GRAIN
June 2003

Intellectual property rights (IPR) applied to seeds give breeders, or
whoever claims to have discovered or developed a new plant variety, an
exclusive monopoly right in relation to the seed. Under patent law, that

monopoly right is very strong. It will generally prevent anyone from
using,
selling or producing the seed without the patent holder's permission.
Under
a typical sui generis plant variety protection law -- an IPR system
designed
specifically for plant varieties -- there are usually a few exceptions
to
this powerful right built in. One of those exceptions is that farmers
may be
allowed to save, exchange, sell or reuse part of their harvest as a new
batch of seed.

The legal ability to reuse IPR-protected seed is called the "farmers'
privilege". On the face of it, this a terrible misnomer. Saving seeds is
as
natural and essential as eating. That's how we are able to produce
crops: by
gathering seeds, or other plant parts like tubers, from mature plants
and
growing them. Under plant variety protection (PVP) law, this totally
ordinary act becomes a privilege, a legal exception. The breeders are
granted the rights, while farmers are allowed to do something despite
that
right -- and only under certain conditions. Breach those conditions and
you
breach the breeder's rights, for which you have to pay economic or legal

consequences. That's why it is wrong to look at this privilege as a
right in
itself.

CUTTING OUT THE COMPETITION

The farmers' privilege is a hot issue because the seed industry wants to

control who produces seeds -- they want to control the market. According
to
Rabobank International, current world seed sales of US$30 billion a year

should jump to US$90 billion soon.[1] But a substantial part of world
food production is based on farm-saved seed -- as much as 90% in
sub-Saharan
Africa or 70% in India. Even in industrialised countries, farmers also
save
seed rather than buy a fresh batch, if it makes sense for them and they
can.[2] So there's still a sizeable market out there for the industry to
get
a grip on.

It's also a hot issue because the seed industry is working hard to
secure
legal systems that restrict seed saving by farmers, be it through the
World
Trade Organisation (WTO), bilateral trade agreements or direct lobbying
of
governments. PVP or plant breeders' rights legislation is all about
taking
power away from farmers to produce and reproduce seeds. And these laws
are
gaining ground.

Governments caving in to the pressure often say, "Don't worry, we will
protect the rights of the farmers at all cost!" They swear that nothing
will
prevent farmers from continuing their "traditional" and "historic"
practice
of conserving, exchanging and further developing seeds. And so they
write
into their law this "farmers' privilege". Yet the fact is, the farmers'
privilege is a legal "yes, but" on seed saving -- with the "but" getting

bigger by the day.

Country after country that has established a plant variety protection
law
has progressively made the farmers' exception more and more restricted.
To
the point that it becomes meaningless. Why? Because the breeders keep
asking
for stronger and stronger rights. Tightening the loophole that allows
farmers to save seeds is the easiest way to give more power to the
breeders.

Restrictions on the farmers' privilege in PVP law come in several forms,

often combined in one mixture or another:

* farmers are prohibited from saving seeds of certain crops
* only certain farmers (e.g. those with a specific farm size or income
level) can enjoy the privilege
* farmers have to pay an additional royalty to the breeder for any seed
that
they save on the farm
* farmers can save seed, but not exchange it (they can only grow it on
their
own farm)
* farmers can save seed and exchange it, but they can not sell it
* farmer can save, exchange and sell seeds, but only without using the
name
of the variety

In addition, governments are increasingly telling farmers that, as part
of
this privilege, they have to provide accounts to the breeders about what

seed they saved. This is to better enforce the restrictions. Governments
are
also debating whether to let the seed industry circumvent the farmers'
privilege through sales contracts -- in other words, allow companies to
impose specific restrictions on saving seeds, printed on the bag,
despite
whatever the PVP law says.

What is the purpose of all this cracking down on farmers?

Cabbage Maggots!!

[Merla Barberie]

Somehow, we managed to get some serious pesky critters in our broccoli
beds.  We hardly ever have anything like this and it took us awhile to
catch on what was happening...  They are: Cabbage Maggot, Diptera:
Anthomyiidae, Delia radicum (L.).  They're just starting and we dug up
all we could find and I'm making a BD spray out of the larvae and
pupae.  Do I have to wait until they dissolve?  Can I speed this up by
mushing them up?  I hate mushing up larvae!  We're going to dig in some
diatomaceous earth too.  The ones that have already pupated that we
can't find will be the second generation.  Whoopee!

Is there any other measure we can take?  The literature says that we're
out of luck if we can see the larvae eating away on the roots.  The
Extension agent says they overwinter here in the roots of wild mustard.
The only thing we did differently than we usually do is get manure for
next year earlier than usual and it's been cold and wet.  I bet we
brought them in there and the flies hatched out and flew to the
brassicas.

IDENTIFICATION: The adult stage of the cabbage and seedcorn maggots is a
small (about 1/4 inch long), dark-grey fly
that is similar in appearance to the house fly. The legless larvae of
both species are white, tapered maggots that reach a
size of about 1/3 inch long when fully grown. Maggots of these species
are virtually indistinguishable from one another
in the field.

LIFE HISTORY: Cabbage and seedcorn maggot adults typically emerge in
April and begin laying eggs. Female cabbage
maggot flies actively seek out and lay eggs on the lower portions of
stems of young host seedlings or in nearby cracks in
the soil. Within a few days the eggs hatch and the tiny maggots burrow
down to the roots and begin feeding. About three
to four weeks later pupation occurs in the soil which is followed about
a week later by the emergence of second
generation adults. Several generations may occur as late as early July,
but the first generation is the most destructive.
Soil-borne pupae of the last generation serve as the overwintering
stage. The life cycle of the seedcorn maggot is similar
to that of the cabbage maggot; however, the seedcorn maggot prefers to
lay eggs in freshly-tilled soil that is high in
moisture and organic matter, and especially in soil where animal manure
has been applied because it is highly attractive to
female seedcorn maggot flies during egg laying. The eggs of the seedcorn
maggot hatch within a few days and the
maggots begin feeding on decaying organic matter or the germinating
seeds of wild or crop plants. Seedcorn maggots are known to be highly
attracted to odors produced by germinating seeds.

CONTROL: No action thresholds or scouting techniques currently are
available for cabbage or seedcorn maggots, thus
control measures typically rely on preventive use of soil-applied
granular insecticides or insecticidal seed treatments at
planting. Ground beetles and other predators may provide some degree of
control, but serious damage can occur if
conditions after planting are cool and wet. Mechanical barriers such as
tar paper, plastic mulch, and foam-rubber collars
placed at the base of plants have been used with some success to prevent
egg laying by cabbage maggots; however,
insecticidal seed treatments or the more expensive granular
insecticides, when used at planting, are considered the best
methods for controlling seedcorn maggots. Because subsequent generations
of seedcorn maggots are not as damaging,
replanting usually is effective, although costly. Also, gardens with a
history of seedcorn maggot problems may benefit
from the application of an insecticidal seed treatment at planting.

*  *  *  *  *

Screen cones or a mesh netting over early spring cabbage prevent the
cabbage maggot fly from laying its eggs
at the base of the plant.

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Re: Preps 500 and 501 Effects as they relate to Sequential Spraying

[Merla Barberie]

I just read Hugh Lovell's words on "Prep 500 and 501 effects".  It was
way over my head since I can only understand what is going on with the
plants on a intuitive basis.

I want to do a sequential spraying on 3 1/2 acres of our land, the part
that is not wooded, but fenced and in agricultural usage.  I feel O.K.
about BC, 500, 508, but really question the use of 501.  It's really
confusing to read Hugh's references to horn clay because Hugh Courtney
doesn't include it in the sequence.  Should I order some horn clay?  If
I do, when do I spray it?  We have glacial till soil with wind blown
laos from Washington grain fields.

This year food plants have been slow because we had a wet, cold spring,
but the native grass already is showing its seedheads, though they
aren't mature yet.  Our first large German iris will bloom today or
tomorrow.  Everything is going on as it should be.  It's a beautiful
time because there is so much moisture in the soil.  There's always a
big differential between day and night temperature.  In a month, we will
be in drought and we'll be trying to ease the plants with compost tea
since we don't have enough water.  We don't have ANY trouble with things
going to seed except tomatoes, peppers and eggplants must be in cold
frames because the night temperatures slow the fruiting process too
much.  On the other hand, the lettuces and brassicas will show their
flowers too soon.

We are located on a wild meadow--with our garden beds and orchard
surrounded by wild grasses and broadleaf plants--red clover, St. John's
wort, wild rose, snowberry, serviceberry, ceonosis (sp.), bracken fern,
etc., in different areas.  My garden weeds this year are allheal,
catnip, clary sage, hollyhock, parsley, clover, plantain, wild sorrel,
chickweed, red and green orach which we eat in salads.  I want to do a
sequential spray over the whole  3 1/2 acre meadow including cultivated
and wild plants.  Hugh C. suggested that I do it in leaf to stimulate
water influences and I'm thinking about June 20-21.  I don't do the
whole 25 acres because it would be hard to spray in the trees and
underbrush.  Should I be doing that too?

What am I doing when I do a sequential spray sequence?  Can someone
explain it to me the way Hugh Lovell is explaining in his post on 500
and 501, but in not quite so difficult a conceptual framework?

Best,

Merla





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Fees for using public lands mishandled

[Merla Barberie]

FEES FOR RECREATION ON PUBLIC LANDS - No More or Forevermore?

The future of public access to public lands will probably be decided
within the next seven weeks.  Your help is needed. Please call or
write your Congressmen & Senators. We need to keep the heat
on Fee Demo as never before. It would also be helpful to spread
the word to friends and write your local editor.

write, or call the Capital Switchboard to be connected to
Congressmen & Senators. 202 224 3121 or 800 839 5276.
(samples below)

According to a major press release on the new General Accounting
Office (GAO) Report on the Forest Service Fee Demo money trail,
The Forest Service has been shown to be dangerously
unaccountable with respect to its cost of collection
figures. The GAO 40-page report titled "Information on Forest
Service Management of Revenue from the Fee Demonstration
Program" (2001), released May 19, 2003,  reveals a deep-seated
culture of deception and a total lack of accountability within the US
Forest Service's Fee Demo program.  The full report can be
downloaded from:
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-470, highlights can be
read at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d03470high.pdf

HERE IS WHAT THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO)  FOUND:
€ The US Forest Service (USFS) has been secretly subsidizing the
management of its Fee Demo program with (in 2001) $10 million
unreported appropriated tax dollars (p.32).
€ Costs of fee collection at major Fee Demo "sites" - such as
Southern California's "Adventure Pass' & the Oregon and
Washington's "Northwest Forest Pass" - have been under-reported
by concealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions
received by pass vendors. (p.25).
€ The USFS has no mechanism for ascertaining whether Fee Demo
has lessened the deferred maintenance backlog, which is the very
purpose for which Fee Demo was created by Congress in 1996.
What's more, the GAO concludes that the USFS has no idea how
large their maintenance backlog really is! (p.22)

FEE DEMO'S FUTURE IN THE BALANCE
The Fee Demo Program was enacted in 1996, extended at least four
times and is currently set to expire on September 30, 2004.
Legislation to make it permanent did not move forward in 2002. The
administration has once again asked Congress to make these fees
permanent but no legislation has yet been introduced in the current
session.

"It is time for Congress to terminate this ill-conceived fee program,
Americans have already paid taxes to maintain what is theirs. The
perverse incentive created by letting the land management agencies
appropriate their own funds, outside of congressional oversight,
leads to the abuses we see in this report." states Robert
Funkhouser, President, Colorado-based Western Slope No Fee
Coalition.  "This GAO Report shows that the Forest Service misled
Congress and the American people about the costs involved with
forest fees."

Scott Silver of WildWildrness.org concludes: "This year Congress
must decide the future of Fee Demo in our Public Lands.  The data
revealed by the recent GAO Report show this to be an incredibly
inefficient means of raising funds for public lands. The public has
rejected Fee Demo and after seven years of the program so should
Congress."

please put the following samples into your own words:

SAMPLE talking points on the phone
Tell staffers you're calling about the GAO Report about Fee Demo on
our National Forests -  say (example): The Forest Service is not
accountable for the fee money they've reported/Fee Demo fees
make so little money and are so unpopular that they need to be
terminated this summer .

SAMPLE letter
I've seen the GAO Report on the Recreation Fee Demo Program on
our National Forests.  The program must be terminated this
summer.  The Forest Service is not accountable for the money
they've raised with Fee Demo; it has been supplementing their fee
revenues with $10 million in appropriated taxdollars, which means
they spent $15 million in 2001 to raise $15 million, when Congress
limited Fee Demo's cost of collection to 15% of revenues. Please help
end Fee Demo in the Forest Service, USFWS, and BLM this year.

Will you find out for me the amount of appropriated dollars that the
Forest Service has used on Fee Demo since 1996?

(Add why you personally oppose Fee Demo.)

Yours sincerely,
(PLEASE PRINT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS VERY CLEARLY.)

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Pepper Spraying Journal

[Merla Barberie]

Well, it was the first day of the moon in Aries yesterday and I was as
ready as I would ever be.  It was also the day my husband decided to
launch his new sailboat in the lake, the one he has been building for
six months and it was the day to vote in the Library Election--the levy
lost last time they tried and we lost the bookmobile and the ability to
buy new books and the library went on restricted hours.

My husband estimated that he would be ready to start on spraying at 5 PM
after he had launched the boat.  (He has helped me with all my projects
for many years, and he's not a BD grower, but comes along with feet
dragging and brain incredulous at homeopathy, because he is my husband
and I need his help.  We are opposites.

At 5:30, he finished the launch.  The wind did not cooperate.  Then
there was the library--we hadn't done that yet.  We went and there was a
long line of people who had just gotten off from work.  We got home and
ate something.  Now my story starts:

We used two 40 gallon drums and Herb got out the kayak double-paddle
with a half for each of us as a stirrer.  The drums have to be filled
and stirred in the borrowed 1973 Dodge van.  Herb filled them with the
hose from the water storage tank at the top of the tower.  It had been a
warm day and it was a good temperature.

We decided we needed a cup each of BC and 500.  I went to my BC cache
and it was teeming with creatures--very young earthworms and rolly-polly
bugs, as we called them in my childhood.  I loved to play with
rolly-polly bugs--Their little bodies are shaped like half of an oval
sphere and are segmented with lots of little legs.  They roll up with
you touch them.  I dug out two cups and tried my best to put all the
creatures back into the hole since they would drown.  That went in the
barrels.

With Herb's help in locating our horns, we took a large one and emptied
it into a stainless bowl with a wire to get the contents in the tip.  I
divided the clay plug and the contents into two parts and that went in.

We figured we needed 4 gallons of D-7 spotted knapweed pepper for each
barrel.  I had my dilutions/successions in quart jars.  You're going to
laugh now.  I figured in pints.  4 gallons is 32 pints of D-7 that we
needed for each barrel so we needed 1 2/3 quarts of D-6.  So I took the
D-5, potentized it again for good measure and potentized 3 more jars of
D-6.  Then poured 1 2/3 qts into a 4 gallon white bucket and carried it
out to the van and filled it with the hose and just lifted and dropped
the bucket on the ground 39 times.  I just decided the number as I was
doing it.  The bucket made indentations in the packed soil. That went in
and we each stirred a barrel.

Herb's idea of the paddles had to be modified.  We used the handle end
instead of the paddle end.  It was very hard to stir 40 gallons sitting
down in the van with not much headroom to manipulate the stirrers.  My
husband failed me on the stirring.  It just got to be too much for him.
He doesn't have the deep inner motivation to do this.  We drove down our
1 1/2 mile hill to the county road and I was able to get him to stir
again, I don't know how long it was... but my intuition told me to
accept the gifts I had been given and not to make a scene.  It was dark
by now.  Herb turned the van around so we could start at our driveway
and go to the the intersection at the beginning of our road.  We have a
gerry-rigged sprayer out of a Sure-flo pump on a piece of board with a
hose that goes into the barrel and another longer one with a
professional trigger sprayer-head like the Forest Service uses that
shoots 30 feet.  I sat in the passenger seat and sprayed out the window,
waggling the sprayhead to cover the width of the right-of-way.  Herb
could see better than I where the spray was going and he would correct
my position from time to time.   We did about 7 miles (3 1/2 miles of
road on both sides).

When we got home, there was stuff left in the barrels and Herb
maneuvered them out of the van, then dissolved into the cabin and into
bed.  I got my little flashlight from my handbag and took our wonderful,
large saucepan that we found on the free table at the dock in Port
Townsend which had been an old pressure cooker...it was very heavy gauge
steel, and dipped the precious liquid out of the bottom of the barrels
and onto whatever plants were near the parking area and even carried
some out to the garden and to our Sweet Sixteen apple tree that the
pocket gophers had eaten most of the roots of and used it all.  I
finished at 11:30 P.M.

That's it folks.  We did the best we could.  Today, at 6:30 A.M. Herb
left for a fishing trip with a friend and promised to come back today in
time to do the second spraying in daylight.  Thank God, he is willing to
help me.  He won't let anyone else drive the van as he is afraid they
will accidentally go off the side of the road in his friend's van.  I'm
going to stir the 500 by itself for 40 minutes, then divide it into two
barrels and

Landgrant University Wheat Breeder Holds Fast to Keeping BreedingPublic

[Merla Barberie]

Washington State wheat breeder won't sow Clearfield seed, Borlaug warns
against privatization of public breeding

by Robert Schubert
CropChoice editor

(May 19, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- News of the demise of funding for a

crop breeding program at Washington State University may have been
greatly
exaggerated, but it did shed light on what some regard as a looming
threat
to public agriculture research in Washington and other states.

The controversy began two months ago after a newspaper report that the
state Wheat Commission might end its 8-year, $1.66 million support for
the
winter wheat development efforts of Stephen Jones, Ph.D.

The real news, says Jones, is whether he'll work with corporations, in
this
case BASF, to introduce herbicide-resistant wheat. The answer is simple:

"No, I don't enter into contracts with for-profit corporations. The
commission has a problem with my stand on trying to keep the public
breeding programs public." Jones is unwilling to follow the path of
counterparts at other public institutions. In the face of government
cuts
to funding for research, breeders and entire programs have contracted
with
agro-chemcial and biotechnology companies to develop new genetics that
become patented intellectual property, fully in the private realm.

Overblown

During a March meeting of the Wheat Commission, two of the five
commissioners introduced -- and were the only ones to vote for -- a
measure
to eliminate funding for the winter wheat program. (One abstained, one
voted "no" and the president didn't vote because there wasn't a tie.)
The
two members, also prominent seed dealers in the state, said the farmers
in
the districts they represent requested that Jones needed a strong
message
that he should breed BASF Corporation's Clearfield technology into
winter
wheat. Such a variety would be resistant to imazamox, an herbicide that
BASF makes and markets as Beyond.

The fate of the WSU breeding program was to be decided at an April 3
meeting of industry leaders with Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean of the
College of Agriculture and Home Economics and director of the
Agricultural
Research Center at Washington State University, according to the March
21
Capital Press story, "Message sent to WSU wheat breeder; commission
pulls
funds."

That story was "overblown and premature," says Cavalieri, who oversees
Jones's program. The April meeting with leadership of the Wheat
Commission
and the Washington Association of Wheat Growers did happen, he says. But

that's nothing new. He meets with them every spring to discuss the
Commission's preliminary funding decisions and concerns about projects.
The
only concern raised was communication between the breeders and the
growers.
Cavalieri wants his office to be the information conduit.

Jones's program didn't come up, says Cavalieri: "I can't imagine there
not
being money for the winter wheat breeding program."

Tom Mick, administrator of the Wheat Commission, says the situation
[with
the March meeting] was blown out of proportion: "We will fund a winter
wheat program. What program, I can't tell you. I assume that Steve Jones

will be involved in that program since he's the winter wheat breeder."

The Commission will consider next year's budget for research and all
activities when it meets May 21 and 22 at its offices in downtown
Spokane.
The chairman will recommend a budget. After considering changes, the
commissioners will vote on a final version.

The bulk of Wheat Commission revenue comes from an excise tax, or
check-off, that growers pay when they sell their wheat. About $1.66
million
of that has gone toward the winter wheat program since 1995. In
2002-2003,
about $67,000 was budgeted for Jones's soft white winter wheat breeding
program, $68,000 for his hard red and white breeding and $54,000 for
pre-breeding and genetic mapping.

Some wheat growers question whether Jones has productively used the
money,
a charge he denies.

The Jones Record

Jones co-released Edwin and released Bruehl, two varieties in the club
class of wheat. This year, Bruehl was the state's most widely-grown club

wheat, a class sown on 231,000 out of 2.4 million acres. Club is a
specialty wheat blended with common soft white winter wheat to produce a

marketing class called western white wheat. Japan's millers and bakers
favor it for use in sponge cakes and other pastries.

Besides the two club wheats, Jones recently developed a winter wheat,
7916,
that resists a soil-borne disease causing the plants to fall over.
Approved
for release this spring, the wheat has excellent milling and baking
qualities, and yields well, Jones says. In the fall, he also expects to
pre-release a hard white and hard red winter wheat featuring good winter

hardiness.

With money from the Organic Farming Research Foundation, one of the
graduate students working in the program has been developing an organic
winter wheat over the past three years. Jones anticipates its release in
5
to 6 years. The program also

Aeration of compost piles

[Merla Barberie]

Hi folks,

I just found a website  where they blow air into
their compost piles.  I want to ask questions about compost piles.

If you put sticks and cornstalks at the bottom of your pile and layer it
soil, carbonous matter, manure (& bedding), and then add BD compost
preps, is your pile aerated enough?  What if you can't find organic cow
manure?  Is organic horse O.K.?  When, if ever,  do you turn your pile?
When is the optimum time to make the pile and put in the preps?  What
about pile temperature and certified organic temperature requirements?
Do you ever inoculate your pile with BC?  Are there various optimum
methods of making compost piles?

Go to it, gang!

Best,

Merla

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Québec Adopts Strict Pesticide Regs

[Merla Barberie]

===
P A N U P S
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
===
Québec Adopts Strict Pesticide Regulations

March 24, 2003

On March 5, Québec's Environment Minister announced the
province's adoption of a landmark Pesticide Management Code,
which strictly regulates the storage, sales and use of pesticides in
Québec. Among the pesticides banned for non-agricultural uses is
the controversial herbicide, 2,4-D. When the Code was first
proposed in July 2002, industry representatives warned that, if
adopted, Québec would be sued under NAFTA's Chapter 11.

"Through this regulation, Québec becomes the first place in North
America to ban the most dangerous pesticides for health and the
environment. The action undertaken today by the Québec
government will reduce people's exposure to these products which
are particularly noxious to children's health," declared the Minister.

The Code states that, effective immediately, synthetic pesticides are
prohibited in all daycare facilities and schools and the use of
cosmetic pesticides is banned on all public land; by 2005, the ban
will extend to all private green spaces, with fines ranging from
CAN$500-$30,000. The ban covers 23 pesticide active ingredients
that--according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and/or World Health Organization (WHO)--are known or
possible carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, including lindane,
malathion, MCPA, permethrin, benomyl, captan and 2,4-D.

In addition to the ban, the Code also increases buffer zones around
open water, outlaws application of mixtures of pesticides and
fertilizers, requires sale and use permits for pesticide applicators,
requires golf courses to present pesticide use reduction plans, and
provides a list of less-toxic and organic pest control products.

Beyond the new provincial rules, Montreal--a city of nearly 2
million--is considering even stricter rules on pesticide use on
public and private lands. Several dozen other municipalities across
Québec have already legislated bans on cosmetic use of pesticides.
Environmentalists in Québec are very encouraged by the progress
at both municipal and provincial levels.

"There is no doubt that this trend will pave the way for other
Provinces and the rest of the world to follow. Tourism in Québec
should become an attractive and safe proposition!" stated Rohini
Peris, Communications Director of the Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides (CAP).

The Code is also welcomed by environmentalists outside of
Québec. "A landmark policy of one government increases
credibility everywhere else," stated David Chatfield, Executive
Director of Californians for Pesticide Reform. "There's no
question that Québec's regulations will help our Healthy Schools
Campaign here in California."

The Montreal Gazette reported that a lawsuit was threatened the
day after the Code was presented. Donald Page, Executive Director
of the Industry Task Force II on 2,4-D Research, funded by the
four North American manufacturers of the weedkiller 2,4-D--Dow
AgroSciences, BASF, Nufarm Inc. and Agro-Gor S.A.--said the
industry would sue under Chapter 11 of NAFTA if Québec
insisted on adopting the ban. Québec's Environment Minister
seemed to take it in stride, "I am not surprised to hear that kind of
reaction," the Minister said on July 6, 2002. "If there is a parallel,
it
is with what happened with the tobacco producers the day the
government decided to adopt restrictive legislation."

Later, when asked to comment on the passing of the Québec ban, a
Task Force spokesman insisted that Page was misquoted by The
Montreal Gazette, and had no further comment.

CAP and other local health activist groups are calling for support
from the national and international communities. "We must make
sure that the proponents of this legislation get the credit that they
deserve for standing up for public health and standing against the
threat of a NAFTA lawsuit," said Peris.

If you would like to send a letter of support to government
officials in Québec and Montreal, visit:
http://www.panna.org/resources/documents/QuebecLetter2.dv.html

Québec's Pesticide Management Code is available in French at
http://www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/index-en.htm. English or French
copies can be ordered at (800) 463-2100.

Sources: Environment Québec Press Release, March 5, 2003;
Industry Task Force on 2,4-D Research II, personal
correspondence; The Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides News
Release, March 10, 2003; "Boisclair stands firm: U.S. Industry
Lobby Won't Change Québec Pesticide Ban" July 6, 2002, The
Montreal Gazette.

Contacts: Michel Gaudet or Rohini Peris, Coalition for
Alternatives to Pesticides (CAP), C.P. 434,
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec J3V
5G8, Canada; phone (514) 683-5701; fax (450) 441-2138; email
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; Web site http://www.cap-quebec.com/.

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource
guides and reporting on pesticid

The Last non-GMO wheat breeder at a Land Grant College

[Merla Barberie]

Folks -
 We've got a new squelch-play going on in our area, a place with
a relentless old boy network.   Steve Jones is the last wheat breeder in
the country that is not contracted to Monsanto, et al.   He has been
holding out, and speaking out, and is determined to keep his varieties
in the public domain.  His latest creation is perennial wheat which
certainly would threaten the whole trend toward patented annual GMO
commodity crops, wouldn't it?  Now he is coming under intense pressure.
Add him to the list:   Pusztai, Schmeiser, Chapella, Jones.
 If you would like to weigh in on this sleezy action, we are
writing letters to the Dean of Ag at WSU:
 James J. Zuiches
 Dean - College of Agriculture
 Washington State University
 Pullman, Washington 99164

 [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 THANKS, Merla

--
Friday, March 21, 2003
Message sent to WSU wheat breeder; commission pulls funds
By SCOTT A. YATES Capital Press Staff Writer

SPOKANE ? Impatient over a lack of varieties coming out of his winter
wheat breeding program, frustrated by his philosophical objection to the
use of new seed technologies, and put off by a personality that can be
described as brusquely brilliant, the Washington Wheat Commission sent
an abrupt message to Steve Jones March 13.

In an unprecedented move, the commission voted to withhold funding from
Jones’ winter wheat breeding program pending a meeting with officials at
Washington State University’s College of Agriculture and Home Economics.
That meeting, scheduled for April 3, is intended to lay out concerns
being heard from an increasing number of farmers.

Brad Tompkins, who made the motion, said he was encouraged to act on
behalf of farmers who have spoken to him. Dan McKay, who voted with
Tompkins, said it comes down to whether the winter wheat program is
grower-directed or breeder-directed.

Curtis Hennings abstained from voting, but acknowledged Jones may be his
own worst enemy.  “If Steve had been out at grower meetings, interacting
with folks and being a compatriot, even if he hadn’t been producing,
this attitude would be different,” he said. “The total seclusion hasn’t
helped him any.”

Lynn Blair voted against the motion, but he agreed Jones’ isolation is a
problem. Still, he remains a Jones backer.“I think he’s a hell of a
good researcher, and like a lot of politicians or business people, he
may not have the best way of expressing himself. But to say he’s wrong,
I won’t say that,” Blair said.

Commission funding is an integral part of Jones’ program. Since 1995,
the group has directly funneled $1.66 million into research he directs.
In fiscal year 2002/03, the commission budgeted $67,000 for his soft
white winter wheat breeding program, $68,000 for his hard red and white
breeding and $54,000 for pre-breeding and genetic mapping. All of that
money is based on assessments from growers.

Although McKay and Tompkins indicated the leadership of the Washington
Association of Wheat Growers supported their action to withhold funds,
officials at the growers’ group did not return calls. Chris Herron,
chairman of WAWG’s research committee, said leadership told him to issue
a no-comment.   Herron, however, couldn’t resist making a personal
remark. He called Jones among the top handful of breeders in the nation
and said he remains a firm supporter of the winter wheat program.

In an e-mail, Jones said he hadn’t heard anything from the commission,
adding, “It could be that the commission and I have different ideas
about how I should do my job. I am doing my best for the growers of
Washington.”

Struggles between Jones and the commission are nothing new. A
disagreement in the recent past is the researcher’s unwillingness to
breed Clearfield herbicide resistance into his wheat lines. His program
is also touted among U.S. environmental groups as the only GMO-free
wheat breeding program in the nation.

Although conflicts over the use of technology usually don’t get
personal, this time one of the main issues being raised is Jones’
personality. Tompkins said wheat breeding is about more than just
breeding wheat. It is about interactions with farmers and the rest of
the industry.   “You can’t ignore the system that is out there,” he
said.

Brad Isaak, the president of the Grant County wheat association, is part
of that system. At a recent meeting, he said his group encouraged the
wheat commission to send Jones a message.
“Somehow, we have to have our wheat breeders listening to us and working
with us and not going off on their own,” he said.

Ron Juris, a farmer near Bickleton, said if growers are going to put a
large chunk of change into Jones’ program, they need to have better
communication.   “We are the guys putting out the money. We’d like to
see what we are getting, and so far we haven’t gotten much,” he said.

Al Anderberg, a Spokane County grower, said it’s tough to look at all
the varieties coming out of 

Spring

[Merla Barberie]

Hi folks,

Rocky Mountain spring here--alternating snow and sun.  Last night I
looked out on stars and planets in a clear sky.  Today it's solid cloud
cover in the 40s and 32 at night.  During a warm spell, we planted some
Oregon Giant snow peas and put BD compost on the asparagus.  We're
working on our seedlings and are working on getting a cold frame up so
we can operate here.  I raise seedlings in the S windows of a small
cabin and when we transplant we go into the cold frame which we heat
with a propane torch.  We are the epitome of low tech.

Had a road meeting yesterday and luck would have it, we had a snow storm
that morning that was daunting for driving.  We had eight people at our
meeting which included Herb and me.  I was really pleased with who
showed up and they are motivated and want to have another meeting soon
and will help me get the word out.

I'm reading RS's An Outline of Occult Science and will ask for help when
I finish sometime in the next century.  It's slow going and I know I'll
have to reread it before I can even ask questions.  I'm just getting the
basic idea now and can't keep track of it all very well.  I won't say
any more now .

Best,

Merla

Bowling for Columbine

[Merla Barberie]

Bowling for Columbine finally made it to Sandpoint.  Everybody I know,
many Quakers and Green Party people, and a bunch of high schoolers were
there.  It felt like home.   I guess Michael Moore said it all.  What
can I do besides what I am doing now?  The Spokesperson and Secretary of
the Green Party were at the door giving out relevant literature.  Why
have 11,000 people died--so much more than any other country?  How do
you change the government and the media?  How do you lessen the
corruption?  How do you get health care for all?  What happened to
Liberals?

Changing the subject, how do we get birth control to women in the world
who need it.  How do we educate them and help their countries change
their culture and the laws that oppress women?  How can we cure aids in
Africa?  How can we get rid of the WTO and strengthen the U.N.?

I've taken my little tasks and I'm trying to do them  Should I try to do
more?  I'm trying to take time to do my housework.  Visualize the
changes I want in the world?

Time to go to bed.  In the morning I have to get up and make snacks for
the Quakers.

I walked the dogs late this morning.  There's still snow, but the ruts
in the road and free of snow and slightly muddy.  No problem for my
Limmers.  We walked over on some absentee landowner's land to a meadow
with some open space where I gather St. Johnswort flowers in the summer
and I pulled up some more knapweed and carried it home and put it in
Herb's woodstove in his shop.

Goodnight,

Merla

Re: EXODUS

[Merla Barberie]

Barry,

As much as I have enjoyed sharing political views with people on this list, I have
found that I need respit.  I particularly enjoyed reading Charles Chaplin's
biography and seeing videos of his films--anything creative--but he was barred
from returning to the U.S. because he made "The Great Dictator."

I liked Bill Moyer's NOW program tonight.  It's the spiritual depth of the
speakers that helps.  I appreciate all that Move-on is doing, but the vibration of
the whole plethora of ills of our culture including the war is too much for me.  I
can't understand how people could enjoy watching the Gulf War on TV.  I can't
listen to any news program without thinking of depleted uranium weapons.

I would like somehow to do something spiritual together as a group.  Could we take
something from RS or some other spiritual guide and write on it together at this
time and not mention all the bad stuff?  Is that being an ostrich?

Best,

Merla

Barry Carter wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
> At 01:38 PM 3/7/2003, you wrote:
> >Indeed the deterioration of this this list recently has been sad. What
> >just a year or two ago was an active forum with good substantiative topics
> >has reverted to mostly global news, and chit chat. Not trying to be too
> >negative but there is so much potential (check the archives), that I feel
> >we're missing out on.
> >
> >We hashed this out a few weeks back. Since then I've been contemplating a
> >idea raised then. When I see Merla post about the troubles world affairs
> >might be causing her it solidifies my thoughts. Some of us like, need, or
> >choose to live in our own little BD world. There is a lot if injustice in
> >this world, and being able to deal with all the negatives isn't for
> >everyone.  There are places (many) that on can go for news, alternative,
> >mainstream, political opinions. There aren't many places one can go to
> >find those experienced in BD, especially in a forum where the back and
> >forth of discussion often reveals so much.
>
> I agree. I moderate several dozen forums, mostly on ORMUS. At one point I
> found that I had to set up an ORMUS and Spirit forum and an ORMUS Politics
> forum in order to keep these discussions from creating bad feelings on the
> WhiteGold list. This might be something that could be tried here too.
>
> Also, since many of Jane Sherry's forwarded posts come from the Globalnews
> list I would recommend that anyone who wishes to get this information
> subscribe directly to that list. Here are the commands for the Globalnews list:
>
> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> --
>
> With kindest regards,
>
> Barry Carter
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2319 Balm
> Baker City, Oregon 97814
> Phone: 541-523-3357
> Web Pages:
> Forest - http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/bmnfa/index.htm
> ORMUS - http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/whatisit.htm
>
> "What you think upon grows. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you
> magnify in your life. Whether the subject of your thought be good or bad,
> the law works and the condition grows. Any subject that you keep out of
> your mind tends to diminish in your life, because what you do not use
> atrophies. The more you think of grievances, the more such trials you will
> continue to receive; the more you think of the good fortune you have had,
> the more good fortune will come to you."
> --Emmet Fox

Earth needs...TLC

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

I am so affected by what is happening in the wider world and in my
smaller world.  I wrote a note to the Security Council.  I guess we all
wrote those notes.  It's too bad that our country is in such a mess in
every way.  I get so angry, it's blowing my head even more.

I've had a couple of unsatisfactory talks with Brad, the Weed
Supervisor, this last week.  I'm feeling bad and scared.  On one hand, I
want to influence the county weed control to go to less chemicals and
have a more wholistic concept.  Everyone has her/his own paradigm and
we're all suffering from cognitive dissidence as far as listening to
another point of view.  Brad actually told me that I was unhappy and
maybe I should just work on my own land.  I think he wants to get rid of
me.  On the other hand, I'm really hurting, and would like to go to a
place where I could be happier.  I think, though, that will come as
these things are resolved.  I need some spiritual guidance to get past
the pain and into a state of happiness.

I need an Epiphany.

It would help if GWB, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc. would suddenly start doing
everything right and I could relax and feel that the world is going
fine.

Love to all,

Merla

Resignation in Greece

[Merla Barberie]

Thanks for the info, Roger.

Sorry, folks, Bob Thorson is right.  I also got this back from my
source:

Subject:
 Career diplomat resigns in protest
Date:
 Wed, 05 Mar 2003 15:52:44 -0700

Merla -
 see NY Times article below.T Miller is the Ambassador
,  Kiesling was the Policital Counseler, as his letter states in the
first sentence.My subject line should have said "diplomat" rather
than ambassador.
 cheers

Re: Letter of Resignation from U.S. Ambassador to Greece

[Merla Barberie]

Bob,

Thanks for catching this.  I really don't know first hand the background.
My source is usually very good.  I sent an email to her asking her to check
it's veracity with a copy of your post.  I will publish her answer when I
get it.

Merla

Bob Thorson wrote:

> The US ambassador to Greece is named Thomas Miller and he did not resign.
>
> >US Ambassador to Greece resigns in protest over US
> >administration' current actions in mideast.
> >http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml
> >
> >U.S. Diplomat John Brady Kiesling
> >Letter of Resignation, to:  Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
> >ATHENS | Thursday 27 February 2003
> >
> >Dear Mr. Secretary:
> >
> >I am writing you to submit my resignation from the Foreign

Letter of Resignation from U.S. Ambassador to Greece

[Merla Barberie]

US Ambassador to Greece resigns in protest over US
administration' current actions in mideast.
http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml

U.S. Diplomat John Brady Kiesling
Letter of Resignation, to:  Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
ATHENS | Thursday 27 February 2003

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am writing you to submit my resignation from the Foreign
Service of the United States and from my position as Political
Counselor in U.S. Embassy Athens, effective March 7. I do so with
a heavy heart. The baggage of my upbringing included a felt
obligation to give something back to my country. Service as a U.S.
diplomat was a dream job.

I was paid to understand foreign languages and cultures, to seek
out diplomats, politicians, scholars and journalists, and to persuade
them that U.S. interests and theirs fundamentally coincided. My
faith in my country and its values was the most powerful weapon in
my diplomatic arsenal.

It is inevitable that during twenty years with the State Department I
would become more sophisticated and cynical about the narrow and
selfish bureaucratic motives that sometimes shaped our policies.
Human nature is what it is, and I was rewarded and promoted for
understanding human nature. But until this Administration it had
been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my
president I was also upholding the interests of the American people
and the world. I believe it no longer.

The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only
with American values but also with American interests. Our fervent
pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international
legitimacy that has been America's most potent weapon of both
offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson. We have
begun to dismantle the largest and most effective web of
international relationships the world has ever known. Our current
course will bring instability and danger, not security.

The sacrifice of global interests to domestic politics and to
bureaucratic self-interest is nothing new, and it is certainly not a
uniquely American problem. Still, we have not seen such systematic
distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of
American opinion, since the war in Vietnam. The September 11
tragedy left us stronger than before, rallying around us a vast
international coalition to cooperate for the first time in a systematic
way against the threat of terrorism. But rather than take credit for
those successes and build on them, this Administration has chosen
to make terrorism a domestic political tool, enlisting a scattered and
largely defeated Al Qaeda as its bureaucratic ally. We spread
disproportionate terror and confusion in the public mind,
arbitrarily linking the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq. The
result, and perhaps the motive, is to justify a vast misallocation of
shrinking public wealth to the military and to weaken the
safeguards that protect American citizens from the heavy hand of
government.

September 11 did not do as much damage to the fabric of American
society as we seem determined to so to ourselves. Is the Russia of
the late Romanovs really our model, a selfish, superstitious empire
thrashing toward self-destruction in the name of a doomed status
quo?

We should ask ourselves why we have failed to persuade more of
the world that a war with Iraq is necessary. We have over the past
two years done too much to assert to our world partners that
narrow and mercenary U.S. interests override the cherished values
of our partners. Even where our aims were not in question, our
consistency is at issue. The model of Afghanistan is little comfort
to allies wondering on what basis we plan to rebuild the Middle
East, and in whose image and interests.

Have we indeed become blind, as Russia is blind in Chechnya, as
Israel is blind in the Occupied Territories, to our own advice, that
overwhelming military power is not the answer to terrorism? After
the shambles of post-war Iraq joins the shambles in Grozny and
Ramallah, it will be a brave foreigner who forms ranks with
Micronesia to follow where we lead.

We have a coalition still, a good one. The loyalty of many of our
friends is impressive, a tribute to American moral capital built up
over a century. But our closest allies are persuaded less that war is
justified than that it would be perilous to allow the U.S. to drift into

complete solipsism. Loyalty should be reciprocal. Why does our
President condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to
our friends and allies this Administration is fostering, including
among its most senior officials. Has â€|oderint dum metuantâ€x
really become our motto?

I urge you to listen to America's friends around the world. Even
here in Greece, purported hotbed of European anti-Americanism,
we have more and closer friends than the American newspaper
reader can possibly imagine. Even when they complain about
American arrogance, Greeks know that the world is a difficult and
dangerous place,

CSP and EQIP-Please comment and send to other interested persons

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

This is what I sent to folks in my area.  Please read, comment and send
to folks in your area.

Merla

*  *  *  *  *

HELP SMALL GROWERS GET USDA SUBSIDIES FOR CONSERVATION--CSP and EQIP

Send two emails to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
1.  Subject:  Conservation Security Program--due by March 10
2.  Subject:  Environmental Quality Incentive Program--due by March 12

Your comment will be printed in the official record.  If many small and
mid-sized farmers who retail locally,  and their consumers, don’t write
and make a direct case for these programs, they will be  underfunded,
unfunded and changed to only benefit large industrial growers.

Some issues cut across all areas of the country and all small and
mid-sized farms.  The term "resource of concern" is different for
different types of agriculture in different parts of the country.   You
need to let them know that you as an Idaho retail market farmer  of some
of the highest quality produce in the country are doing significant
conservation which is economically and socially important in your
community.  You want the program to work for a farmer such as yourself.
Such management practices as composting,, cover cropping, crop
rotations, mulching, compost tea applications, conservation of sparse
water resources in drought conditions, use of  a gravity-feed watering
system and drip irrigation, use of  a  solar electric system, diverse
cropping, use of cold frames and other season extenders, animals
integrated into your system, marketing strategies such as CSAs, Farmers
Markets, Farmstands, etc., your contribution to your Farmers Market and
the Market’s contribution to the community, how you increase
profitability with value added products, how you manage your woodlot to
heat your home, how you protect your crops from deer, elk, moose, and
bears with such things as New Zealand game fences. Get them to make the
CSP a conservation program that works for your land and for you.

If you need to understand more, there are fact sheets on
 and I have a draft of the CSP comment
by Western SAWG and would be glad to forward it to you if you request
it.

Please take the time to understand this and to make comments about both
of the programs.  The CSP action notice is from the Land Stewardship
Project  and the EQIP action notice is from
Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group .

Thanks so much,

Merla Barberie
Farmers Market at Sandpoint
Sandpoint, Idaho
208 263-0366

*  *  *  *  *
>From the Land Stewardship Project

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!

PUBLIC COMMENT DEADLINE ON CONSERVATION
SECURITY PROGRAM IS MARCH 20th

2/28/03
Now is the crucial time to send the message loud and clear: We want a
full and quickly implemented Conservation Security Program (CSP)! CSP
holds great promise for rewarding
farmers based on how they are protecting and improving the
environment-and therefore helping us move to a more environmentally
sound and sustainable agriculture and food system in theUnited States.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is asking for general
input on how to implement the CSP, in the form of an Advanced Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking. The letter below
is a sample of written comments it would be very helpful to make -
please add one or two points of your own, expand on a particular point,
or add a personal story or comment. NRCS will accept
comments by e-mail or regular mail. Comments from both individuals and
organizations are important.

Send your written comments by March 20, 2003 to Mark Berkland, Director,
Conservation Operations Division, USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service, P.O. Box 2890, Washington,
DC 20013-2890. Send your comments by e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC) has prepared a full set of
comments on the Advanced Notice. All groups and individuals are asked to
endorse those comments as well. These comments
are also available (or will be very soon) at
<http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_csp.html>

To read the Advanced Notice (there are 15 questions asking for input),
go to
<http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2002/rules/csp030110.html>
or call Mark Berkland at NRCS at 202-720-1845 and ask for a copy to be
sent to you.

If you have any questions or suggestions, call:
Mark Schultz, Policy Program Direction at 612-722-6377

SAMPLE LETTER for WRITTEN COMMENTS on CSP:
(NOTE: The sample letter has sections at the beginning and the end in
ALL CAPITALS that are notes to you about the letter. Please review the
letter and add the information suggested before
sending it in to NRCS. Thank you!)

RE: Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Conservation Security
Program (CSP) published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2003
(Fed. Reg. Vol. 68, No 32, pages 7720-7722).

Mark W. Berkland
Director, Conservation Operations Division
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
P.O. Box 2890
Washington, D.C. 20013-2890

Dear Mr. Berkland:

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOUR

EQIP Action Letter from WesternSAWG

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

I just went on  and found a sample letter to write for
EQIP which I am copying on this post.

*  *  *  *  *

URGENT! ? ONLY 30 DAYS TO SEND IN PUBLIC COMMENT TO SAVE THE INTEGRITY
OF THE EQIP PROGRAM

BUSH OFFERS WEAK PROPOSED RULE FOR THE
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM (EQIP)

MASSIVE PUBLIC RESPONSE NEEDED TO STOP ABUSE AND GET REAL CONSERVATION
BENEFITS

Send comments to:  Mark W. Berkland,

   Director, Conservation Operations

   Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA

   1400 Independence Ave. SW, Room 5241

   Washington, DC 20250-2890

  Or to Mark W. Berkland via the internet by going to www.nrcs.usda.gov
and then submitting comments to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  The proposed rule itself can also be accessed
at the same website.

ALL PUBLIC COMMENT MUST BE RECEIVED BY MARCH12th

ACTION:  Write to Mark Berkland and tell him you are providing comments
on the proposed rule for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP) that appeared in the Federal Register on February 10, 2003.  Make
some or all of the points made in the 4 bulleted ‘action’ sections that
follow.  Add any additional points you care to make.

Remember, the 2002 Farm Bill provides EQIP with $11.6 billion over the
next 10 years, making it the second largest agricultural conservation
program in history.  And 60% of these funds are targeted to livestock.
When this rule is finalized, it will have the force of law and will set
EQIP policy for many years to come.  Please respond today and encourage
others to send in comments as well!

Thank you for taking action and submitting comments!  Each additional
response puts USDA and the Administration on notice that the public is
demanding major changes to the proposed rule to support family farms and
real environmental benefits.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Mr. Berkland:

[PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND SAY IF YOU ARE A FARMER, CONSUMER, ETC.
AND MENTION
ANY AGRICULTURAL GROUPS YOUR BELONG TO. IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING THE
COMMENT ON
BEHALF OF AN ORGANIZATION, PLEASE INCLUDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE
GROUP.]

  STOP FUNDING ENVIRONMENTALLY RISKY CAFO EXPANSION

• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) should first and
foremost be an environmental quality program, not a program to subsidize
production, expansion, or equipment purchases.  Large Confined Animal
Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have a long history of severe air and water
pollution and animal and human health problems.  CAFO expansion and
consolidation also places family farm livestock producers at risk.
Tragically, the proposed rule does nothing to prevent EQIP from becoming
an environmentally and economically harmful subsidy program encouraging
CAFO
expansion and overproduction at the expense of the environment and
family farms. Specific actions include:



•Amend the rule by adding new language to the Section 1466.10, the
section dealing with “conservation practices” that
would:

 • Prohibit EQIP payments to new and expanding large-scale
Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).  There should be no payments
to build new CAFOs, expand AFOs to CAFO size, or expand existing CAFOs.
EQIP should be an environmental quality program, as its name implies,
not a subsidy to encourage
overproduction of animals and increased environmental risk.



   •  Prohibit EQIP payments to CAFOs located in floodplains, unless the
funding is to help them move out of the floodplain.  EQIP should not
spend taxpayer money on accidents waiting to happen in
environmentally-sensitive areas.



   •  Direct State-level NRCS officials to develop funding allocation
and application ranking criteria that give top priority for EQIP
assistance for livestock operations to sustainable practices such as
managed rotational grazing, pasture and range management, hoop houses,
composting and other environmentally-sound alternatives to large-scale
animal factories.

DON’T FOCUS FUNDING ON THE BIGGEST, WORST, OR MOST EXPENSIVE

The EQIP “application ranking system” at the state and local levels
determines which producers and which conservation
systems and practices get priority access to EQIP dollars.  The proposed
rule (at Section 1466.20) directs states to rank
proposals based on use of: cost-effective practices; magnitude of
environmental benefits; treatment of multiple resource
concerns; longer-term environmental enhancement; compliance with
regulatory requirements; and other locally defined
factors, including the extent of natural resource degradation.  On the
surface, these criteria sound reasonable.  However
when these criteria are made operational at the state and local level
these ranking criteria can, and often do, result in the
largest agricultural operations being favored over small and
moderate-sized farm, capital-intensive approaches being
favored over lower cost management-intensive and integrated farming
systems approaches, and environ

Conservation Money for Working Farms

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

When I went to the Western Sustainable Ag Working Group conference a few
weeks ago, they had Mark Schultz of the Land Stewardship Project there
talking about Farm Bill programs with money for small and mid-sized
working farms for conservation programs called EQIP and CSP.  You may
already know about them.

The USDA is taking comments on these programs until March 10 for CSP and
March 12 for EQIP.  I'm hoping to get an action notice from
 soon which I will pass along.  Meanwhile, I
just wanted to let everyone know that this is coming.  You could look
this up on the Web.  It is a good thing for them to get many comments
from small farmers because the present group of legislators want to
change the wording of the programs to benefit large industrial farms and
leave out the small farms.

The Conservation Security Program (CSP) was authorized in 2002 by a
Democratic Congress "to identify and meaningfully reward those farmers
and ranchers meeting the highest standards of conservation and
environmental management on their operations" to improve the quality of
soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life.

This entitlement program (every working farm that applies is entitled),
which would "provide equitable access to benefits to all producers
regardless of size, crops produced or geographic location," has not been
funded yet.

Comments are to be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED], Subject: Conservation
Security Program.

Your comment will be printed in the official record .  If many small
farmers don’t write and make a direct case for keeping the program as an
entitlement program and not just to benefit a few large farms and for
keeping the limits on the amount of the payments for any one individual
farm so there will be money for the many, they will cut us out.

There is a set of 15 suggested comment categories.   If you could speak
to some of them while letting them know that you as a retail market
farmer of the highest quality produce in the country are doing
significant conservation which is economically and socially important in
your community and you want the program to work for a farmer such as
yourself.  Such nutrient management practices as composting,, cover
cropping, crop rotations, mulching, compost tea applications,
conservation of sparse water resources in drought conditions, use of  a
gravity-feed watering system and drip irrigation, use of  a  solar
electric system, diverse cropping, use of cold frames and other season
extenders, animals, marketing strategies, CSAs, your contribution to the
Market and the Market’s contribution to the community, how you increase
profitability with value added products, how you manage your woodlot to
heat your home, etc.  Get them to make the CSP a conservation program
that works for your land and for you.

I do not understand "Resources of concern" fully.  There are different
resources of concern in different areas of the country.  I will try to
learn more about EQIP.  If we actually do get the legislation funded and
not changed into a competitive program rather than an entitlement
program, then I think every organic  and conventional working farm that
practices conservation could apply.

I'm still working on this and I'll give you more info as soon as I get
it.

If you want to talk to somebody about this, look at the Land Stewardship
Project site and you can call Mark Schultz at (612) 722-6377.  This is
the nonprofit organization that worked so hard to have this legislation
authorized in the first place.  Western SAWG is submitting a full
comment which is being written now.  To have supporting emails from many
organic farmers would help. It's a long shot, but hopefully, some small
farms can get the benefit.

Best,

Merla

Thanks to Bob and Roger

[Merla Barberie]

As soon as a sent my last post I realized I had left out Bob and Roger,
and probably other people too.  It's hard to thank everybody when so
many people have given of their experience.

Best,

Merla

Re: Organizing the Work on the Weed Project

[Merla Barberie]

To Tony, Gil, Steve D., Frank, Lloyd & Allan (from past posts) and others,

Thank you for all your help with conceptualizing for our road IPM project.  I'm
going to call Brad, the Weed Supervisor, today and have a talk about this
year's work.  The help you have given me is invaluable.  I have gathered all
the posts on my word processor and will print them out to have them together.

Best,

Merla



Rambler Flowers LTD wrote:

> > Tony -
> >
> > Nice integration of BD preps with a mulching technique
> > to achieve vegetation control, worm action, soil biology
> > and a clean bed to transplant into.   also getting the
> > muck and magic benefits of the BD preps all at the
> > same time.
> >
> > Steve Diver
>
> Thanks Steve the worm activity is amazing.
> I have been thinking of developing this further as i have a particularly
> dirty block that i want to plant into  in about 18 months.
>  After a soil test I am going to sheet compost with grasses, sawdust, lime ,
> animal manure , Steve Storchs sequential spray programme using Glens
> Potentised preps and what ever organic fertilisers i need to balance the
> soil according to Albrecht and Reams ie 60-70% Calcium, 12%Magesium 3-5%
> Potash, 1-2% sodium  aiming to achieve a CEC level of 25%  and a pH of
> between 6-7,  and then cover with weed mat until worms have done their
> magic.I will follow with a quick green crop and repeat  as above missing out
> the soil test this will take 12 months  to next autumn. Before it becomes
> too wet final raised beds will be set up . Aftera further check of nutrient
> levels, the beds will be mulched with  compost and covered with weed mat,
> every 6-8 weeks weed mat will be removed for 10 days to encourage weed seed
> germination weed mat is then replaced until spring planting
> I will also be monitering brix  pH and erg levels  and making any
> adjustments as i see fit.
> The aim is have well balanced soil that is pest, disease and weed free for a
> crop of gentians that will be planted for 5-6 years.
> Thanks Steve for your inspirational reply it triggered off the above idea
> siutable for intensive cropping . The area covered will be 50 by 7 metres
> and will be planted with 2000 plants. I will also do a similar area next
> door with out the weed mat to compare results .

Re: Violets as Soil Indicators

[Merla Barberie]

I was walking in our garden yesterday.  It was 42ºF outside and sunny.
Two of the fall lettuce beds under row cover were uncovered (of the
snow) and the lettuce was all alive.  We had a mild winter.  I walked
through the snow to the other side of the garden which is much colder,
but the west side of the beds just at the bottom of the mounds was
uncovered and there was a blooming Johnny Jump-Up.  We have Johnny
Jump-ups all over our garden because I don't have the heart to pull them
all out.  I like them.  The pH is ~7 there and I never see them outside
the garden where it is more acidic.

Jane Sherry wrote:

> Hello All,
> I was wondering if anyone could tell me what a preponderance of
> violets within what was once presumably lawn in my back yard? They
> have taken over. I didnít see mention of them in the Pfeiffer ìWeeds &
> What they Tellî. I did see a bit of wild strawberries mixed in so I
> was wondering if the violets indicate an overly acidic soil?
>
> Please donít advise me to get the soil tested, as I will do that as
> soon as the two feet of snow melts & I can get it to my Ag extension
> agents. Also, I eat the flowers & leaves, make tincture from them
> including the roots, dry the flowers & admire them! Anything yíall do
> with your violet odorata? Thanks for any insights.
>
> Jane Sherry

Re: Ramial Wood Chips, Paramagnetic Rock and Organizing the Work on the Weed Project

[Merla Barberie]

Steve, you're so nice to spend the time to do this.  I will ponder.  I
can't imagine finding enough ramial wood chips in this land of fir,
larch, pine, cedar & hemlock.  They cut the softwood and leave the
hardwood--birch, alder, cottonwood and others.  I just wanted to
establish the benefits of hardwood chips.

What I was looking at wood chips for was for a special area which is
parking for "The Falls,"  a place where you climb down stepping stones
from the road level to a very turbulent rapids-like falls that goes into
a pool.  People often stop there and look and also fish.  The edge of
the parking area is a rampant common tansy bed.  The Weed Supervisor has
made noises about having a dump truck load of cedar chips put there.
What I actually wanted to do was divide the area into at least two
parts--one cedar and one ramial wood chips and watch it long term for
growing something instead of tansy.  I thought that the cedar area
wouldn't grow anything at all and that the ramial chips would also kill
the tansy, but would encourage mycorrhizal fungi and eventually grow
local native forest plants, etc.  This comparison might be valuable.
I'm trying to teach the Weed Committee and our world here to think in
terms of a forest community--plants and soil biota rather than only in
terms of the "absence of 'noxious' weeds" mentality that leaves bare
disturbed soil that will be even more weedy.  We are going to do a weed
education project with 4-H with a cash prize for the group that hands in
the best weed herbarium. I'm trying to get them to have an alternate
project on the soil food web.

I probably wouldn't buy plant starts.  I like to grow starts myself and
I'm always transplanting 'weeds' from our garden to the road
right-of-way, a mile and a half down the hill from our place where they
have become a small native ornamental garden around a 'NO SPRAY' sign.
I have $923 left in the cost-share grant this year.  I have gathered
native grass seeds from our meadow and looked into buying some mixed
native grass seed which I would probably germinate in flats and plant
out, especially since Idaho fescue is a spotty, slow germinator.  Clover
is a great germinator and drought survivor.

In thinking about a county-wide, cost-effective IPM weed control
strategy, I'm thinking about the addition of clover, microorganisms,
micronutrients (on a gross scale--you can't test the soil every mile),
then a very thick stand of low growing grass that won't need mowing at
all and maybe sow some yarrow and Rocky Mountain penstemon seeds (They
came up wild on my private right-of-way patch when I pulled out the
knapweed over a long period of time.  Now I have a strong stand of
penstemon.)  Our original vision statement said "wildflowers," but this
is so hard that I'm willing to settle just for grass, but I still dream
of having wildflowers that come up all season.

We are testing 20% vinegar this year and had good luck with urea on
hawkweed.  In the fall we laid out a test plot in a thick solid knapweed
stand and hand dug up all the knapweed except the little rosettes and
sprayed Bruce Tainio's micronutrients from a soil test + his
microorganisms (very expensive) + his enzymes, then sowed clover seeds
in that.  It was late, but it was warmer a much longer time than usual
after that.  We had some snow, then rain.  I'm very interested in how
this looks this spring.  It should be very dramatic.  Our flame weeding
is done with our own weed torch which is just a metal tube with a
butterfly valve at the handle hooked to a propane tank in a back pack.
It set tansy back, but didn't kill it all.

Your DeWitt Sunbelt Weed Barrier sounds too expensive.  The newspaper
under the hardwood chips sounds excellent.  Steve, I'm not above digging
weeds in rainy weather.  We do have to get rid of the weeds.

This road and the whole area is glacial till.  We have wind blown laos
coming off western grain fields in eastern Washington.  This was a
forest next to an agricultural area.  There used to be a railroad in
here to take logs out, long, long ago.  There were only several
pioneering families living here with a short road.  Now it's an 8-mile
road that gets more primitive the farther in you go with 300 families.
At the beginning are four ranches, then a bridge over a river, a
wonderful store with laundromat and showers, followed by houses close to
and facing the road, then we have private roads off the feeder road and
people mostly living off road, but still some on the road. One old
family that owns a whole section of land on the road are pro-chemical
and they sprayed 2,4-D on their right-of-way, so we are truly IPM.  We
have three miles where the county ditched several years ago but didn't
reseed.  It's just sand with a few weeds starting.  It's mostly open to
the sun, but the couple of miles has forest right up to the road and is
shady--bare on one side and with various mixtures of moss, kinnickinnick
(bearberry), native grass mixed with tansy, knapweed, 

Re: Peace Seeds & cannibals

[Merla Barberie]

I'm wondering if anyone feeds their chickens bought chicken feed and if so
what.  I saw a beautiful flock of mixed breeds which I couldn't identify
when I was in Moscow, Idaho, staying at a farm which markets on the
Farmers Market and at the Coop.  They have to get their certified organic
feed from Canada through relatives there--They use 16% Layer Mash from In
Season Farms, 27831 Huntington Road, Aldergrove, B.C. V4X1B6, as well as
green stuff from kitchen and greenhouses.  They complained that their
rooster was too rough and they wanted to get another, but the hens were
plump and I couldn't see any holes in their feathers.  They looked great.
They get $3.00/dozen for their eggs.

I'm real interested in feeding regimes.  Also in the availability of
organic feed and its relative cost compared to conventional feed.

Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> ...
>
> Chickens: I needed to get a new start (my 5 hens are ancient), so
> Saturday was 'chicken day'. I bought a mixed flock, from 2 different
> sources. (4 each, Ameraucanas, Buff Orpingtons and Barred
> Rocks)...
>

Re: Other considertions on Flaming

[Merla Barberie]

Thanks for your thoughtful article from your experience.  It's helpful.
Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Here are some of my observations and other comments on flaming:
>
> The flame engineering pull behind flamers are finicky machines. The
> Suburban Propane dealer in Sonoma County has not sold a unit in 2
> years. I bought 3 of them (with my clients) 3 years ago and there no
> been many sales since. As the dealer in So. Co. said "you need to have
> someone who likes to tinker with propane equipment to make these work
> right." There are mechanical issues with their operation that need
> maintenance on a regular basis.
>
> I gave a flame weeding field day, 2000, at which there was no flame
> weeder present due to the company being unable to get the thing to
> work before the workshop! Sounds like not much has changed. However,
> there are units working in So. Co. and I assume that it can be
> done...with mechanical skills.
>
> With a good quality cover crop in the tractor row (middles) then
> reentry after rain is less likely to be damaging. We typically use one
> side (every other row) as the driving row, and have cultivated a wear
> resistant cover crop and residues to resist compaction.
>
> Light vehicles, ATV, are most often used for flaming. Tire pressure
> should be checked to aid non compaction concerns.
>
> In that the best, and only, time to flame weeds is when they are very
> small...and by the nature of flaming, there is no residues left. Not
> only has there been limited or little root foraging to create
> channels, little deposition of carbon from a small plant and lack of
> residues...this leaves the soil under the vines bare and lacking
> carbon.
>
> Hey, is flaming weeds paramount to ashing!? Naw, just kidding. ?
>
> Anything that removes the plant from under vines/trees reduces the
> health of the soil in that area. Persistent use of a flame weeder,
> herbicides or mechanical tillage results in poor soil structure and
> resultant soil compaction. I have investigated old vineyards that have
> never used a herbicide in which the soil under the vines is as hard or
> harder than the "tire tracks" in the tractor row. We dug pits and
> examined how deep the compaction was under the vines2-3 feet, with
> few fine roots, small pores spaces and poor structure. Earthworms were
> not present under the vines but were isolated in the "strip" of soil
> in between the vine row and the tire track area, that was not
> compacted.
>
> Loss of the plant(s) from under vines/trees also creates the loss of
> beneficial insect habitat, and the loss of a physical "bridge" which
> acts to enable beneficial insects to gain access to the vines/trees. A
> bare strip of soil under the vines discourages spiders, others to get
> over to the vine from the cover crops in the tractor row. Take some
> time and watch them...its clear that more insects access the vines if
> there is cover under them.
>
> Removal of plants from under vines/trees might be considered as a
> (occasional) part of a weed management rotation including cover crops.
> I see a tendency to think of the flame weeder as an ultimate
> toolwithout consideration of the plants role in soil health. Often
> times the "under the vine/tree" soil space can represent 33-75% of the
> total soil surface area. Having that much of the soil surface bare, on
> a consistent basis, results in soil compaction.
>
> I know...we need all the help we can get managing weeds. It is a day
> to day learning process. I just know where I have under the vine cover
> crops...I dont have weeds.
>
> How about a rotation over 3 years (with site specific timing) like
> this...also does not have to be the same in each row. We have some
> routines with every other row...some with every 3-4 row, that allows
> for more on site learning.
> Hoe plow
> Flame
> Vinegar
> Cover crop
> Mow under vines
> Mow centers and blow under vines
> Weed badger
> Hoe plow
>
> Bob
>
>
>

Sen. Craig's Answer

[Merla Barberie]

Subject:
 Message not deliverable
Date:
 Fri, 14 Feb 2003 16:02:16 -0500
   From:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Administrator)
 To:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]




The Honorable Larry Craig
U.S. Senate
United States of America

Dear Senator Craig,

Surely financial gain at the expense of integrity should not be an
option for a United States Senator and such a high-principled person
would never stoop to unfairness and unevenness of hand in trying to
administer the Organic Rule which was crafted with great consumer
support in this country.  Now large corporate agricultural businesses
want to jump on the bandwagon by faking accreditation WITH THE CONSENT
OF CONGRESS

I hope to hear that you protested this abuse of power by the U.S.
Congress.  Don't you think it undermines the reputation of the
Congress?  I would expect this kind of action from a totalitarian regime

such as Iraq or North Korea, not here in the United States of America.

Best wishes,

Merla Barberie
Certified Organic Grower
1251 Rolling Thunder Ridge
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864

Letter to Senator Larry Craig re the Organic Rule

[Merla Barberie]

Following is a letter that I sent to my U.S. Senator, Larry Craig.  Do
you think it's disrespectful?  I tried not to be.  I am so mad.
I'll let you know what his response it.  He usually responds.

Best,

Merla

The Honorable Larry Craig
U.S. Senate
United States of America

Dear Senator Craig,

Surely financial gain at the expense of integrity should not be an
option for a United States Senator and such a high-principled person
would never stoop to unfairness and unevenness of hand in trying to
administer the Organic Rule which was crafted with great consumer
support in this country.  Now large corporate agricultural businesses
want to jump on the bandwagon by faking accreditation WITH THE CONSENT
OF CONGRESS

I hope to hear that you protested this abuse of power by the U.S.
Congress.  Don't you think it undermines the reputation of the
Congress?  I would expect this kind of action from a totalitarian regime
such as Iraq or North Korea, not here in the United States of America.

Best wishes,

Merla Barberie
Certified Organic Grower
1251 Rolling Thunder Ridge
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864

Re: Weakening of Organic Standard Is Considered

[Merla Barberie]

Please express your opinion about the importance of maintaining the integrity
of the Organic Rule to:
Richard Mathews
USDA-AMS-TMP-NOP
Room 4008-5
14th and Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 2022250-0020
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]
and to your U.S. Senators and Congressmen who allowed this travesty
to pass.  We need to blast them about their corruption.
I suppose you should be more polite than I will be.  I think the
important thing is an immediate and widespread outcry.
Best,
Merla
Richard Kalin wrote:

 









February 14, 2003


Weakening of Organic Standard Is Considered
By MARIAN
BURROS










uried
within the $397 billion spending bill passed last night by Congress is
a provision that would permit livestock producers to certify and label
meat as "organic" even if the animals had been fed partly or entirely on
conventional rather than organic grain.
Under the provision, if the Agriculture Department certifies that organic
feed is commercially available only at more than twice the price of conventional
feed, then the department cannot enforce regulations requiring that livestock
labeled organically raised be fed only organic feed. 
"This is an example of someone doing an end run to manipulate the government
with disregard for the public's wishes," said Katherine DiMatteo, executive
director of the Organic Trade Association, which represents the organic
industry.
The provision was added to the omnibus spending bill behind closed doors
on Wednesday night with only Republicans present. It was included on behalf
of a Baldwin, Ga., poultry producer, the Fieldale Farms Corporation, which
has been trying since last summer to get an exemption that would allow
it to feed its chickens a mix of conventional and organic feed. The company
says there is not enough organic feed available. 
Congressional officials on both sides of the aisle say Speaker J. Dennis
Hastert added the last-minute provisions at the request of Representative
Nathan Deal, Republican of Georgia.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors campaign
contributions, Mr. Deal received $4,000 from employees of Fieldale, which
is in his district, during his last campaign. Calls to the offices of Mr.
Deal were not returned.
When Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who wrote the organic
standards program, learned of the last-minute addition to the spending
bill he sent a letter to his colleagues urging them to defeat the provisions.
Both he and Representative Sam Farr, Democrat of California, plan to introduce
legislation to strike the provisions from the bill.
"This whole thing is absolutely outrageous," Mr. Leahy said. "After
years and years and years of work, to have someone sneak it in in the dark
of night and wipe it out makes no sense. It's a poke in the eye of a lot
of very hard-working organic farmers."
Ed Nicholson, a spokesman for Tyson
Foods, which is test marketing organic chickens, said: "We opposed
adding this language to the omnibus spending bill. We think it is important
to meet the organic requirements because otherwise it will compromise the
integrity of the organic standards."
The organic rules, which took effect in October, are an attempt to standardize
a hodgepodge of regulations for an $11 billion industry that has been growing
at the rate of 20 percent a year for a decade.
The 2002 Farm Bill directed the agriculture secretary to assess the
availability of organically produced feed for livestock and poultry. The
report has not been released, but information from Organic Trade Association
members indicates that organic feed is commercially available at prices
lower than those in the language of the exemption.
"I think this jeopardizes the whole organic industry in the United States,"
Mr. Farr said of the provision before Congress.

Copyright
2003 The New York Times Company
| Privacy
Policy

Ramial Wood Chips & a Steam Weeder

[Merla Barberie]

If you think of wood chip mulch on trees and vines,
combined with steam for the emerging weeds, which
ultimately "poke through" the mulch, you have
a very powerful combination.
You get the moisture conserving and weed-controlling
mulch benefits, you provide the food and shelter benefits
for soil biota, you get the fungal foodweb benefits, you get
the humic benefits relative to Ramial Chipped Wood -- the
Bois Raméal Fragmenté, and you get the no-till benefits.
Steve,
Now you've described an awesome weed control method for our road. 
I just need to put an ad in the paper for 2 1/2 and under diameter birch,
cottonwood, choke cherry, and other deciduous tree limbs, a chipper and
buy a WV or Swiss flame weeder on our grant and I'll have a great test
plot.  Thanks, too, from me for the links and to Robin at Laval University
for her original post long ago.
Merla
 
 

Compost Tea use with veggies on the Farmers' Market

[Merla Barberie]

We had really nice fall broccoli in our garden with the use of compost
tea made from our BD compost, both in 5 gallon buckets for a couple of
weeks without aeration with an aquarium aerator for 24 hours and a tsp.
of molasses added.  It's especially valuable to us because since we only
get 1/2 gal/minute water from our deep well and the water table goes
down so much in August-September.

Also, in our neighborhood IPM weed control project on the county road as
we get the common tansy, spotted knapweed, hawkweed and thistle gone, we
hoped to use mycorrhizae-rich compost tea in our 40-gallon buckets with
our spray rig to encourage the growth of native grasses and broadleaf
plants and discourage the the weeds.  I am curious to try the addition
of humus and kelp to our compost tea, as well as BC and 500 and am
contemplating the purchase of a compost tea making unit with a compost
well, and a stronger aerating unit to go in our barrels.

Just now, I called the Environmental Specialist at our Health District
to ask him about e.coli 0157.  I told him that the people who make the
organic rule are concerned about this and where could I have my compost
tested?  I also asked him how many cases of icily 0157 he sees and in
what.  He said they are sporadic and mostly in meat.

I've been certified organic ever since the state started having a
certification program.  Can I sell veggies and herbs under my organic
certification on the Market in 2003 if I spray compost tea in August and
September to keep my plants alive?

Re: BD and steam

[Merla Barberie]

Roger, I have looked into this on the net and only found very large
equipment.  If you find small units for individuals to use, I would be
interested in hearing about them.  Aren't they on a par with flame weeding?
Merla

Roger Pye wrote:

> Ross McDonald wrote:
>
> > As a new convert to to the BD practice can anyone advise if steam is
> > used and method of application in managing weeds in the vineyard. We
> > are primarily using a modified cutoff plough and then reforming the
> > soil beneath the vines - I dont like doing this as the soil is turned
> > over too often and the feeder roots of the vines must suffer. we are
> > also using mulch under the vines but the noxious weeds are still about.
> >
> > any comments? Ross McDonald
> >
> Leichardt Council in Sydney use steam in controlling roadside weeds. 18
> months ago the contractor offered to send a tanker and prime mover up to
> Goulburn to a project I was working on to give a demo but nothing came
> of it. I can find out some contact details if you like. Whereabouts are
> you, Ross?
>
> If you are using a hay-type mulch 50-75mm thick that should cut the
> weeds down a bit. What sort of weeds have you got?
>
> roger
>
> --
>
> %%
>
> May I have given you seeds,
>
> that you can turn into roots,
>
> that will bear fruit in the future. (Rudolf Steiner)
>
> %%
>
> Reiki Healer, Earth Healing, Natural Energy Divination
>
> Earthcare Environmental Solutions
>
> PO Box 2057 Queanbeyan NSW 2620 Australia
>
> Ph: +61 2 6255 3824
>
> Fax: +61 2 6255 1028
>
> Mob: +61 410 469 541
>
> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: Crystaline Structure in Water

[Merla Barberie]

A long time ago, I went to a talk given by a white man who was the designated 
spokesman for the Hopis to the outside world who spoke about growing Hopi blue corn.  
They taught him to sing to his corn every morning.  They plant corn very deep in 
alluvial intermittent creek bottoms in Arizona.

This man and his Hopi teacher traveled to Africa to help some people south of the 
Sahara learn to grow corn in the desert and they were successful.  He showed slides 
and passed a photo album around.

I don't remember his name.

Best,

Merla





Eric Myren wrote:

> Has anyone on the list every done work on the effects of music on plants or water or 
>the water in plants? I know this may not exactly be Steiner inspired but it has 
>peaked my interest because I was just sent a link by my mother-in law that has some 
>absolutely awe inspiring photos of water that have been exposed to various types of 
>music and other forms of stimulus. By showing the affect on the crystallization 
>structure of the water, it clearly demonstrates the effects of intension on physical 
>matter.
>
> ://www.adhikara.com/water.html
> again this site has photographs
>
> p.s. Is any one in dryer areas of the planet using flow forms to enliven the water 
>that they do have?

Re: CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus & kelp

[Merla Barberie]

lds and gardens.
>
> After all, one should not exceed the amount of manure that would naturally
> be applied in a 'wild' pasture, eh? ;-)
>
> But, farmers and gardeners the world around have found that yes indeed
> composted manure makes a fine amendment for growing vegetables and other
> crops, and so here we all are.
>
> In other words, I no more accept Allan's reported version of Bess and
> Brinton's position (assuming it is correct) than I accept Dr Ingham's a
> priori criticism of mustard seed meal as a seed treatment for corn over on
> SANET as correct. Finally you have to dive in and find out, and the job of
> collecting microbial data on any kind of a large scale necessary for
> comparative purposes is daunting, not to mention expensive.
>
> I will say this, though. Unlike Elaine Ingham who at least has the courage
> to defend her views in public forums such as SANET and the Compost Tea list,
> I have never seen Brinton or Bess do so, nor present a coherent argument or
> data in support of their critique where anyone could see it and evaluate it.
> I notice Allan also does not have the guts to flat out say in a forum that
> Elaine monitors, that he now believes Brinton and not her ('egg on my face'
> and like that). That's his choice and theirs, but it doesn't really help us
> understand the details of all this much.
>
> What would be useful is if we could hear specific cases where teas succeeded
> and failed, followed up by microbial analysis of these successes and
> failures. The problem there is that to interpret microbial analyses you need
> a microbial shaman of some sort---competing shamans include Elaine Ingham,
> Will Brinton and Vicki Bess...
>
> So I guess it may be all about industry after all...
>
> I will disclose that I bartered some of my worms to Laura Sabourin in
> exchange for a meal and lodging for a night for myself and my son, so my
> worm mogul industry connections are revealed, and I also had a friend in the
> states send some worms to Allan...but he never tells me how they are doing,
> which may explain my special pique with him...;-)
>
> Basically Merla, my advice is to go slowly, make sure what you are doing is
> safe and well founded, and look for the reasons underlying different
> opinions being offered to you. If at all possible look for data that has
> been published somewhere when seeking to choose between conflicting
> opinions. And, when in doubt, try it out, and see what works best for you.
>
> 'The way of the old masters, was to find their own way'.
>
> Frank Teuton
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Merla Barberie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "BD Now" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 4:46 PM
> Subject: CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus & kelp
>
> > Experienced BD folks,
> >
> > This is my year for my own BC & 500 AND for 24 hr aerobic compost tea.
> > Exactly in what proportion do you combine them?  Do you stir the 500 and
> > then put in in the CT for 24 hrs?  Do you put it on separately in the
> > ritual way?  Allan's post questioned whether CT is needed if you're
> > using BC.  I'm confused.  The latest posts make me wonder for an instant
> > whether buying a Bitty-O-Later would  be a good idea or not.
> >
> > Also a post from Ms. Berkley, possibly on the regulation committee on
> > the NOSB standards in the Compost Tea list/serve files states that CT is
> > considered raw manure.  I thought that was not being enforced  this
> > year.  Am I asking this on the wrong list/serve or can someone answer?
> > I don't want to have my OG certification denied.
> >
> > So much potential--so much confusion!
> >
> > Merla
> >
> >

Who's Watching the USDA's Organic "Henhouse"?

[Merla Barberie]

Today I got the latest copy of the Organic Farming Research Foundation's
Information Bulletin.  Looks like Allan's appraisal of the value of
Organic Certification could become a reality if we all don't comment to
Mr. Mathews (at the bottom of this email) just like we did on the
Organic Rule.

I don't have a scanner.  I retyped this article so all who don't get
this journal could read this.  There's another article, but I'll do that
one another day.

Best,

Merla

February, 2003
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Information Bulletin Winter 2003 Number 12

Who’s Watching the USDA’s Organic "Henhouse"?
By Joe Mendelson, Legal Director, Center for Food Safety

On October 21st USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announced the final rollout
of the country’s first national organic food standards and the
marketplace appearance of the new green and white label identifying
foods as "USDA Organic."  The label represents the culmination of a
decades-long struggle by organic farmers, environmentalists and
consumers to create a viable alternative to our industrial agricultural
system.  The implementation of the organic standards represents a
critical moment for the future of organic food and farming.

With the National Organic Program in place, however, top USDA officials
clearly have focused on other issues.  In a recent speech, Secretary
Veneman seemed more intent on supplanting organic agriculture with
genetic engineering as the agency wrestles with a vision of "sustainable
agriculture."  This apparent administrative apathy toward the role of a
successful organic program has created an NOP that exists as an insular
bureaucracy, failing to ensure continued public involvement and
oversight in the evolution of the program.  The result is that decision
making and policy discussions on critical issues have happened with
little, if any, public notification or involvement.

Since the October launch the impacts of USDA’s decision-making have
become increasingly real.  In particular, consumer and environmental
advocates have raised questions about whether the NOP is properly
performing its role as accreditor of organic certifying organizations.
Fueling concern is the appearance of numerous new, previously unknown
certifying agents applying for accreditation into the USDA program.

During development of the final standards in 2000, the USDA identified
49 existing organic certifying agents, including 13 state programs.  In
anticipation of its role as accreditor, the USDA predicted no
significant growth in the number of certifying agents seeking
accreditation by the new USDA-run program.  Contrary to such
projections, the number of applicants has far surpassed this number to
now total 122.  This large number of accreditation applicants presents
important questions about whether an apparently disinterested agency is
able to properly process and oversee the large volume of prospective
organic certifiers for adherence to organic standards.

The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) clearly anticipated the
potential for bureaucratic compromise during the accreditation process,
specifically by calling for an accreditation Peer Review Panel as a
public oversight mechanism to ensure that accreditation procedures are
followed.  The panel is critical to consumer confidence in the integrity
of the organic label. AFTER ALL, THE ORGANIC FOOD LABEL IS ONLY AS GOOD
AS THE CERTIFYING AGENTS ENFORCING THE STANDARDS (my capitals).

While a February 2002 website posting by the NOP acknowledges this
requirement, unfortunately, USDA has yet to establish the mandatory Peer
Review Panel, despite having already accredited more than seventy
organic certifiers, including a significant number of new certifying
agents.  This flaunting of the law has already shaken confidence in the
process.  Last spring, one company, Fieldale Farms, attempted to
pressure the NOP into relaxing the 100% organic feed requirement for
organic chicken production.  While the agency did not accede to this
demand, the NOP did accredit Fieldale’s organic certifying agent,
Georgia Crop Improvement Association.  This raises questions as to how
thoroughly USDA scrutinized this certifierís application and whether the
processes of accreditation review and decision making are rigorous
enough to prevent acceptance of new certifying agents intent on
manipulating or weakening the organic standards.

Unfortunately, attempts by consumer and environmental organizations to
analyze the USDA’s performance in overseeing the first round of
accrediting organic certifiers have been met with stiff government
resistance.  Several months ago, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sought
public release of all the documents used by USDA in making accreditation
decisions.  Absent the Peer Review Panel, the documents are the only way
the public can determine whether the integrity of organic standards will
be preserved by certifiers.  To date, CFS’s Freedom of Information act
request seeking the documents has been rebuffe

Farm Bill money available for conservation

[Merla Barberie]

One thing I learned at the Western SAWG meeting was that they worked
their little tails off to get the Conservation money in the Farm Bill.
It was passed by the Democratically controlled Congress.  Now the
Republican Congress is trying not to fund it.  There is a comment period
now which everyone could respond to, whether or not they qualify for the
program, so that the program will remain open for those souls who DO
qualify.  "Comments on the advanced notice will be taken into
consideration as USDA prepares the final version of the Proposed Rule
for CSP."

This is being sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS)  There are a number of programs--Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP), ,  the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP),
Forestry Incentives Program (FIP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the
Conservation Security Program (CSP) (The law makes CSP an entitlement
program with no specific budget cap--all who are eligible and develop
and implement approved conservation plans may receive CSP payments.
Check with the Land Stewardship Project
)

There's a Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grants
program and a Direct Marketing program.  Check 

I have 4 inches of paper on this and it's quite hard to understand.  We
were told that they were trying to nullify CSP by not funding technical
aid, but that we should get as many people as possible to inquire about
it to keep it open.

Hope this helps.  I do not have any particular insight on this myself.
You're going to have to do your own research.

Best,

Merla

Compost Tea Maker wasRe: CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus & kelp

[Merla Barberie]

It's a new model of small compost tea maker by Bob Norsen from Alaska.
He doesn't have a web site, but his large model 30-500 gallons is
recommended by The Soil Food Web  and the results of
their testing is under "Bob's Brews" on their Compost Tea list/serve page
on , but you have to be a member and have Excel to
see them under "Files" on their page.  The Bitti-O-Later can make from
3-30 gallons and will have its testing results for microorganisms in the
file sometime in the future.  It costs $165 and if we decide to get one,
I'll try to get it on our road grant.

I'm interested in this one because we have a solar electric system and
run on DC power with a Trace inverter.  The 24 hr. compost tea requires
constant power and our system can't spare very much for that long a
time.  This maker is within our system capabilities.  I'm still
researching all aspects of this and that's why I'm questioning Allan
about his conclusions after the BD Viticulture Conference.



Teresa Seed wrote:

> >So much potential--so much confusion!
> >
> >Merla
>
> Amen to all that, Merla!
>
> But what is a Bitty-O-Later please?
>
> Teresa
>
> _
> Chat online in real time with MSN Messenger http://messenger.msn.co.uk

Re: CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus & kelp

[Merla Barberie]

first off, Merla - Are you really applying for organic certification

I've been certified organic for as many years as Idaho has had an organic
certification process.  Anyone on the market here who was serious, joined
at the beginning.  Just remember how conservative this state is even
compared with Virginia.  This is the boonies. Even to be certified organic
with the state is controversial.  This is a way to announce yourself as a
serious farmer and not just a hippie gardener.  I am way off in left field
because I am BD.  Most organic people really don't understand the
importance of the soil food web.  They just don't use herbicide and
chemical fertilizer.  They use soil amendments still in the same paradigm
as conventional ag.

This past year I kept my certification even though I wasn't making as much
money as the minimum limit.  It was purely optional for me and my
motivation was to have more clout on the county weed committee.  I will
admit that it's hard to get off the program when you have so much paper
behind you because certification carries status on the Farmers Market.
Without having my certified organic sign, I could be conventional for all
the public knows.  There's all kinds of communications and meetings that
are for certified people that I like to attend.

My BD work on our own land is separate from the work on the road.  I didn't
want it to be that way, but Randy, my nemesis, made that necessary when he
reported Pfeiffer Field Spray to the state.  I can never admit to using BD
on the grant, but I can to using CT.  Alaska humus is OMRI certified,
probably not registered in Idaho, but when I don't write up BD preps on my
report when I use them, it is only to protect JPI from any problem.  Nobody
here knows anything about microorganisms and how the nematodes feed off the
bacteria and excrete ammonium. They don't know there are two categories of
nematodes besides the root-feeding ones. Realistically, who cares what kind
of nematodes are on the road right-of-way?  You aren't raising crops
there.  That was just a way for Randy to defend his  conventional
paradigm.  The concept of working through the microorganisms in the soil is
what we need to educate the Commissioners, the county department heads, the
local conventional farmers as well as the organic farmers who would be
reinforced by understanding the soil food web better, so that we can get
the whole county off the herbicide treadmill and into a wholistic land use
ethic that has preserving soil, water, air, wildlife and little human
children's immune systems as one of its purposes.  I'll never be able to
share RS's vision of the universe with the dominant religious culture here,
but they can be organic and some of these churches already are vegetarian.
Is the statement, "We are all related." relevant here?

We're back to the basic split in BD between the Anthroposophists who have
spent their lives following RS's writings strictly and those who feel that
if RS were alive, he would want us to innovate and expand the process and
share it with the world.  I know that I need to read Esoteric Science and
the many other books and that I am not educated enough in RS.  I'm coming
from where I'm coming from.

Should I make separate CT plots and BD plots, just spray the whole road
with BC, 500 and all the weed peppers surreptitiously or should I put it
all together and not mention the fact that there are BD preps in there?
I've given up only trying to prove that peppering will work on the road
right-of-way as a method of weed control.  Now I'm simply trying to get
everyone to think about weed control wholistically and I'm trying every
strategy I can find until I find what works here including peppering.  Urea
and 20% vinegar probably injure the food web too much.  Do I drop those
methods or use them and repopulate with microorganisms?  How long does it
take to dissipate?  This is road right-of-way, not a veggie bed.

I am dealing with a forest paradigm not an agricultural paradigm.  The road
right-of-way was a forest before they scraped all the topsoil off.  Our
farm was a wild meadow and a forest before we started gardening here with
BD preps in 1986 or 7.  I don't know what microorganisms are in BD
compost.  If I made compost preps here, they would probably have
mycorrhizal fungi in them.  If they are made on a farm on the East Coast,
how much fungi and what fungi are in there?  Elaine is from the West Coast
and stresses that we put forest littler or some other soil amendment that
grows fungi in our compost.  What's the difference?   I need to learn to
make my own compost preps.

Please anyone give me your take on this.

Allan, you've met both Elaine and Will and Vicki now.  You seem to be
impressed with what Will and Vicki had to say.  I have not heard them speak
or talked to them.  I'll see if I can figure out how to activate the audio
software on my computer.  Can I "install the latest real one thang" and be
able to hear your tape?  Are Will an

CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus & kelp

[Merla Barberie]

Experienced BD folks,

This is my year for my own BC & 500 AND for 24 hr aerobic compost tea.
Exactly in what proportion do you combine them?  Do you stir the 500 and
then put in in the CT for 24 hrs?  Do you put it on separately in the
ritual way?  Allan's post questioned whether CT is needed if you're
using BC.  I'm confused.  The latest posts make me wonder for an instant
whether buying a Bitty-O-Later would  be a good idea or not.

Also a post from Ms. Berkley, possibly on the regulation committee on
the NOSB standards in the Compost Tea list/serve files states that CT is
considered raw manure.  I thought that was not being enforced  this
year.  Am I asking this on the wrong list/serve or can someone answer?
I don't want to have my OG certification denied.

So much potential--so much confusion!

Merla

Thanks

[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: not cabin fever!

[Merla Barberie]

Funny how things happen unexpectedly that change your life.  Just move on
fast and get another job if you need it or launch an interest of your own.
I recommend a book, The Energy of Money, to get you pointed in the right
direction.  I've lent the book and don't have the author's name.  She's a
therapist and has you write out your goals and values, etc, before she
actually gets to the money part.  Then to my surprise when I got there, she
said the first things you have to do are forgive everyone in your life who
has hurt you and finish up all the unfinished things in your life and
balance your checkbook to the penny.  I'm still trying to clean and order
our cabin--my bete noir--before I start doing clay again.  I wish I could
figure out a routine for clearing my Inbox too.  I want to save too much
and it's hard for me to delete things.  It takes too much time to organize
things and I just want to go on creating without organizing

Best wishes,

Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I don't know what it is. But it's everywhere. I was fired from my job
> yesterday and for no really good reason. Granted, I was 'iffy' about
> working in a deli - smokehouse. Wondering what all those nitrites,
> high sodium foodstuffs, heavily preserved meats, etc., were doing
> to myself just handling them, working around them. (Up to my
> elbows in buffalo jerky for hours at a time.) So, I may not have
> stayed very long anyhow.
> But to be fired because one boss sent me up to the office to fill out
> (another) W4 form, and her husband (owner of the place) came
> down hopping mad because he had someone with him. said I made
> him look like a fool. I told him he didn't need my help for that and
> he said 'you have a bit of an attitude'. (No, I didn't but I was getting
> one as I watched him hop up and down in front of me.) So I
> admitted it and he said 'hit the clock, you're fired'.
> Now it's funny, but at the time I was stunned.
>
> Anyhow, seems like everyone is on a hair trigger these days. And
> it's odd but the angrier everyone gets around me, the calmer it
> makes me. Don't know why but I guess I see how ridiculous it all is
> and maybe that's saving my sanity.

Re: NYT Article/Homemade Compost tea Machine

[Merla Barberie]

Thanks, Perry, but I don't have Excel.  My "Microsoft Word 98" software
for my MAC was a gift from a friend and he did not give me the whole
office array.  I probably don't know how to understand a biological
assay anyway.  What you've already told me is enough to start on.  Lloyd
has told me a lot of stuff too.  Until you've actually tried some of
these ingredients, you can't know what will work for you.

I did already find the article that you cited on making a 5 gallon
brewer and, in fact, reprinted and offered it in our "Why Organic?"
booth at the county fair along with a demonstration model.  We used it
for the garden last summer with only BD compost and molasses.  I have no
where to go but up.

What I am trying to do is build a 40-50 gallon size CT maker for use
with the garden and the road.  The western US is expecting increased
drought conditions and we only have 1/2 gal/min water and run out in
August and September.  I am hoping to rectify this with CT applications
so we won't have to abandon certain crops this year.  Last year we
abandoned the keeper onions and the Brussels sprouts were not very
large.  We had a good fall planting of broccoli that we used CT on that
was awesome.  We're getting the hang of it.

Herb was an aluminum designer in industry and designed window washing
equipment for skyscrapers. He has 3-dimensional visualization and is
dyslexic.  He also is good with Rube Goldberg water configurations.  I
can never figure out the garden watering connections they're so
complicated.  He also makes hydraulic rams.  He works intuitively and
has trouble collaborating.  I am on Elaine's CT list/serve and have a
personal archive of all posts which I have read once.  It's hard to
grasp everything before you actually start using it and it's so garbled
in little separate emails.  I'm trying to reorganize all the relevant
posts for him to read.  He's really tied into his own projects, doesn't
want to be bothered, but I don't give up. We have looked at a lot of
pictures in the CT list files and I saw Jerry Brunetti's model at the
Mid-Atlantic Conference.  Herb can't understand that a lot of people
have been working for years designing CT makers and that they have
already established perameters.  He finally realized that the bottom
needed to be rounded so that anaerobic bacteria couldn't form in the
cracks.  I don't know what we will finally come up with or when.  I try
not to expect too much. I tend to be a perfectionist and a small
pocketbook.  My grant money can't be used for anything that is actually
useful to me because everything has to be O.Kd by the Weed Supervisor
and he feels it has to be something that makes sense to the
conventional-thinking people in the county and state bureaucracy to
cover his ass (pardon me).  It would be political suicide for me to buy
something to make a specialized piece of equipment that would be useful
for years both to the road and to our farm.  Am I bitter?  Yes.  But
they will probably have to come around if I keep plugging.

Best wishes,

Merla

Perry Clutts wrote:

> Hi Merla, Check out this
> site.http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htmIt
> 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. If you
> use a larger container, I would suggest there be enough air to keep
> the compost moving around the container. Last year, for ingredients, I
> used compost, 500, 508, BC, molasses, and cooked whole grains (wheat).
> Remember, when designing a feeding program for the tea, less food can
> make better tea... so you only need to use very small amounts. I've
> got a copy of a biological assay from last summer I can send you if
> you like (do you have MS Excel on your computer?). There are some
> machines that cost under 100 $US, but the 5 gal system is around
> 25$US. Perry
>
>   I'm trying to get him to help me make a homemade compost
>  tea machine and he thinks he already knows everything
>  about it without listening to me.  I love him! Best,
>  Merla
>

NYT Article

[Merla Barberie]

I've lost Sharon Carson and now Jane Sherry, two really fine women on
our list.  Now, we'll all be flexible, shut up from our inanities and
lurk while you get your chance to be brilliant.

Women also can develop a deep interest in a subject and follow it.
Often when we do not have the scientific or math background or the same
learning style as the males, we are made to feel inferior when we try to
lead. After spending much time developing our material, we find the man
we want most to share with can't listen and thinks that he has the right
to lead just because of his male cultural background even if he hasn't
done one whit of research in that area of interest, and WE NEED HIM
because he is a man and can understand and do things we can't do.

We're really getting into it here.  Both Jane and I have an interest
that is not technical.  In fact, we are both neophytes who don't have
the temperament to be lurkers in the cutting edge field of BD, and are
trying to contribute something worthwhile.  Will, I can't afford to
subscribe to magazines or buy books.  I'm starved for intellectual input
on subjects I'm interested in. My girlfriends and my husband don't share
my interest in farming and BD.  Believe it or not, I'm the Lone Ranger
here.  Barbara and Woody are far away.  The news media stink, even PBS.
I get most of my information off the net and found Jane's offerings as
good as WTO Watch list/serve, my main source of political information.
I don't always know what some of you are talking about, but I put
people's names and concept names in the search engine and learn.  It's
fascinating and quite a stretch sometimes.

Gentlemen all, even with all this, I wouldn't want to be without you.
My husband is reading 1421 by Gavin Menzies and I'm reading his stuff on
Von Daniken and Sitchen.  I'm trying to get him to help me make a
homemade compost tea machine and he thinks he already knows everything
about it without listening to me.  I love him!

Best,

Merla

Re: NYT Article

[Merla Barberie]

Jane, I would like to subscribe to your husband's service, but I fear getting
spam if I go on a list from NYC.  Right now, I get no spam at all.  Could you
give me the URL? Merla


Jane Sherry wrote:

> By the way, it's nice to know folks are reading some of this stuff, which
> mostly comes by way of my ex-journalist-husband-who-reads-everything's-
> mailing list. If you can't tell, he reads really fast!!!
>
> Blessings & may we all hold PEACE as strongly as ever in our hearts & minds,
> Jane
>
> > From: "Aurora Farm" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:09:11 -0700
> > To: "BDNOW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: NYT Article
> >
> > Just a thought, from an admirer of your quest
> > for news of note...

Re: Pesticide Residues: Organic vs. Conventional - The Latest

[Merla Barberie]

Hi folks,  Thought you'd all be interested...
Merla

This is the text of a speech delivered by Chuck Benbrook 
at the 2003 Eco-Farm Conference at Asilomar, CA, on Jan. 24.  
It contains a summary of research, some of which is very recent, on levels
of pesticide residues in foods and shows that exposure risks are reduced
significantly by choosing organic foods over conventionally produced foods.
 Dr. Benbrook will be
a featured speaker at the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Annual Meeting in Moscow, ID, Jan. 31 - Feb. 2. You may still register
to attend this meeting. A program outline of the meeting can be obtained
at .
A short bio of Dr. Benbrook is at the bottom of this message.
The version reproduced below is copied from a PDF file and the formatting
is distorted in transferring to the text of this message. The tables and
appendices are not reproduced here either. The complete original PDF file,
viewable using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, is available on the web at:

  
EcoFarm 2003 January 24, 2003
  
Why Food Safety Will Continue Driving
 
Growth in Demand for Organic Food

Charles M. Benbrook
__
_
1 Remarks prepared for delivery January 24, 2003 at the 2003 EcoFarm
Conference, Monterey, California. Contact Dr.
Benbrook at Benbrook Consulting Services, 5085 Upper Pack River Road,
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864.([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Imagine if Ford Motor Company designed an engine that could double gas
mileage with no loss in performance, or if General Electric discovered
a fully recyclable light bulb that lasts three times longer than those
on the market today. Would these companies tout these attributes in their
advertising campaigns? You bet they would.
Over the last two decades the organic community has had a love-hate
relationship with food safety issues in general, and pesticide risks in
particular. For the most part, the community has chosen to not prominently
feature food safety as a reason to “buy organic,” and instead has focused
messages targeting consumers on freshness and taste, and the environmental
and soil quality benefits of organic farming systems and technologies.
Anti-pesticide activists have not shown the restraint evident across
the organic food industry. They have embraced organic farming as the surest
way to reduce pesticide use and risks. The message is getting through.
A majority of consumers in virtually all surveys voice significant concerns
over pesticides in food.
In “The Packer’s” 2003 Fresh Trends survey, 63 percent of shoppers buying
organic food stated a preference for “fewer chemicals in food” and 51 percent
said organic food is “Better for me/my family.” The next most frequently
cited reason ­ “Better for the environment” ­ was identified by
37 percent of those surveyed.
For reasons beyond the control of the organic community, there is now
a raging food safety, food quality debate underway around the world. It
is focusing on the impacts of different farming systems and technologies
­ conventional farming versus biotech versus IPM versus organic. The
Stossel 20/20 episode and recent NOP rule-related PR from conventional
ag interests shows how low those threatened by the success of organic farming
will go in trying to shake consumer confidence in organic food. Hopefully
the organic community now realizes that the industry’s critics must not
be allowed to set the tone and drive the direction of this
very important debate.
Activists opposing genetic engineering (GE) around the world have been
criticized in the media as paranoid and anti-progress. Some have stumbled
when asked “…well, if GE is not the answer, how would you solve today’s
food production and food security challenges?” With increasing frequency,
activists point to organic
farming as the more desirable technological path. Proponents of biotech
have not been bashful in responding.
This debate is long over due, important, and ultimately, should be
constructive. There are profound differences between the principles
driving today’s GE applications in agriculture versus the principles
underlying organic farming. The sooner the public understands these
differences and decides which set of principles should shape their food
future, the sooner the country can progress toward more coherent national
food, farm, and technology policies. Today’s muddling serves no one well.
- - New Science Supports a Positive Food Safety Message - -

There is new information on both the exposure and
toxicity side of the pesticide risk assessment equation.  Much new
data on pesticide residues in food has emerged as a result of the passage
of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996.  This historic
bill directed the U.S. EPA to conduct a reassessment of all food uses of
pesticides, taking into account the heightened susceptibility of

Re: BD501 as a Weed Control

[Merla Barberie]

James and Roger,

Please post this in detail.  I would like to try pepper+501 here on our road
trials.  Thank you.

Merla

Roger Pye wrote:

> James Hedley wrote:
>
> >Roger may claim ownership of the Love grass technique but he cannot claim
> >ownership of my title of "the little wizard". Good evening to all.
> >Regards
> >James
> >
> Nor would I - there is only room for one 'little wizard of Oz' in this
> neck of the woods. As regards the rest of your message, and Lloyd's, I
> shall try to find the time to respond tomorrow. However, I would like it
> noted that until I talked to Barbara this morning, James, I had no
> knowledge of your previous work with 501 and thistles. I have tried to
> phone you several times tonight but it seems the lines are out between
> here and there.
>
> roger

Nielson proposes deal to Americans on GMOs

[Merla Barberie]

I couldn't resist posting this.  Nielson's deal is priceless.
"Later this month, the Commission will host a conference to discuss the
use
of biotechnology in developing countries."  This will be a very
important discussion.   Merla


EU's Nielson blasts US "lies" in GM food row
EU: January 22, 2003

BRUSSELS - The European Union's overseas aid chief accused the
United States this week of spreading lies about the EU's stance on
genetically modified (GM) food.

European Development Commissioner Paul Nielson said U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick lied when, earlier this month, he said
some
EU governments had threatened to withdraw aid from poor countries that
used biotechnology food products.

"This very negative lie has been circulated and repeated recently by
Robert Zoellick," Nielson said at a press briefing ahead of a visit to
 southern Africa later this month.

Washington is frustrated with the EU's four-year moratorium on new
biotech products, a policy U.S. farmers say costs them hundreds of
millions
of dollars in sales each year.

Only a handful of GM crops are allowed to be imported or grown in the EU

where there is widespread consumer concern about possible risks to
health or the environment.

Some African countries have been reluctant to accept GM food aid from
the United States, fearing grain could be used as seed and affect future

exports. EU officials have rejected U.S. demands that they allay the
African countries' fears.

On January 9, Zoellick called the European view "Luddite". He said he
found it immoral that Africans were not supplied with food because
people
had invented fears about biotechnology.

He also said he favoured bringing a World Trade Organisation case
against the EU for blocking imports of U.S. GM crops.

Nielson said Zoellick had gone too far.

"This is a strange discussion. Very strange," Nielson told reporters.
"We
are approaching a point where I would be tempted to say I would be
proposing a deal to the Americans which would create a more normal
situation.

"The deal would be this: if the Americans would stop lying about us, we
would stop telling the truth about them. This is a proposal for
normalising
the discussion."

It was time for a more civilised exchange of views, he said.

Nielson was one of six EU commissioners who wrote to the Wall Street
Journal last week, attacking a pro-Zoellick editorial and accusing U.S.
officials of peddling rumours.

A European Commission official said the EU executive had decided it was
time to go on the offensive.

"I'm not convinced the future lies in pursuing a slanging match but at
some
point we have to draw the line and put the record straight," the
official said.

Later this month, the Commission will host a conference to discuss the
use
of biotechnology in developing countries.

Re: What do we have to LOSE/GAIN Re: LURKING was Re: Personal Security / Insecurity

[Merla Barberie]

Jane, I have had it with your BD piety.  If you had half of
the wisdom you you think you have, you would see that
not everybody involved in social change is running
around as an activist waving signs and telling people
they should use preps and become enlightened.  Change
happens on may levels, and some are less plainly
obvious because they deal with change from the inside.

 An individual is what she or he is and it does come from the inside
whether the person is working outside or inside the political system.
Local cultures differ so much.  Someone from a large metropolitan area
is different from someone in a rural setting.  There's a young woman who
just moved here who is sponsoring a whole series of programs on
sustainability.  She is trying to educate people broadly on the concept
of sustainability, yet she spent a week in Puerto Rico at the island
where the U.S. tests their munitions and the people are so upset.  I bet
she has a good firsthand background in politics, yet she is very gentle
and always tries to be positive.  The spokesperson for the Green Party
is now a woman who is working very hard to be relevant in local
political issues--not necessarily environmental.  All approaches are
good.

As for piety--I don't see how a person can judge someone else's
spiritual depth.  There are mystics in every religion and there are
mythics to whom the myth is more important than spiritual guidance.
People who come from one or the other have trouble communicating even if
they are both Catholics, Quakers or whatever.  It's just that different
people have different focuses.

Allan is trying to find a way to serve us all.  This is a particularly
difficult time for many people.  I just put my own name in Goggle and
found my address and phone number on line from the Farmers Market page
on the Sandpoint website and from the state certified organic list.
Weird what was there and you're right, Allan, the particular things that
were there didn't necessarily characterize me as I would want to be
ideally characterized.  It was an odd smattering.

I put Christopher Shade in Goggle and found a picture of a young man
with unruly hair and a beard who has a degree in Ecology.  There was
also someone who ran a mediation, body guarding and occult business.
Are both persons you, Chris?

I put Jane Sherry in and got two very nice pieces of art work, b&w
pictures of women, probably illustrations for books.  I also got the
BDNow 2003 archive with all recent entries by everybody.

My husband is a wooden sailboat nut among predominantly fibreglass boats
on the lake.  He takes particular pride in someone else's small skiff
with spirit sails that beat all the other boats in a local race.  Some
people pride themselves on the latest, most expensive fibreglass boats
and others who have traditional homemade small boat rigs pride
themselves on sailing faster.

Allan, you just can't please everybody.

Best,

Merla


>

Dr. Doug Rokke

[Merla Barberie]

I received a tape of Dr. Doug Rokke speaking about his experiences in
the Gulf War.  It is unspeakably shocking.  I put his name and "depleted
uranium munitions" into Goggle and got a lot of confirming documents.
He says there are 1-2,000 of such munitions ready to be deployed in the
2003 Iraq War which will make Iraq lethally radioactive for eternity.
He said that 10,000 U.S. troops were dead and 221,000 on permanent
disability--from radiation, from the Gulf War in 1990-1, not to mention
non-combatants, and that the government would not acknowledge any of
this or give the 24 hr medical attention that is required in cases like
this to our own troops.  They used solid U-238 3/4"x18" tank shells that
exploded into spalling, the equivalent of burning BBs--that also
contained nuclear waste, Plutonium, Neptunium, from Padukah, KY,  Oak
Ridge, TN and Portsmuth OH.  Also in cruise missles, land mines, 3/4 lb
bombs dropped by Warthogs.  Read document "Los Alamos memorandum" which
was also on the net.

Ronnigers Potato Farm

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

Ronnigers (hard g not j) Farm is located in Boundary County, the
northernmost county in the Idaho Panhandle.  It's beautiful big place
with handmade log buildings.  Last year we went up there and found no
one around, but the store had a sign on it to come in and help ourselves
with a old chocolate tin to put the money in.  He had bins and bins of
potatoes.  His catalog says yellows, reds, red/reds, color-splashed,
best keepers, russets, red/gold, heat tolerant, white, blue/blue, rose,
blue/white and scab resistant.  He is certified organic.  Also sells
onions, garlic and cover crops in 50 lb bags and Halflinger horses that
are just beautiful.  His catalog gives growing instructions for southern
climates too.  The new catalog is free at .

Re: Greg Willis: Fwd: Fixing Steiner Agriculture #2 The Power Of Myth

[Merla Barberie]

All right, Greg and Steve and Hugh L. et al.,

How do you prepare horn clay?  What kind of clay do you use?  How to you
spray it?  Etc, etc, etc,!

Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> In a message dated 1/12/03 10:58:48 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> << JPI
>
> >refuse to recognize it or use it.  Astonishing! >>
>
> in reference to clay  that is wrong...sstorch

Re: GREG WILLIS: FWD Fixing Steiner Agriculture: a footnote

[Merla Barberie]

Steve, Do you spray with snow on the ground?  Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> In a message dated 1/12/03 10:57:17 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> << We are now entering the wintertime crystallization period which
> extends from January 15 to February 15.  Steiner discusses this on
> page 30.
>
> Neophytes and experienced Steinerites alike should know that Steiner,
> when giving a lecture, often referred to only one part of a vaster
> subject so as not to get sidetracked or confuse his audience.  So it
> is with the concept of crystallization.
>
> The crystallization period is that time when the cosmic forces work
> to keep the earth atoms in existence.  >>
>
> bla, bla, bla... Here on the Green Thumb Farm the spray season never ends.
> The Fall gets heavy applications of 500, bc, and equisetum and 501.  This is
> done as sequential sprays leading up to the Three King's Remedy, [6Jan].
> This is done over our 100 acres.  It is now mid Winter, and yes the
> crystallization forces are at their peak.  This week, during the mid Winter
> full moon, [which is waxing] we shall start a series of 500 sprays over the
> whole farm.  By the Spring the soil will be bursting with Mycorrhizal fungi,
> visible to the unaided eye.  The earthworms will be rarin' to go...spray on,
> SStorch

Re: Kirschenmann speech

[Merla Barberie]

Gentlemen:

What "What is Sound Science?" is about is not GMOs or even agriculture
specifically, but what is the nature of scientific inquiry.  It's refuting one
person calling another person's basic body of knowledge that he brings with him
and integrates new knowledge into--junk science.  It's a way of discrediting
another person's basic belief system and rationalizing your own refusal to have
a dialogue with that person.

The scientific community of Ph.Ds and M.Ds is very rigid.  Only one person gets
credit for a discovery and gets to name it.  Then that person has his whole
identity bound up into that discovery.  If someone, say his graduate student,
writes a paper that debunks the whole basis of his discovery, then do you think
that student will get a good grade on his paper or will get his own PhD under
that professor.  No.  He probably gets dropped.  Think about Velikovsky whose
writings refuted the bases of many disciplines.  He was not accepted at all by
them, yet now...guess what?

In the end, Dr. Kirschenmann knocks linear, reductionist observations,
proprietary information, technology for profit that ignores ecology and
cultures, the focus on killing a pest, not on understanding the complex
biological systems within which the pest emerges (focus on the county putting
Diquat Dibromide in the lake to kill Eurasian watermilfoil rather than on the
grandfathered home sewage systems that spew into the lake and the run-off from
fertilizing lawns that run down to the water's edge which feed the milfoil) as
bad science and he touts Polanyi's style of indwelling and Aldo Leopold's
statement on sustainability which he paraphrases as "Our task is not to 'save'
the environment, nor to preserve things as they are, (neither of which is
possible) but to engage the environment in ways that enhance its capacity for
renewal" as good science.  We all have our schtick.

I don't see that Kirschenman would object to peppering.  The man has a PhD and
was a teacher and he left all that and came to help his ailing Dad with their
farm. Markess, he turned a whole huge farm of hundreds of acres into a BD
farm.  He probably used peppering.  Then they asked him to be the head of the
Leopold Center.  He'd done his indwelling.  Now he's trying to communicate on
the PhD level about this subject which makes it harder to understand.  In a
nice way, he attacking the scientific basis of industrial agriculture.

Now read "The Future of Agrarianism."


My two cents,

Merla



Lloyd Charles wrote:

> - Original Message -
> From: Moen Creek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 2:21 PM
> Subject: Re: Kirschenmann speech
>
> > Loved ones,
> >
> > This IMHO is the most significant and concise writing I have read in ages.
> >
> > If I may suggest that this refutes, in it's opening 6 or so paragraphs,
> the
> > use of peppering to lay a plague on GM wheat & other aspects of the tecno
> > crap injected in our food. It tells us to put faith in the virility of
> life
> > and not fall for the mechanistic belief that because some jerks put chunks
> > of foreign DNA into a plant's genome that they (the plant) are going to
> hang
> > on to it long!
>
> Hi Markess
>Could you elaborate please, I've tried to read the first
> part of the speech posted by Barrly Lia three times and have completely
> missed it on each occasion - I'm not trying to be picky or smart - just can
> not make heads or tails of it in relation to your comment here.
>  On a different but similar tack - I am more optimistic than most
> about the capacity of nature (with a little help) to rid the system of the
> GMO - these are only super weeds to a conventional farmer trying to control
> them with chemical herbicides - without the herbicides (organic or BD
> farming) they are GENETICALLY INFERIOR plants - I grew canola conventionally
> up until 2000 and as the varieties progressed in search of higher yields and
> better oil percentage they became sucessively weaker and less robust under
> anything but ideal conditions - I never yet saw a canola plant with anything
> like the vigour and tenacity of a wild radish plant so again - take
> herbicides out of the system and it breaks down. Maybe what this is what you
> are talking about but I cant see it in the speech I read!  - Help - ?
> Cheers
> Lloyd Charles

Chaplin, GMO Wheat and Preservation of Special Places

[Merla Barberie]

We went to a booksale put on by Bonner General Hospital and bought a lot

of old books cheap.  One of these was My Autobiography, Charles
Chaplin.  It was a real moving story.  Among many other aspects of his
life, he was a British citizen who lived in America and who produced The

Great Dictator in the time of Hoover and McCarthy.  I checked Richard
Attenborough's film Chaplin, with Robert Downey, Jr. as Chaplin, out of
the library too and was very moved by it.  I have never seen The Great
Dictator.  It is a good time for people who have seen these videos to
see them again.  Chaplin went on vacation out of the country with his
wife Oona O'Neill Chaplin, and was barred from returning by the
government even though he had done nothing they could indict him for.
It was a sad era in American history.

The second thing I want to say is that Montana has been very brave in
facing up to the introduction of transgenic wheat into our food system.
Here is a post I received just now:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

To those following the transgenic wheat issues in the West, there are
four legislative bills being introduced in the Montana legislature this
session which just began its once every two-year session.

With Monsanto now formally applying for commercialization of
transgenic(GMO) wheat, this legislative effort represents one of the
few attempts in the nation to protect the United States wheat industry
from the very possible economic and environmental disasters that the
transgenic soybean and corn industries are continuing to experience.

Bill numbers and brief overview follow:

LC1555- A resolution of the Montana legislature essentially stating the
"sense of the legislature" that  transgenic (GMO) wheat should not be
commercialized in the State of Montana until export markets to pacific
rim states are secure and that the segregation of transgenic wheat from
non-transgenic wheat can be accomplished.

LC1065- A law to amend current seed labeling regulations, so that
transgenic wheat seed will be clearly identified and planting
restrictions (buffer zones, etc) will be clearly identified.

LC1723- A law that will provide a certification process for the proposed

introduction of transgenic wheat into Montana. This law will create an
extensive economic, environmental and human health review by the MT
Department of Agriculture with allowance for public comment, before
transgenic wheat is allowed to introduced into the state of Montana.

LC1578- A law that will provide that a company holding a patent to
transgenic wheat variety must post a $20 million dollar bond prior to
the release of that variety for commercial production in Montana.
Essentially, his law will provide security for potential damages that
may be caused to the wheat industry by the introduction of transgenic
wheat.

The full text of  these draft bills can be downloaded off of the Montana

legislature web site
.
You can also track the progress of this legislation on this site as
well.

Jeff Schahczenski
Executive Director
Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
3040 Continental Drive
Butte, MT 59701
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.westernsawg.org
406-494-8636

" From the Grassroots to the Nation"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The third thing I'm concerned about is the gutting of every
environmental law that we worked so hard to get passed.  There will be
limestone mining in the Everglades and oil and gas drilling in
Yellowstone and the Greater Rockies.  It's on the BioGems website at


I value this list/serve as a place where I can talk about these things.
I surely will be sad to see my right to free speech go out the window.
I love you all.

Merla

Re: Personal Security vs National Security

[Merla Barberie]

Yes, please record the early archives and made them available if you expunge
them.

The whole climate in our beloved country is distressing.  I just got a post
on CAFTA, an extension of NAFTA to Central America.  They were keeping the
terms of the treaty secret so that NGOs couldn't protest.  Democracy is based
on free speech, yet we are so intimidated that things like this happen to
Allan.  9/11 really dumped these opportunities into the laps of the right
wing and US voters are buying it out of fear.

Many people I know are praying for peace and want no war in Iraq.  We must
continue to create with our wonderful agricultural insights for the good of
humanity and all creatures on earth and continue to meditate and have our
vision of peace.  The cult of secrecy about Bio-Dynamics is lifting.  Each
year that "Stella Natura" comes out, I perceive more openness.  Allan, you
mustn't be intimidated by the mincing, middle-of-the road organic people.
There has to be a place for someone who calls a spade a spade and who pushes
the envelope.  That's the only way real insights come.  You didn't want that
job anyway!

This list is very precious to a lot of people.  What ashamed to have to put
the archive underground.

Best,

Merla

Lloyd Charles wrote:

> From: Allan Balliett >
> > I'm very not comfortable with YahooGroups, for reasons mentioned and
> others.
> I detest Yahool!! BDnow is THE BEST
> >
> > What I would like to do is keep the archives here and physically
> > dispense them on a quarterly basis. The archives would not be
> > available to lurkers, only to posters. CD-Rom is the appropriate way
> > to go. These could be sent out at cost, etc. Each CD could be
> > cumultive, and so on.
> That would be OK
> >
> > I'll also move to have the earlier archives expunged.
> I'd like to see these recorded there is a lot of good stuff on those early
> archives!!
>
> Cheers
> Lloyd Charles

Re: Epiphany

[Merla Barberie]

Last night started to think about the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi and
looked it up in its entirety since I could only remember fragments of it.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

   Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
   Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
   where there is injury, pardon;
   where there is doubt, faith;
   where there is despair, hope;
   where there is darkness, light;
   and where there is sadness, joy.

   O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
   to be consoled as to console;
   to be understood as to understand;
   to be loved as to love.
   For it is in giving that we receive;
   it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
   and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

The Three Kings Prep arrived  in the mail from Wisconsin on time today.  It has
been clear and sunny all day with a few grey clouds on the horizon over distant
north and eastern mountains, the Selkirks and the Cabinets.

I said my usual prayer I sing when I'm outside (Pardon the spelling, but it's
been a long time since I wrote it):

Om namo arihantanam
Om namo sidanam
Om namo ariianam
Om namo vajianam
Namo loa sava sa-anam
Eso panche namukaro
Sava pava panasano
Mangalam chi savez sim
Padamam havi mangalam.

I stirred the little bit of the goldfrankensensemyhrr mixture in a little well
water from our hot bucket on the wood stove in my ceramic mixing bowl with a
wooden spoon and added a little more than a 1/2 gallon of warm water from our
warm bucket--enough just to go around the inside of our game fence and around
Green's cabin and the strawberry and potato beds we had outside the fence.

I was glad I had my sorrels on since I didn't have on my snowshoes.
Huckleberry, Sumo and Swimmer accompanied me and broke trail.  At 4:10 the sky
had turned to grey with warm gold on the southwestern horizon.  The visible
sliver of the moon was high. I repeated my Om namo arihantanam prayer several
times and flung out the liquid with my wisk broom every ten steps through the
crusty snow.

I made it around the orchard and Tristan and Crystal's graves, around the
valerian bed and full circle.  I poured what little I had left on the sweet
cicely in the middle of the old part of the veggie garden where we started our
BD ministrations years ago, I can't remember when.  Finished at 4:55.

I hope that we have enough love and good vibrations to satisfy the elementals
and that all the times I have put on BD compost and sprayed BC, 500, and 508
over the years and the several times 501 will be enough.

Best wishes to all,

Merla

ron poitras wrote:

> Thank you Cordelia
> Same activity taking place up here in eastern Maine today with several
> stirring and singing the songs - I wonder how far this net of intention for
> welcoming new elemental life extended across the globe today?
> There is hope and possibility in the midst of all the doom and destruction!
> Ron
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Cordelia Lane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Monday, January 06, 2003 6:24 PM
> Subject: Epiphany
>
> >EPIPHANY, 2003
> >
> >1:15 Dissolving the dynamized paste of the three gifts of the Magi into the
> >warm water - a golden color, a golden aroma.
> >
> >1:30 Strring, stirring, stirring, singing my stirring songs:  Dona Nobis
> >Pacem,
> > Ego sum pauper, nihil habeo, cormeum dabo
> > and Christmas Carols: Un Flambeau, Jeanette Isabelle, the Holly and the
> >Ivy, We three Kings of Orient Are, Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
> >2:30 Done, rest the stirring spoon
> > Rest the body
> >2:45 Prepare the gear - half gallon of preparation in the bucket, half
> >gallon in the backpack.  Look out the window - it's snowing!
> > Snow pants, snow boots, snow jacket, hat, mittensand snowshoes.
> >3:00 Feed the dogs, feed the sheep
> >3:15 Begin sprinkling the goldfrankincensemyrrh.(this may take almost two
> >hours, so  must get going a bit before 4:00) Pungent fragrance recalls the
> >hour of dynamizing on New Year's Eve.
> > Time for the snowshoes, the plowed driveway ends.
> > The woods are exquisitely lovely with fresh powdery snow on every
> >evergreen branch.
> > Down the gully, up the gully, turn right at the Back of Beyond.
> > Meander along the meandering saltmarsh banks of the tidal creek.
> > This moment could not be more beautiful.
> > Sprinkling the gifts of the Three Wise Men - the wisdom, the spirit, the
> >victory of life over death.
> >
> > It is with heart-high gladness that I do this deed, that I welcome and
> >support
> > the hard-working elementals with these forces.
> >
> >4:15 Almost done, one more field to go.  The dogs join me joyfully romping
> >in the snow.
> >
> >4:45 Done. Exhilaration, gratitude
> >
> >Cordelia
> >
> >

Re: Monsanto submitted its petition for comm. of GE Wheat

[Merla Barberie]

Kara and Hugh and Allan,

There are a lot of people around the globe who have a different vision than the
"green revolution," and see it for what it is.  The meeting at Porto Allegre
was one.  The strong movement in India too.  That is why I brought up the great
work that is going on in teaching seed saving.  Maybe no one sees this, but
me.  Monsanto's stock is down.  Farmers here and in Canada see the drawbacks
and disappointment that raising GMO crops has been even with the FULL support
of the federal government.  That's why they are trying so hard to sell African,
Indonesian, etc. countries.  They need to make more money than they have been
making.

The organic movement in the U.S. has not reached out to developing countries
because it IS fledgling.  We're too busy trying to make ends meet and we're
farming this way not just to make a buck but because we want to improve the
world's nutrition.

One of the things that is wrong on this earth is the population explosion of
Homo sapiens sapiens.  Species numbers increase when conditions are good--food
and habitat.  It's a bad idea to have a lot of cheap, mediocre food.  Better to
have good food that is sold for the cost of production.  It just makes good
sense.

If we believe that we are successful in growing good food and that good food
will raise the ethical and spiritual level of mankind, then we need to give
outreach to those countries that will benefit most from raising organic
food--the small landholders in developing countries in the South who live in
villages, who have access to animal manure, and help them to value their local
op seed.  Undoubtedly, Monsanto will try making GMO seed for their local crops
like the sweet potato in Kenya.

You have to try to understand the whole picture and make your plays wherever
you can.  The organic movement is growing, but we need to act more politically
to help the world as a whole.

Don't worry about the Bio-Dynamic movement.  This list has helped me so much to
be Bio-Dynamic.  Your experience and enthusiasm is certainly appreciated by
many people.  A spiritual group that is small can still make a great difference
in the world because it is courageous.  This group is courageous.  Our whole
world is changing so fast technologically, yet people are turning to
alternative medicine and organic food even though the government and social
structure is controlled by allopathic medical institutions and the USDA and
EPA, etc. are made up of people who have worked in ag chemical corporations and
who refuse to finalize scientific reports about the dangers of pesticides.

In love and light,

Merla

KARA LEBEAU wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm new to the list and am new to the teachings of bd as well, so I hope
> you'll help me understand something here. Isn't anthroposophy etc include
> the belief in Archangel Michael?  His day is revered in the Waldorf schools
> and I know people there believe in him.
>
> But Archangel Michael isn't just a nice picture of a being with wings.  He's
> a very active spiritual warrior, and as such should be invoked, in Divine
> Will, along
> with the other Archangels, to go after the evils and injustices in this
> Earth.
>
> Don't people believe they can do this?  It's been central to the beliefs of
> Catholics and others and there are a great number of stories of miracles of
> Archangel Michael's intercession.
>
> I don't think things need to get worse--they've been "worse" for too long.
>
> Sincerely,
> Kara
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Hugh Lovel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 7:25 PM
> Subject: Re: Monsanto submitted its petition for comm. of GE Wheat
>
> > Dear Allan, et. al.,
> >
> > This is a discussion I don't join too often.
> >
> > It should be obvious that we won't shake awake more than a slivver of our
> > population to the demon agendas. Sure we can iterate the rule that if a
> > thing CAN happen it WILL. And it can be that Monsanto has had a truly
> > oppressive agenda and is maximumly exploitative. All the signs are there
> > for this to be true, so maybe it is. Granted. But mostly people won't wake
> > up. Not yet. Things will have to get a lot worse.
> >
> > It is fine to be awake and to do the right things within our lights. But
> we
> > aren't a boil on the butt of the self-centered demons beseiging us. More
> > like a pimple that may be scratched if it comes to the attention of it's
> > host organism.
> >
> > I don't mean to discourage anyone. Let's keep building awareness, and
> > rejection of the vogue agendas such as Monsanto's. But quite frankly I see
> > little salvation in this alone. What will help us most is if things get a
> > LOT worse.
> >
> > When our present president was annointed by the court of nine? On the one
> > hand I could be disappointed that a nice guy, a little stiff and overly
> > controlled but basically beneign, would not be at the rudder. But on the
> > other hand, what could be better than to 

Re: Monsanto submitted its petition for comm. of GE Wheat

[Merla Barberie]

Hi Bob,

The Environmental Committee of the Northern Panhandle Greens is working
on a program on recent developments with GMOs. We are trying to inform
ourselves.  We have the videos "Not for Sale." about the patenting of
life and "Heartbreak in the Heartland," which I haven't seen yet which
is Percy telling his story.

I'm interested in The Seed Savers' Network, P.O. Box 975 Byron Bay, NSW
2481, Australia - Ph/Fax (02) 6685 6624 - 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  They have projects in Cuba, Ecuador, Bangalore&
Mumbai, India, Japan and the Solomon Islands.  They teach people in
their languages how to have a seed registry and seed bank for their
particular local crops.  Look at their website.  We could contribute
money to their projects.  For instance in the Solomon Islands they
maintain 4 demonstration & seed garden sites, publish bi-annual seed
exchange newsletter, run a community awareness campaign about dynamic
seed banks and conservation of local food varieties and organising
farmer to farmer training, and produce seeds for the relief of displaced
people.  They are working positively on problems in our paradigm.  If we
want to change the world paradigm and not allow the world to be
overtaken with patented seed, then we have to work on spreading our
paradigm.  We can't just be against something.

Compared to the Seed Savers' Network in New South Wales, Australia, the
U.S. is way behind.  I think that Oregon Tilth is working on this.  I
haven't looked at their website yet.

We are sponsoring a series of programs on sustainability, one of which I
hope will be Dr. Elaine Ingham talking about the Soil Food Web.  We hope
to get the county commissioners, the weed superintendent and the  weed
committee and so forth to come to such a talk so that we can start them
thinking about weed control in a new way.

We have to sustain ourselves financially, but we can be aware, teach
others and work as fast as we can to get where we want to go.  I know
the situation in the U.S. is way beyond our control, yet people act just
by buying organic food.

Maybe someone else has some ideas.

Best,

Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> "how much longer are we going to take this"thats the statement of
> the new year.
>
> Perys situation is the (but one of many) story of 2003 and how do we
> stand with him/them?

 Bob Shaffer

Monsanto submitted its petition for comm. of GE Wheat

[Merla Barberie]

Hi all,

I got the following notice from Jill Davies.  She is a local person from
Montana who speaks in this area of the country and shares information on
a "Greens" list.  I sure do hate to see this.

Merla


 Subject:
 Monsanto submitted its petition for comm. of GE wheat
Date:
 Thu, 02 Jan 2003 20:36:00 -0700
   From:
 jill davies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 To:
 "greens list":;



Happy New Year to all . . .  look what Santa dragged down the chimney .
. .

Monsanto has submitted its petition for deregulated status on GE wheat.
  Here is the assigned petition number from the USDA/APHIS website:

  02-353-01p   Monsanto Reg article: Wheat
  Received: 12/19/02
Status:  Under review for completeness

not much info available yet.
  If you want to see the posting and to follow the progress,  go to:
http://www.nbiap.vt.edu/
and click on "US" in the line:
  "Listings of US and International Commercialized Crops";
you will arrive at:
 "Crops No Longer Regulated by USDA - Approved and Pending"
then check the "organism" box and continue to the next step,
where you click on "wheat", and choose short record or full record.

we will be watching for the FR notice, for which a flood of comments
will
be generated.

be prepared to submit comments and to encourage others to do so also.



  ~~  Jill Davies - - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~
   How we treat the Land is determined by how we view ourselves.
 ~The machine model kills living systems.~
  www.aliantha.com
  406/ 847-2228

Water is Becoming a Dangerous Drug

[Merla Barberie]

http://santafenewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2144&dept_id=385202&newsid=6568246&PAG=461&rfi=9

  Water is Becoming a Dangerous Drug

  By Melissa Knopper


   Birth control pills, estrogen replacement drugs, ibuprofen, bug
spray,
   sunscreen, mouthwash and antibacterial soap: all of these products
could
   turn up in your next glass of tap water, according to the United
States
   Geological Survey (USGS). Last summer, USGS scientists sampled 139
rivers
   and streams, finding hundreds of prescription and over-the-counter
drugs
   and personal care products lingering in the nation's water supply.

   In many cases, these tiny drug particles were found in river water
that
   is recycled - flowing from one city's sewer plant into another city's

   drinking water system. Many cities can't afford the charcoal filters
   required to screen out the final traces of these byproducts, so they
end
   up in the drinking water, experts say. Rural homeowners who use well
   water are at an even greater risk. USGS researchers also turned up
   antibiotics in nearly half the streams that were sampled, raising
other
   concerns about the nation's growing antibiotic resistance problem.
"This
   study raised a bunch of red flags," says Dana Kolpin, lead author of
the
   USGS study. "At these low concentrations, I think there are going to
be
   long-term effects that may take several generations to show up."


   A Threat to Reproductive Health


   (Embedded image moved to file: pic05436.gif)he dangers of
   endocrine-disrupting water pollutants such as dioxin and
polychlorinated
   biphenyls (PCBs) are well known - they have been linked to a variety
of
   reproductive health problems, from endometriosis to low sperm counts.

   Synthetic hormones in the water may have similar health effects - on
both
   people and wildlife - at very low levels of exposure. "All of these
   compounds are going into a chemical soup," says Theo Colborn, senior
   scientist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and author of "Our Stolen
   Future."


   Colborn says she is worried about pharmaceutical estrogens mixing
with
   chemicals already present in streams. "You can liken it to side
effects
   you get with a prescription drug - you don't know how it's going to
   interact with the over-the-counter drugs you're taking," Colborn
says.
   "It's the unexpected, interactive effects we never predicted that are
a
   real concern."


   For example, Colborn says, bisphenol A, a component of plastic that
is
   also used as a fire retardant, causes female mice to reach puberty
   earlier than normal. Bisphenol A forms a weak bond with the body's
   estrogen receptors. It can scramble a cell's natural communication
system
   and cause it to replicate too quickly. That, in turn, raises concerns

   about breast cancer in humans. What happens if this compound, which
is
   active at low levels of exposure, combines with estrogen from a birth

   control pill in the water? At this point, it's still unclear. Colborn

   says, "It could have long-term health effects."


   These estrogens also could have an additive effect with chemicals
such as
   PCBs, which are found in animal tissue. A recent study by researchers
at
   Michigan State University found mink that were fed a diet of
PCB-laden
   fish from the polluted Housatonic River in Connecticut had offspring
with
   lower birth weights and higher infant mortality rates. Housatonic
   Riverkeeper Tim Gray, a member of the New York-based Waterkeeper's
   Alliance, wonders if PCBs interfere with the mink's reproduction,
what
   will synthetic estrogen and other drugs do?


   Until recently, people thought the estrogens in birth control pills
were
   rendered inactive by the body because the kidneys tack on an extra
sugar
   molecule before they are excreted, says William Owens, a toxicologist
who
   researched estrogen patches for Procter & Gamble. But now, scientists

   have learned bacteria in sewage treatment plants chew off that sugar
   molecule.


   A British researcher, John Sumpter, contributed to this discovery
while
   studying fish living near a London wastewater treatment plant. He
found
   male fish that were producing eggs. After he found the compound
estradiol
   in the fish tissue, he concluded estrogens from birth control pills
were
   part of the problem.


   Antibiotic Resistance is Growing


   (Embedded image moved to file: pic32391.gif)nother active area of
   research and debate is antibiotic resistance. The Union of Concerned
   Scientists says farmers use 70 percent of antibiotics in the United
   States. Large factory farms use antibiotics to prevent confined,
   crowded-together cows or chickens from getting sick. But that
practice is
   creating "superbugs," such as virulent strains of salmonella that can
be
   deadly to humans and difficult to treat. Those superbugs typically
are
   spread to consumers through contaminated meat, but people who drink
from
   private well

OFF:Does legal status of corporations as persons give them the right to lie?

[Merla Barberie]

Hi All,

I just got this from Mark Ritchie at WTO Watch and it's so good and to
the point of many of the problems in the US that I am copying it and
sending it.

Merla

*  *  *  *  *  *


Now Corporations Claim The "Right To Lie"
by Thom Hartmann

published on Wednesday, January 1, 2003
by CommonDreams.org


While Nike was conducting a huge and expensive PR blitz to tell people
that
it had cleaned up its subcontractors' sweatshop labor practices, an
alert
consumer advocate and activist in California named Marc Kasky caught
them
in what he alleges are a number of specific deceptions. Citing a
California
law that forbids corporations from intentionally deceiving people in
their
commercial statements, Kasky sued the multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Instead of refuting Kasky's charge by proving in court that they didn't
lie, however, Nike instead chose to argue that corporations should enjoy

the same "free speech" right to deceive that individual human citizens
have
in their personal lives. If people have the constitutionally protected
right to say, "The check is in the mail," or, "That looks great on you,"

then, Nike's reasoning goes, a corporation should have the same right to

say whatever they want in their corporate PR campaigns.

They took this argument all the way to the California Supreme Court,
where
they lost. The next stop may be the U.S. Supreme Court in early January,

and the battle lines are already forming.

For example, in a column in the New York Times supporting Nike's
position,
Bob Herbert wrote, "In a real democracy, even the people you disagree
with
get to have their say."

True enough.

But Nike isn't a person - it's a corporation. And it's not their "say"
they're asking for: it's the right to deceive people.

Corporations are created by humans to further the goal of making money.
As
Buckminster Fuller said in his brilliant essay The Grunch of Giants,
"Corporations are neither physical nor metaphysical phenomena. They are
socioeconomic ploys - legally enacted game-playing..."

Corporations are non-living, non-breathing, legal fictions. They feel no

pain. They don't need clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, or
healthy food to consume. They can live forever. They can't be put in
prison. They can change their identity or appearance in a day, change
their
citizenship in an hour, rip off parts of themselves and create entirely
new
entities. Some have compared corporations with robots, in that they are
human creations that can outlive individual humans, performing their
assigned tasks forever.

Isaac Asimov, when considering a world where robots had become as
functional, intelligent, and more powerful than their human creators,
posited three fundamental laws that would determine the behavior of such

potentially dangerous human-made creations. His Three Laws of Robotics
stipulated that non-living human creations must obey humans yet never
behave in a way that would harm humans.

Asimov's thinking wasn't altogether original: Thomas Jefferson and James

Madison beat him to it by about 200 years.

Jefferson and Madison proposed an 11th Amendment to the Constitution
that
would "ban monopolies in commerce," making it illegal for corporations
to
own other corporations, banning them from giving money to politicians or

trying to influence elections in any way, restricting corporations to a
single business purpose, limiting the lifetime of a corporation to
something roughly similar to that of productive humans (20 to 40 years
back
then), and requiring that the first purpose for which all corporations
were
created be "to serve the public good."

The amendment didn't pass because many argued it was unnecessary:
Virtually
all states already had such laws on the books from the founding of this
nation until the Age of the Robber Barons.

Wisconsin, for example, had a law that stated: "No corporation doing
business in this state shall pay or contribute, or offer consent or
agree
to pay or contribute, directly or indirectly, any money, property, free
service of its officers or employees or thing of value to any political
party, organization, committee or individual for any political purpose
whatsoever, or for the purpose of influencing legislation of any kind,
or
to promote or defeat the candidacy of any person for nomination,
appointment or election to any political office." The penalty for any
corporate official violating that law and getting cozy with politicians
on
behalf of a corporation was five years in prison and a substantial fine.

Like Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, these laws prevented corporations
from harming humans, while still allowing people to create their robots
(corporations) and use them to make money. Everybody won. Prior to 1886,

corporations were referred to in US law as "artificial persons," similar
to
the way Star Trek portrays the human-looking robot named Data.

But after the Civil War, things began to change. In the last year of the

war, on November 21, 1864, Pres

Re: more buggy questions

[Merla Barberie]

We always have two kinds of small bark beetles in the winter--longish
brown creatures with beautiful markings.  They don't eat in their adult
phase.  I don't know their life cycle.  They walk and fly around the
loft of our cabin.  They are under the metal roof and must come in
through small cracks in the structure of the building.  The other
related one is round, flat and black in the unheated greenhouse.  They
both give off the same odor if you disturb them--like a skunk, but not
the same smell.  Their spray is actually sweet, but offensive.  I can
pick them off without threatening them when I'm reading in bed in the
dark in the loft with a reading light which attracts them. They only
spray if you hurt them.

Moen Creek wrote:

> Hate to be rude folks but these ain't lady Bugs but a Japanese/
> Oriental beetle that the USDA brought over a number of years ago to
> eat a Pine Bore that had migrated to the US with-out it. We here in WI
> have had huge numbers in late Sept for years. They are not hatching
> but looking for "wintering ground" ie in your barn, house etc.
> In remodeling a cabin this summer I wondered as to their wind blocking
> and insulating properties as they had filled ever crack & crevasse
> under the siding but had not survived the desiccation of the winter.
> We have had several commitments to mental wards around here of
> housewives unable to keep up with vacuuming "every one of them" out of
> their homes as they (the bugs), waken and become active inside abodes
> at every warm spell till hightailing it back to work in the spring.
>
> We had fewer this year so they must be migrating to warmer climes as
> they figure out this confusing country.
>
> The pesticide man that had the audacity to show up with an offer to
> eliminate them one orange colored fall day was very hasty in backing
> out the drive when I told him I dealt with pest with my 20guage and it
> was just here in the closet.
>
> I guess my neck scarf must have slipped wide that week.
>
> Blessed 03
> L*L
> Markess
>
>
>  From: "The Korrows" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>  Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 00:02:30 -0600
>  To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>  Subject: Re: more buggy questions
>
>
>  > But why now? there isn't anything for them to eat, and
>  it's too cold
>  > for them to be very active, yet year after year, they
>  always do it.
>
>  The ladybugs have been coming out around here also. Insects
>  are very much
>  connected to the temp, though to understand this
>  relationship we have to
>  expand our concept a bit. It's not just the temp from a
>  maximum temp point
>  of view but also from the duration of sustained average temp
>  plus an
>  internal mechanism that has been bound to their preys temp
>  tolerance and
>  cycles for a millennium.
>  If it's happening inside your house it could be a false
>  signal their getting
>  since the temps in the walls are obviously higher than the
>  ones in say a
>  barn or a trees bark.Consequentially there are allot of dead
>  ladybugs in the
>  house from about now till spring. They don't have any food.
>  If it's
>  happening outside, all one has to do is look close enough &
>  you'll find that
>  there is something there to sustain them. Insects are
>  incredibly 2
>  dimensional, food and sex is virtually what they live for.
>  (sounds a little
>  too much like much humanity for my comfort).
>
>  In Love and Light,
>  (Mr.) Chris
>
>

Re: Three Kings Prep

[Merla Barberie]

Allan and Woody,

I didn't express myself well in the previous post.  I have used BD compost for
many years, and BC and 500 sprayed every year on the vegetable garden.  I have
always used compost, BC and 500, but only used 501 once last year in a small
area (This is such an arid place especially during ripening time.) and 508 a
couple of times when I had a situation that needed it.  What I was concerned
about is that I haven't sequentially sprayed 501 and 508 along with BC and 500
over our whole garden, orchard and woodland. I only used 501 in a small area and
508 on a particular problem, not even over the whole garden.  (I am real excited
that I will have lots of BC and 500 in the 2003 season to spray all over our
land and on the road right-of-way and to give to friends to get them started.)

Our hill is covered with 3 feet of snow.  Our homestead is fenced with a NZ game
fence around 3 1/2 acres with 21 1/2 acres of woodland outside that fence.  I
conceive of doing the Three Kings Prep ritual by donning snowshoes and
orienteering through woods around the whole 25 acres of woodland to protect our
whole place.  Isn't that what we are doing--calling for protection for our whole
place?

My question was if I have only sprayed 501 and 508 a little and put BD compost
only on my veggie and flower beds and a little in the orchard, is that enough?
How can I spray BD preps in 3 feet of snow now?

Merla

Allan Balliett wrote:

> >Merla:
> >
> >One way to get all the preps on the land is the way you've planned:
> >make your own BD 500 and BC, make your own BD prepped compost, wait until
> >it's all ready, then spray.  THEN your intentions are manifested, the ground
> >is enlivened, the Nature Spirits are happily fed, and you can apply the
> >icing to the cake with Three Kings.  Not, by all accounts, before that.
> >Woody
>
> Thanks for this info, Woody.
>
> I don't know much about this prep, other than the write-ups that have
> been posted to here in the past few weeks.
>
> Is it appropriate to use this prep at times other than Epiphany?
>
> =Allan

Three Kings Prep

[Merla Barberie]

I have sprayed 501 once and used 508 a couple of times in the past year,
but never done sequential spraying of all the preps.  Should I wait
until next year to do the Three Kings spraying?

Best,

Merla

Re: Jet Stream

[Merla Barberie]

Sorry to be so obtuse, but who is "SS"?

Merla

Moen Creek wrote:

>
>
>  Hi Mark
>   Maybe the boys in Alaska have been playing with
>  their new toy??
>  Cheers
>  Lloyd Charles
>
> Hey Lloyd,
>
>
> Could be huh.
>
> Treaties are broken & all bets are off but SS's.
> Fasten seat belts.
>
> L*L
> Markess
>
>
>
>
>

Re: Organic Seed Catalogs and Hellp for organic farmers in developing countries

[Merla Barberie]

The Seedsaver's Network  is just what I was sketchingly
thinking about.  Aussies are way ahead of me and are working already in some of
the countries I was concerned about!  I need to think about this some more and
find out whether any US seedsaver groups are doing this kind of work. I think
Oregon Tilth is working on seed saving.  Most of our varieties wouldn't be
appropriate for the South.  Are there more seedsaver networks such as this in
other countries?  What other developing countries have such opportunities?  Can
someone else give me more URLs.

Thanks,  Merla

Gil Robertson wrote:

> Hi! Merla,
> Good Post. Most important.
>
> A group in Oz is doing some good work, they travel and actually set up
> locally based Seed Banks and teach the locals to save and maintain their own
> seed. Where needed, additional types of vegetables and fruit are made
> available from other seed banks. In Oz we also have our local seed banks, as
> well as drawing on the National one at Seedsavers.
>
> Check them at :-  www.seedsavers.net
>
> Gil
>
> Merla Barberie wrote:
>
> > When I read the email that Cornell University and USAID are doing a 5
> > year project to promote GMO seeds in the Philippines, Indonesia,
> > Bangladesh, India and Africa, I was abashed.

Organic Seed Catalogs and Hellp for organic farmers in developing countries

[Merla Barberie]

When I read the email that Cornell University and USAID are doing a 5
year project to promote GMO seeds in the Philippines, Indonesia,
Bangladesh, India and Africa, I was abashed.

In thinking about this, I wanted to do something.  Then I got Nathan's
new Turtle Seed Catalog from Camphill.  It was so much better than it's
ever been--more offerings, scientific names, good descriptions of the
seeds and of the people who grew them, BD and organic designations.  It
occurred to me that one thing that could be done is to try to organize
a  structuring body for organic seed catalog companies that could help
organic collectives in these countries to be competitive by offering
organic o.p.. seeds, by extolling the virtues of a culture that uses
organic practices and educating their citizens about the dangers of
pesticides and GMOs and the economic, political and cultural dangers of
getting involved with patented seed.

Does anyone know if this has already been done?  If it's too early in
the countries' development, what can be done to educate them or is it
already being done by Civil Society people?  There must be some room for
BD practices and seed as a separate offering or specially marked on a
general organic seed catalog.

I guess I got excited about this seeing Nathan's catalog because it had
all the important things for a mainstream catalog except the color
pictures!  It is possible to do a low budget catalog which is
competitive with established catalogues by getting seed from other BD
growers around the world.

Anybody have any ideas about this?

Merla

Earth at Night

[Merla Barberie]

Greetings All,

I find it very appropriate send my BEST CHRISTMAS WISHES to everyone on
this list with the picture you will find on the URL below.

Be sure to scroll back and forth and up and down as far as you can to
see everything.

 

Re: A strange visit/trying to share

[Merla Barberie]

Thanks, Hugh,

You and I know this, but Randy has 50 acres of trees that he is feeding with $9000 
worth of slow release chemical fertilizer which he says is the best he's ever had.  
How can I tell him that it is no good.  It's just the ponderosa pines that aren't 
happy and another variety that was completely killed by a root/stem girdling larva.  I 
may try to email him with your information anyway.  I'll have to work myself up to it.

Best,

Merla

Hugh Lovel wrote:

> Dear Merla,
>
> One thing it seems Randy may not know is that when plants get their nitrogen as 
>salts, their protoplasm hasn't any choice but to be salty and watery. This stretches 
>their cell walls and leads to poor cell density and insect damage. When they get 
>their nitrogen as amino acids they make far more long chain amino acids--which 
>insects cannot digest--and the insects leave them alone. And their cell density is 
>greater so they are less susceptible to diseases.
>
> The question is how to get the trees to get all their nitrogen as amino acids 
>instead of salts such as urea, nitrates, ammonia, etc.? The answer is to get 
>mycorhyzae and azotobacters working in the soil and colonizing the trees roots from 
>the day they are planted. A good compost tea program as well as a field broadcaster 
>would be a good recipe. Has Randy heard about Elaine Ingham? Does he need a field 
>broadcaster brochure? He really sounds like a good sort and maybe he is open to these 
>things.
>
> Best,
> Hugh
>
>  Your nemesis, Randy, seem to exemplify many good, as well as misguided, 
>qualities. His land is in his family and farming is in his blood. He is open enough 
>to share with you what he is doing and he really believes in it, works hard, makes it 
>pay, pays his bills thereby, etc. He uses a spider and cover crops, for crying out 
>loud.
>
>  I was surprised at how much I liked his place, but it bothered me, I guess 
>because it wasn't a small farm growing vegetables organically, but rather just large 
>fields of beautiful perfect trees, exactly spaced...little monocultures of various 
>tree species planted and harvested in different years.  It might be valuable to 
>compare an organic tree farm with Randy's farm.  I got the invitation to come via the 
>Weed Supervisor who is trying his hardest to produce harmony among the disparate 
>elements on the Weed Committee.  I jumped at the chance to contribute to that.  In 
>some way, his spread reminded me of the way you have many different crops planted in 
>a kind of patchwork to accommodate the shape of your land.   I have French intensive 
>beds so that is quite different.  There was much good in his work, and I hope this is 
>a beginning of shared respect.  My husband tells me he heard Randy bragging about how 
>he and some other farmers sneaked onto an organic neighbor's land who
>  wouldn't take care of his weeds and sprayed it with herbicide...I guess it's 
>his personality, not necessarily his farm.  Maybe the fact that we are taking care of 
>weeds on our IPM road project is a start to help him to relax.  I am a threat to a 
>long-standing culture of chemicals.  If I can just get all the tansy, knapweed, 
>thistle and hawkweed off Rapid Lightning Road, maybe he will respect me.  There is 
>zero tolerance for "noxious" weeds and everything has to be oriented toward making a 
>profit.  My political values are so different.
>
>  Taking a page out of our native son, Jimmy Carter's book, appreciate his good 
>points and simply acknowledge his shortcomings. That keeps the exchange going and you 
>can discuss little things that might lead to bigger and better things. It's a 
>non-judgmental, step-wise approach, and admittedly it doesn't always work. But 
>sometimes it produces astounding results.
>
>  I agree.  I'm going to try and I appreciate Brad, the Weed Supervisor's efforts 
>to help find something in common between the chemical proponents and the 
>environmentalists.  I have mellowed out a lot in my approach.  I'm demonstrating 
>non-chemical methods and taking care of weeds.  I'm keeping confidences when I could 
>write letters to the editor in the local paper blasting various problems I see.  
>Right now I'm quite troubled about the residue in the sediment of a broad spectrum 
>herbicide, diquat dibromide, that was put in the lake for Eurasian watermilfoil.  
>This has nothing to do with Randy.  It was the Public Works Director's baby and he is 
>extremely sensitive if I raise any questions about any problems or about the high 
>cost of hiring out-of-state applicators and divers to protect drinking water 
>inlets...Oh God!
>
>  The bare soil really bugs you? Well around here grasses and clovers in the 
>Christmas tree orchard is the only way it is done. This involves mowing, but still it 
>pays back in moisture and nutrient retention, because as long as the level of biology 
>is kept up in the soil, living organisms keep these things inside their cell walls 

Re: Monsanto in financial trouble

[Merla Barberie]

There are many good posts  today that gives a glimmer of hope.  Enclosed
are two of them.  Buck up, Allan!

Seeds of conflict
Financial Times
Published: December 18 2002 4:00 | Last Updated: December 18 2002 4:00
4db81a0.jpg

US patience with the European Union's rejection of genetically modified
foods is nearing an end. Having failed to persuade the EU to lift its de

facto moratorium on approving new GM products, Washington appears poised
to
challenge the ban in the World Trade Organisation. But, far from
resolving
the problem, that would risk turning a tense stand-off into a crisis.

As Brussels acknowledges, the US stands to win a WTO case. However,
there
is little reason to think a legal victory for Washington would cause the
EU
to open its market. Much more likely, it would stiffen political and
popular resistance in countries opposed to GM foods, driving the final
nail
into faltering efforts to end the ban.

EU defiance of a ruling against it would have serious consequences. It
would further undermine the authority of the WTO disputes settlement
procedures, already jeopardised by EU failure to respect a ruling on
hormone-treated beef and by US delays in implementing decisions against
its
trade laws. If the world's biggest trade powers scoff at international
law,
why should others bother to heed it?

EU failure to comply with an adverse WTO decision on GM foods could
prompt
the US to retaliate against European exports. As well as unfairly
hurting
European companies un-connected with the dispute, that would harm the US
by
raising barriers to imports from the EU. There would be no winners from
such reprisals.

Despite the compelling economic arguments against doing so, political
pressures in the EU to counter-retaliate could then become irresistible.
It
has a devastating weapon in its existing right to impose $4bn (£2.5bn)
of
sanctions on the US, which has failed to comply with a WTO ruling
against
its foreign sales corporation tax law. If that right were exercised, the

conflict could swiftly escalate out of control.

The potential casualties are incalculable. But an early one would almost

certainly be the Doha world trade round. Already facing uncertain
prospects, the round would be doomed by a serious rupture in trade
relations between Brussels and Washington, whose close co-operation is
indispensable to the success of the negotiations.

That grim scenario should give the US pause. But it should also have a
sobering effect on the EU. Its ban on GM foods is based on no firm
scientific evidence that they are unsafe. EU policy has been driven by
scaremongering, resentment at US high-pressure tactics and an unedifying

combination of political cravenness and opportunism.

After the mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth crises, European consumers
are
unwilling to accept government assurances on food safety. Rebuilding the

public trust essential to sound regulation will take years and require
real
commitment by EU governments to reform. It will not be achieved by
bringing
to the WTO disputes the organisation cannot hope to resolve.

Understandable as US frustration is, litigation and trade wars offer no
answers where reason, politics and diplomacy have so far failed.
4db820e.jpg
Financial Times of London








New Resource: Experts Pave Fresh Path on Globalization
Testimony on Expanding the Benefits of Globalization to Working Families

and the Poor

Earlier this month, the UNs International Labor Organization (ILO), in a

first-of-its-kind collaboration, joined with the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and the Brookings Institution to hold a two-day
discussion on how to expand the benefits of globalization to poor and
working families around the world. Transcripts of this unique event are
now
available
online.

The conference provided a timely reality check, as top researchers
reviewed
the empirical evidence regarding the impacts of globalization on
workers,
the poor and on income inequality. Top analysts and policy makers then
laid
out concrete policy alternatives in the areas of trade, employment
conditions and social safety nets, designed to distribute the benefits
of
trade and economic integration more broadly across and within countries.

This new assessment is immediately relevant, as the sweeping advance of
globalization in the 1990s has now encountered significant resistance.
The
slowdown of the global economy has combined with dissatisfaction in the
developing world over what is perceived as a disappointing payoff from
liberalization efforts of the 1990s and criticism that globalization has

done too little to alleviate poverty.

Audience participantsall of whom were experts in the fieldpraised the
discussions for going beyond the cliches about globalization and
avoiding
the usual sterile pro-and-con debate.

To access a transcript of each of the panel discussions liste

Re: Dormant Oil and Lime Sulfur vs. CT and Pfeiffer's clay/manure mixture

[Merla Barberie]

Ah, Woody, you've met my husband.  He wants to do it like he's always done it.
If you and Barbara ever come through Sandpoint this winter, let us know and
I'll bring Herb so you can talk to him.  Better another man than me.  How can I
ever get him to do tree paste?  I'll have to work on him all winter, maybe get
him to try it on only a few trees.  I will have to mix it all up.  It would be
better if it could be sprayed.  The other article on tree paste said spray the
whole tree.  Should we prune and then put the tree paste on?  He wants to do it
all in one swipe and get back to building his current boat. Where is the love
to do it right?  He loves wood...to build with, to make the boat.

When I put tree paste on a tree that had lichen, I ended up scraping the bark
of the branches with my fingernail because the brush just didn't do it. Is that
going to be what I need to do to all the fruit trees, go over each branch with
a fine toothed comb so to speak and then apply tree paste early in the spring?
I'm already thinking that I will be doing it, not Herb.  Ah, changes!

We have horsetail on a bank at the foot of our private road and farther down
the road.  I will harvest fresh horsetail and make the fresh ferment and dig up
the horns and the BC.  I have bentonite and the basalt that we dug out of the
old quarry.  I'll try to grind that up fine.  It will be wonderful, a labor of
love.  What I need to have is a tree paste party and we can put BC and 500
around the drip line at the same time!  Do we just spray the ground around the
dripline or do we put it in with a tree feeder we have that you stick in the
ground?  Maybe I can invite some of the people who participate in the bulk
Stella Natura order.  Well, we will see.  Is there a special time on the
calendar when this should be done as in pruning?

What about the raspberries?  Should we do them too?  How?

Aurora Farm wrote:

> Merla:
>
> The short answer is that Dormant Oil and Lime Sulfur doesn't FEED the tree.
> BD Tree Paste does.  Here's an excerpt from my article on trees at Aurora
> Farm, which can be read in full at
> http://www.kootenay.com/~aurora/trees.html
>
> In Lecture Seven of the Agriculture Course, Rudolf Steiner sails forth with
> one of those astounding insights that makes the reader gasp: the only part
> of the tree that is plant-like are the small branches that bear leaves,
> flowers and fruit.  The great mass of trunk and large limbs is really
> "mounded-up soil, soil that is simply in a more living condition than the
> soil in which our herbaceous plants and grains are growing." 2)
>
>  The plant-like parts "are rooted in the twigs and branches of the tree just
> as other plants are rooted in the Earth."
>
>  Thus, in Biodynamic practice, we fertilize and cultivate the tree trunk,
> that mounded-up, much enlivened soil.
>
> Ehrenfried Pfeiffer says:
>
>   For the treatment of tree trunks, especially to keep
>   the bark smooth, to protect it from splitting and to
>   heal any injuries, the trees should have once a year,
>   during winter, a coating of sticky fluid paste, up to
>   the lightest branches.  This paste consists of equal
>   parts of clay, cow manure, and sand.  Herr M. K
>   Schwarz tells us that this coat prevents the sap from'
>   rising too soon and thus wards off danger from frosts. 3)
>
> Pfeiffer goes on to say that he has modified this recipe by adding BD#500
> (horn manure) preparation and BD#508 (equisetum);  also, as remedies, he
> recommends
> an extract of oak bark (disinfection and "preventing pests from breeding"),
> extract of nasturtium (American blight), extract of calendula (injuries).
> He also suggests a routine washing and brushing of tree with BD#508 in
> autumn or winter.
>
>  Two other variations:
>
> Hugh Courtney:
>
> 6-9 parts betonite
> 2-3 parts BD Compound preparation (Barrel Compost)
> 2-4 units BD#500
> 1 part rock dust
> small amount of linseed or castor oil
> BD#508, fermented, enough to make the paste liquid for brushing or spraying
>
> Ferdinand Vondruska:
>
> "1/3 Clay, 1/3 Cow manure, 1/6 milk and 1/6 silica (or waterglass).
>
> 'The above  mix thinly applied (spring and fall) to fruit trees, bushes,
> roses etc. does work wonders and rejuvenates them within two years
> (Forest trees appear not to respond in the same way, I found) Perhaps
> hazel, beech and similar trees may do so."
>
> Woody
> Aurora Farm. the only
> unsubsidized, family-run seed farm
> in North America offering garden seeds
> grown using Rudolf Steiner's methods
> of spiritual agriculture.  http://www.kootenay.com/~aurora
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Merla Barberie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: BD Now &

Dormant Oil and Lime Sulfur vs. CT and Pfeiffer's clay/manure mixture

[Merla Barberie]

I am trying to make our place more Bio-Dynamic and better in every way
that I can.  I could just ask the above question, but it's more fun to
tell it as a story...

My husband doesn't believe in Bio-Dynamics, but he has given in a lot
over the years and I try to involve him in every way I can.  He makes
the holes when I inoculate the compost pile with the preps and he dug
the holes for the horns.  Over the years he has conceded to do things by
the calendar.  He does everything in the orchard, but I want to upgrade
our orchard practice.

We are nature lovers.  We prefer nature rather than the look of a farm.
Our cabin is surrounded by the most beautiful stand of snowberries and
Oregon grape that have been outstanding through this long fall we have
had up to now.  When the heavy snow comes, they are mashed down under
the snow.

The orchard is on a wild meadow.  We did not plow the whole acre.  We
merely dug big holes and put compost in them.  We've had this orchard
for 15 years.  The orchard contains wild grasses, lots of St. Johnswort,
pearly everlasting, red clover, serviceberry, some wild shrubs that I
can't name and other wild plants.  Herb cuts down any softwood tree
seedlings that appear, but the two vine maple shrubs only gets bigger
when you cut them down.  We mow around the fruit trees and put straw
around them.  We've never fertilized.  I put tree paste on some trees
that had lichen on them.  We have 40 heritage apples--pears, plums,
cherries, buartnuts, walnuts, filberts, oaks (I wanted more walnuts, but
Herb wanted oaks and they are infinitesimal.)  We have 24 boxes of
apples in the root cellar now and they are delicious.  The heritage
apple trees bear every other year.  Really, our orchard needs help
though.

I will have lots of BC and 500 this year.  I am planning to put some
around the drip line of the trees.  I also read with interest the BD Now
email about Pfeiffer clay/manure/sand...clay/manure spray...tree
paste...and asked on the compost_tea list/serve about CT sprays for tent
caterpillars and cedar apple rust rather than using dormant oil and lime
sulfur.  Elaine suggested Beauveria (Mycotrol) and SP-1 bacterial
inoculum from Agri-Energy or the beneficial spore-former inoculum from
Holmes Environmental.

Now, of course, I have brought all this up to my husband and his
response is "What's wrong with dormant oil and dormant oil &  lime
sulfur?"  All I can say is that I want to be more Bio-Dynamic.  Can
someone tell me what exactly is wrong with dormant oil and/or dormant
oil and lime sulfur so I can make a good case for his changing his
practice?  He is mainly a hunter and a wooden boat builder, not a
farmer, but he has the pride of traditional manhood that I dare not
insult.  I need his labor and want him to continue taking the
responsibility for the orchard.  He has a lot of other good qualities
even though he isn't a BD farmer.  If he gets mad and gives up the
orchard, I can't do as well as he's done without the Bio-Dynamics.  I
can't bear to prune and he is an excellent harvester.  I plan the garden
and initiate most things, raise and plant the seedlings for the garden
and do all the Bio-Dynamics.  I have a wonderful garden helper who is
much better than I am--a virgo, who prepares the garden beds and does
the three cold frames for our 150 tomato plants.  Yes, I am a
traditional Southern female who is transplanted to the West and I am
lucky to have such good help.

Thanks a bunch,

Merla

[Fwd: Need GMO video for program for Northern Panhandle Greens]

[Merla Barberie]

Thanks Chris and Lloyd,

Here is the answer from Laurel.

Merla

--- Begin Message ---
Merla,
We are out of videos.
You can order one for $6.00.
You'll find out how by going to  http://www.thecampaign.org
laurel


>Hi Laurel,
>
>I'm on the Environmental Committee of the Northern Panhandle Greens and
>also am a Bio-Dynamic grower in Sandpoint, Idaho, and am on BD Now
>list/serve.  I heard Percy Schmeiser speak at the Global Justice Action
>Summit in Missoula, Montana, this past summer and he is so compelling.
>I would like to get a video of him giving his story personally.  I am
>told that the Sierra Club has made such a video and that you will send
>it to me free.
>
>If this is still the case, please send to
>
>Merla Barberie
>1251 Rolling Thunder Ridge
>Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
>
>Thank you so much,
>
>Merla





--- End Message ---

Want video of Percy Schmeiser and the beast known as "Monsanto"

[Merla Barberie]

I tried to find a video of Percy Schmeiser giving a talk about this.
There must be a video. You don't really get the urgency of it all until
you hear his story from his own heart.  The Environmental Committee of
the Northern Panhandle Green Party in Sandpoint is going to put on a
program about genetic engineering and we would love to have a video of
Percy speaking. Maybe Steve D. knows.

Merla



Allan Balliett wrote:

> Among the many insanties of this is that Monsanto can 'own' canola if
> it simply contains one of their genes. It doesn't matter how many
> years canola has been part of the commons, now, with one little
> change, Monsanto can claim the entire plant as its own. The value to
> them of contaminating ALL canola shoud be obviius to everyone.
>
> The trajedy is that not only have we been unable to stop the progress
> of the biotech companies, few Americans really understand how much
> they are stealing from both the past and the future.
>
> The regular American non-ag people I've told Schmeiser's story to are
> at first incredulous and then outraged.
>
> We, as sutainable ag workers, need to becoming knowledgeale about
> thse issues and we need to talk to everyone we can.
>
> Blesssings to Percy Schmeiser: 72 years old and globetrotting to get
> the word out!
>
> -Allan

Re: Percy Schmeiser and the beast known as "Monsanto"

[Merla Barberie]

Yes, Allan, I heard Percy Schmeiser speak at the Global Justice Action
Summit in Missoula, MT, this summer.  It's very important that everyone
understand that seed contamination by a patented seed results in the
corporation that holds the patent owning your whole crop and in the case
of canola and soybeans, commercial seed is probably contaminated,
meaning that you could lose your whole crop to Monsanto just because you
bought seed.  Canola and Soybeans shell out easily.  What happens when
every crop is genetically engineered and patented?

The whole system of patenting life is wrong.  World agriculture, healing
systems (through biopharming), even cell lines are threatened.  It's all
in the video "Not for Sale."

Sadly,

Merla



Allan Balliett wrote:

> Percy Schmieser is the Canadian seed-saving Canola grower who was
> accused by Monsanto of stealing their patented Round-up Ready canola
> seed from them. Instead of bowing down before Monsanto, Percy, whose
> family has worked over 40 years to develop the strain of Canola that
> he grows, chose to fight Monsanto in court. His story is still open
> ended. The government has most definitely NOT supported rights that
> we all, perhaps erroneously, take for granted.
>
> Percy Schmeiser spoke at Acres this past Saturday evening. His
> honesty and humilty are undeniable. The horror of the situation he
> has been thrust into is unimaginable, as is the greed of Monsanto.
> After Percy's presentation, I don't think there was a dry eye in the
> house, nor anyone who wouldn't do all they could to make sure that
> everyone knows how underhandedly Monsanto deals with farmers and how
> the courts of Canada are under the influence of Monsanto.
>
> You can get a lot of information about Schmeiser at
> http://www.percyschmeiser.com
>
> Please tell everyone you meet about his plight and how Monsanto is
> working with world governments to contaminate the natural world so
> that everyone in the future will have to pay them huge sums for the
> use of their copywriten biology.
>
> -Allan

Re: Perfect Orchard

[Merla Barberie]

Lloyd Charles wrote:
. . .

>  If you have low calcium soil, Lime is needed to restore the
> CEC balance and you will need a carbon source to hold and activate it.

and later he wrote to Gil who had said, "Calcium will come from the application
of gypsum.":

And leave almost as quick as it came! LIME is the way to get good calcium
levels,

When I was working with Hugh Courtney on test plots for the right-of-way, one
of his suggestions was to add "high calcium lime."  I called around to all the
the feed stores that sell lime and asked for a high calcium lime.  None of the
salesmen knew what I was talking about.  They always sold dolomite and they
really didn't understand anything about lime so they left it to me to choose.
I chose hydrated lime, and they sold it to me.  The blind leading the blind.
Luckily, I only used it on two plots.

Then when I got connected to someone who sold soil amendments for Bruce Tainio,
Tainio Technology and Technique, a soil scientist recommended by Elaine, she
gave me "Calpril" which is a prilled calcium carbonate 91`% and 1% magnesium,
whatever "prilled" means from a company in Tonasket, WA.  There's a series of
mesh sizes on the bag.  This one is probably overkill, but I was glad to get
something that was the right thing...

When you suggest lime to someone, you need to be more specific about what you
mean.  Can you do a rundown of limes that are available and what they are used
for just to clarify what you mean when you say "add lime"?

Best,

Merla

Re: Other than Jeavons?

[Merla Barberie]

Rose,

My first gardening book in 1979 was How to Grow More Vegetables on Less
Land Than You Can Imagine by Jean Jeavons, and I've always used French
intensive beds since then.  Also first published in 1979 was a wonderful
Book Culture and Horticulture by Wolf Storl which is much deeper and
requires much more intellect as well as study and rereading to
understand it, but it is more understandable than many Bio-Dynamic
texts.  The whole corpus of knowledge you need will have to develop over
a period of time.  Storl covers the Calendar in Ch. 17 and the
Preparations in Ch. 18.  You may order the book and the Calendar and the
Preparations already made from The Josephine Porter Institute for
Applied Biodynamics at P.O. Box 133, Woolwine, Virginia 24185.  I
believe the phone is (276) 930-2463.  They have no email address.  New
BD gardeners usually start with Barrel Compost and Horn Manure (BD 500)
in the spring.  They buy their Compost preps and put into a
well-constructed compost pile made with cow manure.

There are many, many books, newsletters and an on-line Bio-Dynamic
course on  where you may have found this
list/serve.

I am still learning all this.  Many farmers on this list are quite
accomplished and have probably read all of the books that have ever been
written on the subject and are now doing innovative work in their own
right.  So just lurk awhile and read.

Best wishes,

Merla

Fred & Rose Lieberman wrote:

> My only information on biodynamic gardening is from the Jeavons
> books.  Anything else I should be reading? Rose

Re:Visit/trying to share

[Merla Barberie]

Oh Roger, you open a can of worms and I'm trying to find common ground with
Randy.  I doubt if anything I could offer him would make the slightest
difference to him.  He's the envy of his peers because of the prices he
gets.  He had just come back from a trip to Moscow, Idaho, where the
University of Idaho is.  He had been asked to lecture a class on growing
trees.  His blue spruces looked beautiful, though his ponderosa pines were
stressed.  I offered a suggestion of spraying CT on the the pines as a
foliar spray, but Lord knows I know nothing about raising pine trees and
what the ingredients should be.

I wasn't clear.  Randy claims that he can spray Escort when the trees are
dormant and they don't die.  Whether they are stressed by it he didn't say.
I was glad my husband was along and they could talk about things like elk
guiding. This was a PR run for me and I wasn't trying to debate him on his
methods.  But what he meant was that the weeds growing around the trees
affected the growth of the lower branches, not the herbicide. These were
trees that would be planted as focal points in perfect lawns.

Your story about the grazier/shearer of Merino sheep setting fire to the
place next door and getting five-fold renewed growth of serrated tussock is
human nature, isn't it?  Randy offered to show us all his equipment.  He's
very proud of his place, his methods and his equipment.  It was getting dark
so we demurred on that.  His place shows the results of a lot of work in a
paradigm we don't share.  He also doesn't understand that he's raising trees
in agricultural, not forest practice.  The things we care about don't matter
to him when it comes to making a living.  I may send him the article on
ramial wood chips, though.  He seems to be interested in some organic
practices, like green manuring and if he pursues the ponderosa's dis-ease,
he may learn something.  Next time I see him, I'll ask about those two
problems he showed me.

He has offered me some hard fescue seed for Rapid Lightning right-of-way.
Should I take it?  I was thinking of using it on some of the bare ground to
try it out.

I did get some dirt from our county road from a knapweed site and from bare
ground, but it was all frozen and I had to chip it up.  I have it in some
plastic bags which I left open.  I'm still interested in having you dowse
paper dipped in its mud.  I read the Acres USA catalog and they have a lot
of books on dowsing and radionics.  I'm reading Richard Gerber's book on
Vibrational Medicine and it's a good background book for me.  Still, it's
hard to get started.  I'm in the information gathering stage, I guess.  I
have all sorts of unpleasant work like cleaning and ordering that haunts me.

Best,

Merla



Roger Pye wrote:

> Merla Barberie wrote:
>
> > Your nemesis, Randy, seem to exemplify many good, as well as
> > misguided, qualities. His land is in his family and farming is in his
> > blood. He is open enough to share with you what he is doing and he
> > really believes in it, works hard, makes it pay, pays his bills
> > thereby, etc. He uses a spider and cover crops, for crying out loud.
> >
> > I was surprised at how much I liked his place, but it bothered me, I
> > guess because it wasn't a small farm growing vegetables organically,
> > but rather just large fields of beautiful perfect trees, exactly
> > spaced...little monocultures of various tree species planted and
> > harvested in different years.  It might be valuable to compare an
> > organic tree farm with Randy's farm.
> >
> The organically grown trees will be happier and know how to compete with
> other species for precious nutrients and therefore better able to resist
> disease and decay in the long term.
>
> >   My husband tells me he heard Randy bragging about how he and some
> > other farmers sneaked onto an organic neighbor's land who wouldn't
> > take care of his weeds and sprayed it with herbicide...I guess it's
> > his personality, not necessarily his farm.
> >
> A year ago I visited a one thousand acre property in the southern
> highlands of NSW whose owner was allowing it to revert to bush and
> naturally regenerate. He was helping it along the way with tree
> plantings of friendly native species, had planted several hundred. The
> farm had a lot of serrated tussock, Oz's number one 'noxious' weed
> (noxious to stock, of course) which is under permanent sentence of death
> by the authorities. The owner lived in town, no one lived at the farm.
> About half the property was accessible by vehicle (4-wheel drive), the
> remainder by mountain goat.
>
> Access was through another and much bigger farm. The grazier (I use the
> term loosely, he was in fact 

Re: A strange visit/trying to share

[Merla Barberie]

Your nemesis, Randy, seem to exemplify many good, as well as misguided,
qualities. His land is in his family and farming is in his blood. He is
open enough to share with you what he is doing and he really believes in
it, works hard, makes it pay, pays his bills thereby, etc. He uses a spider
and cover crops, for crying out loud.
I was surprised at how much I liked his place, but it bothered me, I
guess because it wasn't a small farm growing vegetables organically, but
rather just large fields of beautiful perfect trees, exactly spaced...little
monocultures of various tree species planted and harvested in different
years.  It might be valuable to compare an organic tree farm with
Randy's farm.  I got the invitation to come via the Weed Supervisor
who is trying his hardest to produce harmony among the disparate elements
on the Weed Committee.  I jumped at the chance to contribute to that. 
In some way, his spread reminded me of the way you have many different
crops planted in a kind of patchwork to accommodate the shape of your land.  
I have French intensive beds so that is quite different.  There was
much good in his work, and I hope this is a beginning of shared respect. 
My husband tells me he heard Randy bragging about how he and some other
farmers sneaked onto an organic neighbor's land who wouldn't take care
of his weeds and sprayed it with herbicide...I guess it's his personality,
not necessarily his farm.  Maybe the fact that we are taking care
of weeds on our IPM road project is a start to help him to relax. 
I am a threat to a long-standing culture of chemicals.  If I can just
get all the tansy, knapweed, thistle and hawkweed off Rapid Lightning Road,
maybe he will respect me.  There is zero tolerance for "noxious" weeds
and everything has to be oriented toward making a profit.  My political
values are so different.
Taking a page out of our native son, Jimmy Carter's book, appreciate
his good points and simply acknowledge his shortcomings. That keeps the
exchange going and you can discuss little things that might lead to bigger
and better things. It's a non-judgmental, step-wise approach, and admittedly
it doesn't always work. But sometimes it produces astounding results.
I agree.  I'm going to try and I appreciate Brad, the Weed Supervisor's
efforts to help find something in common between the chemical proponents
and the environmentalists.  I have mellowed out a lot in my approach. 
I'm demonstrating non-chemical methods and taking care of weeds. 
I'm keeping confidences when I could write letters to the editor in the
local paper blasting various problems I see.  Right now I'm quite
troubled about the residue in the sediment of a broad spectrum herbicide,
diquat dibromide, that was put in the lake for Eurasian watermilfoil. 
This has nothing to do with Randy.  It was the Public Works Director's
baby and he is extremely sensitive if I raise any questions about any problems
or about the high cost of hiring out-of-state applicators and divers to
protect drinking water inlets...Oh God!
The bare soil really bugs you? Well around here grasses and clovers
in the Christmas tree orchard is the only way it is done. This involves
mowing, but still it pays back in moisture and nutrient retention, because
as long as the level of biology is kept up in the soil, living organisms
keep these things inside their cell walls where they are not so easily
lost.
Is there some reason he keeps it bare? Does he know that in other
places such plantations all grow grass? Has he been observant of what happens
to his soil and the living organisms that support it when it spends several
years bare?
He did explain why he keeps it bare.  He pointed to some trees
on his next door neighbor's land which hadn't been kept bare, but had had
lots of tansy that Randy finally sprayed Escort for him when the trees
were dormant.  He commented that it had affected the growth of the
bottom branches and they didn't look good.  He did have hard fescue
on interior roads between large beds on another piece of land that he bought
later.  He expected it to fill in completely and keep out weeds. 
Since he had that large sawdust/urea compost pile, he may be using that
as a mulch.  He would never plant clover.  It would have to be
grass to stand the herbicide spraying.  He really believed that the
trees grew better on bare soil.
There was insect damage which means that his chemical fertilizer isn't
giving some varieties of trees, especially the native ones, what they want. 
I will probably ask him about that.  He could decide to approach the
native trees organically with soil and organisms just like untouched native
soil, but how would he get fast growth?  Maybe it's not possible to
treat native species like the blue spruces he raises from seed from blue
trees with a long history of being grown on a tree farm.
It is always better to ask questions than to give information. This
is quite interesting. Education has come to mean, particularly in our pub

A strange visit

[Merla Barberie]

This afternoon Herb and I visited my nemesis, Randy's, 20 year old tree
farm.  I can't sleep.  It is haunting me.

He has 50 acres of ornamental trees--in exact spacing drawn in squares
with $9,000 worth of slow release chemical fertilizer around the edge of
the squares.  No weeds in sight, completely bare ground...these
beautiful blue spruces and eastern red cedars, Austrian pines and many
more that I can't name.  There was some insect damage--an insect whose
larva girdle small trees, mites.  I recommended that he put some of the
larvae in a jar of water and let them decompose and make a homeopathic
remedy out of it.  I suggested that he try CT on the pine trees with the
mites.  He didn't gravitate to my suggestions.

He had a huge compost pile and referred to bacteria, but it is made from
sawdust and urea, but it looked and smelled like good soil.  He sells
each tree for a high price and never has to advertise, has more clients
than he needs.  He kills tansy with Escort.  He uses green manure crops
to prepare his land several seasons before he plants--cereal and annual
rye, oats.  He even has plots he's doing for the Extension Agent that
have been tested for microorganisms by SFI.  He used a spader.

I gave him a copy of the Wendell Berry's "The Agrarian Standard."   What
does it all mean?  He is a local guy.  He and Herb talked about elk
guiding and working at ski resorts.  His father was a farmer before
him.  His neighbor had more land that he had all in trees too.  The
whole neighborhood was Christmas tree farmers.  Randy's trees were all
ornamentals and he was very proud of the prices they would bring,
especially the unusual shades of the blue spruces.  There were deer and
elk tracks in the fields but they didn't bother his trees because they
don't feed on softwood, I guess, but he complained of wild turkeys
eating buds off one of his tree varieties.  There was not a gopher mound
in sight.

How very different this is from the Bio-Dynamic ideal of having animals
and all inputs from your own place.  I think he might identify with some
of Wendell Berry's ideals, but his farm was based on the industrial
model.  Those beautiful trees were somehow artificial.  I wondered what
would happen if you sprayed BC and 500 on everything.  I'm still trying
to process this.

Randy's and Bette's home was a modest farmhouse--he makes furniture out
of old wood in his spare time and he's going to build them a new
house--plain, he says, "We are plain people."  How can I sort this out?
There are some things Randy and I have in common, but our motivation is
so different.  A few of his trees are native conifers, but most aren't.
Acres and acres of perfect special trees planted on a grid with bare
soil all around on which is sprinkled white pellets of slow-release
fertilizer.  Each planting is harvested at one time and shipped to
someone out of state somewhere.  Then he starts his green manure cycle
again.

I can't manipulate nature that much.  I love our beautiful snowberries
and the crush of native grasses and wild rose bushes.  I like to leave
chickweed and sorrel and plaintain in the garden.  I like volunteering
borage and hollyhocks.  I think it was all that bare ground that haunts
me.

Best,

Merla

Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II

[Merla Barberie]

This came from WTO Watch.  It is insidious what is being done to subject
the whole world. The sponsors for this one are Cornell University and
USAID and they're doing it in The Philippines.  It shocks me that this
campaign to contaminate local seed stocks with patented seed is being
carried on by a prestigious university and a government agency whose
purpose is famine relief.

If only such funding could be channeled to develop open pollinated
organic seed stock which is not patented and which could really help
human spiritual and physical development.

There should be a non-profit international organic seed organization
that helps these countries develop their own plant breeding from their
local seeds.  It wouldn't have to be large or prestigious.

Oh, for someone courageous who is called to do this work who would help
people to understand!



Research center to develop GM crops for commercialization in RP

BusinessWorld (Philippines)
By Leilani M. Gallardo
December 03, 2002 08:40 AM

A research center that will develop new varieties of genetically
modified
(GM) crops for commercialization is expected to be set up in the
Philippines next year under the auspices of New York-based Cornell
University and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID).

Dubbed the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSP II), the
program will focus on the safe and effective development and
commercialization of GM crops as a complement to traditional and organic

agricultural approaches in developing countries.

We hope to work on the project within five years and then have the crops

commercialized after that. We hope that we could build up on existing
resources and help in getting these products to the end consumer, said
Peter Gregory, ABSP II director and head of Cornell University's College

of Agriculture and Life Sciences' International Programs.

The project aims to boost food security, economic growth, nutrition and
environmental quality in hosts such as East and West Africa, Indonesia,
India, Bangladesh and the Philippines through the adoption of GM crops.

A GM, or transgenic, crop is a plant that contains a gene, or genes,
that
has been artificially inserted to create a desired trait.

Funded by a $15-million grant from USAID and led by Cornell University,
ABSP II will be implemented by a consortium of public and private sector

institutions. The consortium, which will vary from each host country, is

expected to develop new biotech products which will eventually be
commercialized.

To ensure the successful commercialization of the new GM crops, ABSP II
aims to conduct highly participatory priority setting to ensure that the

new biotechnology products developed by the centers will focus on the
real
needs of the host country.

It will also produce Product Commercialization Packages for each new GM
crop to make sure that the product gets to the market after it is
developed. The package will include policy considerations, technology
development, outreach and communication as well as marketing and
distribution.

By doing this, all issue surrounding the commercialization of a GM crop
will be addressed.

Aside from this, ABSP II also aims to help create an enabling regulatory

environment in the host country so that the GM products can be
commercialized legally.

We don't want to move too fast before regulatory functions are in place,

Mr. Gregory said.

Mr. Gregory said ABSP II officials are still in the process of choosing
which counterpart agencies in the Philippines they will choose for the
consortium that will oversee the center.

Among those that are being considered include the University of the
Philippines in Los Banos and the Philippine-based International Service
for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications.

Re: 2002 500

[Merla Barberie]

Hi Steve,

You said "urn."  Do you mean an amphora that's rounded on the bottom but is a
vase or is this really an egg-shaped vessel and the lid is just the top of the
egg?  Is yours out of Cone 06 Terra Cotta?  I have a lot of red clay at Cone
6.  It wouldn't be as porous.  You want it unglazed and porous, right? What are
the dimensions?  I know you went through all of this before and I saved some of
it, but bear with me.  Thanks,  Merla

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Hey Gil, I am thinking that what this is, is a womb.  The egg shape houses
> life in Nature.  The Romans and Egyptians went through a lot of hassle to
> store their foods, wine, and water in urns, egg shaped vessels.  They filled
> the bowels of ships with these fragile containers for commerce and food
> supplies.  In pyramids archeologists have found seeds of wheat thousands of
> years old still viable while our modern seed companies store seeds in square
> envelopes in square boxes and they are dead in one or two years.  Sometimes
> we must look back to see forwards.  The idea came from reading some work
> about Schauberger.  This will be the third year of making 500 in this
> manner...sstorch

Re: Droughts and rainmaking change to "Dreaming of Preps/Compost/Refractometer/Cow/Chickens"

[Merla Barberie]

Try <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or go to Yahoo.com and choose
"groups,"  then join--choose a Yahoo ID and get a password.  .  There's
an archive on the Compost Tea page.  It's by individual email, not by
Digest #s.  Digest 121 is November 29.  Hope this helps.

Merla

zoran wrote:

> Dear Merla,
>
> Where can I find The Compost Tea Digest 121?
>
> Thanks
>
> Zoran

Re: Droughts and rainmaking change to "Dreaming of Preps/Compost/Refractometer/Cow/Chickens"

[Merla Barberie]

I got my library to buy A Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber
that someone recommended a millennium ago.  The chapter on Radionics was actually a
history of inventors and practitioners.  It helped a lot and some of it was hard
for me to understand and then it was explained that the practitioner was a psychic
which explained it all.  I just need to start from square one and learn how to
douse.  Those of us who are neophytes need to start at square one to understand
what Gil and Hugh and many others know by experience.

There are so many things to learn.  I buried 13 horns (got 12 from Joe, a friend in
Priest River) with manure sealed with bentonite clay several days ago.  (Hugh, how
do you make horn clay?)  Now I read Steve Storch's description of his horn burying
and I want to dig mine up and rebury them with 2002 BD compost or some of the
potting soil we put in barrels and sprayed with 500/BC.

The Compost Tea Digest 121 is discussing plant respiration and taking brix
measurements with a refractometer.  I want really badly to do this in the 2003
season and am bothering my Weed Supervisor to let me buy a refractometer on the
grant.

I'm really concerned about testing for E. coli 157 in my compost pile.  My husband
made up the pile while I was gone to Lovettsville when he got the use of a truck.
(Our truck has been in the shop for a year waiting for an engine rebuild.  The
engine is in pieces and our mechanic gets to it when he has time.)  Herb says there
was lots of bedding in the manure from miniature horses and a full-sized one, goats
and emus and there was no need to layer it.   I've never measured temperature in a
compost pile, so I guess I need to buy a thermometer.  What kind do I look for?  We
can't all be perfect.

I keep bringing up buying a cow and my husband sighs and says it's impossible
here.  We would have to clear the trees off 7 acres (5 to grow hay for the winter
and 2 for pasture in the summer) and build up the soil.  We have to put up a NZ
electric game fence and pay more property taxes because that would change the tax
designation on the 7 acres.

I'm also interested in having chickens, but he says that they would dig up the
garden big time unless they were penned.  A friend has invented a hen house with
four entrances and a movable chicken wire framework.

This is all very exciting and frustrating to me.  I can dream, but putting things
into practice is much, much harder.

Best,

Merla

Gil Robertson wrote:

> Hugh and Lloyd,
> Regards to both of you.
>
> I am way behind with my emails, thus the long over due reply.
>
> James, could I save you a lot of time, in regard to trying to measure Radionic
> Instruments, using electrical/ electronic type parameters. The Radio part of
> Radionics, is an early misconception by Abrams, who at the time thought that as
> Radio was new, his discovery must some how be able to be explained in those
> terms. The energy we are dealing with is not electricity, magnetic or for that
> matter, electromagnetism. We are dealing with another type of energy, which
> demonstrably travels faster than the speed of electricity/ light. Not only can
> it travel considerable distances, undiminished, it can travel to other levels
> and bring back information on those who have passed over.
>
> The current developments in Radionics, do not use instruments in the traditional
> sense. There are paper based instruments that work faster than the familiar
> black box with knobs.
>
> There is another difficulty in trying to measure instruments. The instrument is
> only a focus, the actual "work" is done by the practitioner's mind. So if you
> have difficulty getting a satisfactory measurement from an instrument, you may
> have to look at the person using it. Taking this one step further, there is
> little point measuring an isolated instrument, as, it, it's self, does nothing.
> It is the practitioner. It is like taking a set of bagpipes in isolation and
> making objective measurements, with no piper. While there are those unbelievers
> who do not consider that bagpipes ever produce music, without a trained and much
> practised piper, even I will agree that no recognisable music can be discerned.
>
> SO if you want to make comparative measurements, it is necessary to have some
> one actively using an instrument, while a second person makes observations and
> using some method, such as dowsing, make some form of value measurement.
>
> I understand that when the NSW Dowsers did some research on the effectiveness of
> a number of instruments, they made a number of standard Homoeopathic Remedies
> up, at a number of potencies and also bought current stock from traditional
> manufacturers. They covered all the containers and each dowser, dowsed contents
> and potency. The results were tabulated and the instrument prepared examples
> measured up closer to potency than those off the shelf. There were some
> differences in the out put of different instruments, tha

Re: Asking for Your Considerations

[Merla Barberie]

Allan,

I just got your email and started visualizing your left foot.  I wanted
to add that two years ago, I tried to break up a growling fight between
my two unfixed Golden Retriever males over my female who was just
starting to go into heat.  I didn't realize that she was there yet.  I
put my right hand inbetween my favorite dog and Herb's favorite dog and
my dog closed his eyes, grabbed my hand, clamped down on it and then
shook his head like he was breaking the neck of prey.  He broke my ulna
and pretty much severed a vein just above my thumb and index finger and
generally injured everything in the palm of my hand.

A year later, although the ulna had healed, the thumb, index finger and
my circulation had not. I went to a massage therapist and I kept
reinjuring it.  Finally my naturopath gave me some Glucosamine
condroitin and Bromelain and that healed it.

I am recommending Glucosamine condroitin and Bromelain, a heavy dose.  I
can't remember the exact proportions.  Each one had a different time
schedule.

Hope this helps,

Best,

Merla



Allan Balliett wrote:

> Folks -
>
> I've really been through the ringer since the July of this year. Just
> take my word for it, if you will, but life has been hell.
>
> As an upshot of the jangled frazzled energy I was accumulating as I
> was most literally being chased by the Devil this month, I took a
> fall some distance and broke the arch of my left foot as all 230
> Saggitarious pounds came down on the one bare foot. The break moves
> like a river on a map of northern texas down and across the upper
> bone of my left foot, the bone that runs down to the 2nd toe. This
> happened a week ago Monday. The foot is still swollen and still
> pretty much purple. (It is in a cast but the Dr removed the cast
> yesterday to check for tendon damage.) They want to leave the cast on
> for another 6 weeks.
>
> It's killing me to be on crutches. It's REALLY screwing up
> preparations for next season, also. Worse, I fear that people who are
> being generous with me due to my abilities may soon lose patience
> when presented with the counterproductivity of my inabilities.
>
> What I want to ask is for everyone to visualize my foot healed (size
> 13!!) and useful again. Please do this whenever you think of it, or
> when you pray alone or in groups or during your contemplations. Just
> imagine my left foot painless, complete, and the ankle free to rotate
> in all directions. I really do believe in the power of prayer and I'd
> really like to take advantage of the good thoughts of all the good
> souls who read this list. This will only work, of course, if you can
> make some time to think me well.
>
> Do you mind?
>
> Gracias!!
>
> -Allan Balliett
> Shepherdstown, WV

Re: OT:FW: Watching democracy die (and be reborn?)

[Merla Barberie]

Take heart, three counties in Idaho went Democratic this past election,
not my own, I'm sorry to say.  The previous election was a clean sweep
for the Republicans.  Of course, that didn't win any representation, but
it surely did help my feelings.

We also have a Green Party, but it's green as in grassroots, with the
environment just one aspect of a varied platform.  The first really
important thing we did was get 100+ people to come to a hearing that we
got by inspiring a lot of people to ask for it.  A Golf Course developer
who also owned a resort on the lake nearby that rented jet skis and
advertised a boat trip to the golf course had applied to build a dock on
the Pack River near the delta.  There was real good testimony asking
such things as why the developer's name didn't appear on the public
notice in the paper instead of some unknown person.  We had a man who
had a Blade Runner (a jet ski) testifying that the *~@# thing sat a foot
deep in the water if it was going less than 30 mph. [The delta is very
shallow so the developer must have planned to have it dredged.]  A
canoeist testified about being swamped by a jet skier on the narrow
river.  My husband testified that he met someone who had taken his
father hunting near the delta where they saw an elk mother with twin
calves in the water and they decided not to shoot.  A woman actually
went out in a kayak and measured the depth of the water at the dock site
and pointed out that the planned dock was too large for the site.  But
really, it doesn't take a lot of people.  It just takes dedicated people
who are willing to stand up and be counted like Markess opposing the
shooting of the deer to cure wasting disease.

In a large urban area, this just wouldn't be possible.  It's just too
large, too sophisticated to get involved in party politics and the
Democrats are up to their eyebrows in corporate money too.  All you can
do it write letters and send emails to legislators on issues.  What are
the Greens like in an urban area?  Could you make a difference on any
local issues?

We need more Wellstones and Kuciniches!  It takes courage to challenge
the establishment.  Moderates and Liberals aren't power-oriented and
they don't shoot leaders they don't like.  A better world must be
possible somehow though. Maybe just the power of thought...like making
rain.

Best,

Merla





Merla







Allan Balliett wrote:

> This essay was written as though the polls themselves were not
> already contaminated. As though intelligent and charismatic liberal
> politicians in this country have not been culled through assasination
> or media-fueled scandals in this country since the Kennedy
> assasination. (I mean, folks, do we really think that Kennedy's death
> served no purpose?)
>
> The controlling technique of the New World Order IS democracy, or the
> illusion of the same. Generally, it's enough to just have the larger
> funds for media control. We've seen in this country that it can go
> further, even when the left offers mediocre candidates. Benign
> dictators normally meet death through junta, eh?
>
> I agree. For the most part the tools for true populist control of
> this country are still, for the most part, in place. If you chose to
> run, don't fly a plane, of course, or call yourself the leader of the
> World Peace Movement. Now IS the time to start working on real
> democracy as though there will be no tomorrow otherwise.
>
> In the current form of democracy, they take the power and we, the
> people, take the blame for everything. Votes never count for much as
> long as the ruling powers pick your choices.
>
> -Allan

Re: Help with burying horn

[Merla Barberie]

Christy,

It really rained heavily all night last night and I was thinking that it was a
good thing I sealed that horn with bentonite.  Would it have filled up with
water and would that have been all right?

Last week, Green and I dug an oval hole in our tallest French intensive bed
which is in one of the warmest parts of the garden and put 10 fire bricks
(larger than regular bricks) three tiers high in it.  We potentized some local
manure with local basalt that my husband identified and I ground up 3 dozen
eggshells in my suribachi and put in two sets of compost preps, stirring the
valerian for 20 minutes.  We didn't quite fill up the hole because I held out
some manure to fill 14 horns that Joe Clarke is lending me.  I'll pick them up
today or tomorrow and get them in during this warm spell.  We covered the whole
area with quaking aspen leaves.

What ever happened with your video idea?

Best,

Merla

The Korrows wrote:

> I might suggest packing soil around the horn with in the clay tile, and if
> you think the bricks might get scooted around, you could tie some nylon
> screen over each end, as is sometimes done with stinging nettle.
>
> I know Hugh C. doesn't seal the manure horns with bentonite (I believe he
> does seal the silica horns up), neither do I or, neither does Jeff.
>
> I got my first stag bladder of the year yesterday. My neighbor Ron rode over
> on his four wheeler, pistol at his side, rifle in the holder, and a big buck
> tied to the front , he zoomed up and dangled a little bladder in front of
> me. So I am slowly gettting these guys trained.
>
> I am so happy your a re burrying a horn Merla!!
>
> Christy
> >

Re: Help with burying horn

[Merla Barberie]

Christy,

We did the BC too last week.  Finally got some manure locally.  We dug a hole
in one of our French intensive broccoli beds that was high and put 10 fire
bricks (bigger than regular bricks) in an oval only 3 levels high.  We
potentized the manure with local basalt and eggshells I ground up in my
suribachi and two sets of preps, put it in the hole and covered with a piece of
plywood, then covered the whole area deeply with quaking aspen leaves I raked
up from the driveway.  Hope all is O.K.  It rained a bunch last night.  We're
having a warm spell.  A friend, Joe Clark, is lending me 14 horns.  I saved
some manure for them (I think I have enough) and hope to pick them up today.

I was feeling glad I had put the bentonite in the horn this morning since it
rained so much last night.  Wouldn't the horn just fill up with water?  Is that
a good thing?

Best,

Merla

The Korrows wrote:

> I might suggest packing soil around the horn with in the clay tile, and if
> you think the bricks might get scooted around, you could tie some nylon
> screen over each end, as is sometimes done with stinging nettle.
>
> I know Hugh C. doesn't seal the manure horns with bentonite (I believe he
> does seal the silica horns up), neither do I or, neither does Jeff.
>
> I got my first stag bladder of the year yesterday. My neighbor Ron rode over
> on his four wheeler, pistol at his side, rifle in the holder, and a big buck
> tied to the front , he zoomed up and dangled a little bladder in front of
> me. So I am slowly gettting these guys trained.
>
> I am so happy your a re burrying a horn Merla!!
>
> Christy
> >

Re: Thanks

[Merla Barberie]

Liz,

Your course program sounds wonderful.  What is name of it and where are you
taking it?  What all have you done?

Best,

Merla

Liz Davis wrote:

> Hi all
>
> Have finally lifted my head from finals and presentations.  How I went is
> still unsure, the soils paper was 3 hours and no easy task, especially the
> nutrition programs.  I'd like to say thanks to all of you, this link has
> been a large part of my learning, and a wonderful connection through a year
> which has been mostly conventional methods.  My BD units begin next year.
>
> Our last task of the year was to reflect on capability 7 'To have personal
> values, beliefs and ethics necessary for a sustainable and healthy planet'.
> There are 9 capabilities in total, set out by the uni.  These capabilities
> must be met before an eco ag student can graduate. A great way to finish the
> year, and reflect along with witnessing the transformation over the years,
> as it was taped.
>
> Now to do some trial plots of various soils and also some mulches and attend
> some workshops, such as Stoneage Farming and radionics.  How was it Tony,
> are you practising your dowsing?
>
> Thanks again
> L&L
> Liz

Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps

[Merla Barberie]

> Hi Frank,

Thanks for the complete answers to my questions.  I went through the SFI
Compost Digest file to try and summarize the controversy for my state organic
department head who had never heard of it before.  You have studied this a lot
and you have a definite opinion about it. I want to answer a few things in your
email.

I wrote:

"As I understand it, Elaine says that if the pH in your compost tea is
above 5.5 - 6.3 that you won't have any E. coli either.  What have I missed?"

You wrote:

"I don't know. Can you recall where Elaine said this? pH > 6.3 = No E. coli in
tea?"... ...I have heard Elaine say that if dissolved oxygen (DO) stays above
5.5 and a full foodweb is present in the compost/vermicompost, E. coli will be
eliminated; she did a recent trial using partially processed vermicompost and
got this result.

She WAS talking about oxygen levels, not pH and she said 5.5-6 ppm.

You wrote:

> 'One swallow doesn't make it spring', however, and what needs to happen is
> for other researchers to verify and confirm Elaine's results until we can
> have confidence that what she asserts will be always true, is in fact always
> true
> •••

> Now, the above are not a bad set of composting standards, to be sure. (The
> usual recommendation for turning composts is five turnings within the first
> fifteen days, with temps returning quickly to the required range between
> turnings, by the way.) But they are designed to get fecal coliforms to less
> than 1000 MPN/g, not E. coli to less than 3 CFU, as I understand it, which
> means you still need to test."

Frank, I'm sure testing compost is a good idea,, but will the testing be
possible financially for some of us, whether from local water district or from
a lab on the net?  How can we test our whole huge compost pile?  Will a test
from the middle of the pile be representative and satisfy the requirement for
testing?  Do I need an oxygen-testing instrument for my small compost tea
operation?  What about Elaine's smell test?  Would that be acceptable for a
small farm?

What about the idea that in a good aerobic tea with the proper nutrients, the
E. coli will be killed by the good organisms?

What about Will's idea that holism being the most important consideration?  How
do we keep our good fuzzy feelings about what we're doing if we're thinking
about pathogens all the time?  Don't laugh.


> You wrote:

> Until a thorough survey of organic, biodynamic, and conventional farms is
> done, with special attention to the issue of all forage versus grain
> supplemented feeding, it would be best to assume some presence of 0157, and
> act accordingly.

We don't have a cow.  We have a hard time finding cow manure at all or any kind
of manure that doesn't have antibiotics in it.  All hay here is certified weed
free and sprayed with herbicide.  We have to search and search for organic
hay.  I live on top of a mountain and have enough acreage to have a cow, but
it's mostly in forest and the ground just isn't suitable for pasture.  We would
have to cut down a lot of trees and it would take a long time to grow a
pasture.  We like it our meadow wild, anyway.  In the winter, we have had as
much as 22 cumulative feet of snow and cows can't live outside.  They have to
be in a barn and be fed hay.

We use CT on our garden and it makes things grow better and go through drought
periods better.  I don't like the idea that I could possibly lose my certified
organic status by using CT.  We need it.

Elaine has a really high class operation going at Soil Foodweb, Inc.  She is
doing a service for farmers and landscapers and she is a really nifty
lecturer.  I just sat through a boring lecture by a university microbiologist
and hers are orders and orders of magnitude better.  She has reached a lot of
people.  I don't like to see Will and Vicky throw aspersions at what she is
doing or the USDA making it harder for her rather than supporting her work.  I
know she can take care of herself, but she has a right to lobby NOSB about
their rule, especially since she wasn't invited to the discussion before they
made the decision.  You said that yourself.

What is your background, Frank?  You haven't given us a resume yet.

Can you supply pictures of testing instruments for compost tea?  I've been
lurking on the Compost tea list/serve because I don't have any experience with
brewers except the most basic kind.  I can't tell an MPM/g from a CFU.

 Best,

Merla

>
>

Re: VIDEO/DISCUSSION Groups was Re: Search for results of Elaine'stesting of bd preps

[Merla Barberie]

 ALLAN, I would also like to have the videos either to try and get the Farmer's
Market  to sponsor a video/discussion group for anyone who is interested or
sponsor it myself at the Quaker Meeting House.

I will be glad to make my copy of NOT FOR SALE available to you.  I think the
subject of the patenting of life is important.

I think MY FATHER'S GARDEN should be in this too because it demonstrates the
possibility of a farm with thousands of acres going Bio-Dynamic.  Could we
borrow a copy of that from Fred Kirschenmann?  We have examples of someone who
is trying to do this in our group--Lloyd.  It's definitely a subject we need to
address.

There may be other films that members know about that we should include.

Best,

Merla


ron poitras wrote:

> Hello Allan:
> I'd like to do a video discussion series here in Maine - can you send me
> info on the films you think worked best. Also would like to borrow/rent some
> of these if possible. I am thinking January and February to do this. I'd
> appreciate your help.
> Thanks
>
> Ron Poitras
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Allan Balliett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 7:30 AM
> Subject: VIDEO/DISCUSSION Groups was Re: Search for results of
> Elaine'stesting of bd preps
>
> >What we are doing here is holding an annual series of weekly videos
> >(most from  Bullfrog) about the leading minds in sustainable
> >agriculture. Among these videos, we include LIFE IN THE SOIL and the
> >Podolinsky film. Having this series allows us to get weekly publicity
> >in the local newspapers. We do not get large crowd, maybe a dozen a
> >night, but always new people each week, so over the course of the
> >videos, we are touching a couple of dozen of individuals through the
> >series (and the entire community through the newspapers and, yes,
> >radio, which resulted in me doing a couple of radio interviews). We
> >have attracted the local ag professor and have made a permanent
> >friend for sustainable organic farming with the county hort agent.
> >We, so far, have not reached consumers, but the potential is there,
> >if we targeted mothers with young children with a different series of
> >videos, I'm sure that we could attract that group.
> >
> >Anyone can do this. The discussions are not led, everyone sits in a
> >circle and we just talk to each other about the ideas that come up.
> >It is great to have a PhD with an albrecht-focus attending each week,
> >but I'm sure we could have done fine without him, also! ;-)
> >
> >If you want to do this same series, I have the tapes and can loan
> >them to you. I also have the press releases that you can modify. We
> >can propagate this program across the country. (If, as Chris has
> >suggested earlier, you are a person who has historically had huge
> >distances between your Wants and your Will, don't waste my time, ok?)
> >
> >This year our series will start with a 7 week discussion of
> >AGRIGULTURE, followed by the 7 week video/discussion series. It is
> >being hosted by the sustainable ag program at Shepherd College and
> >will have an initial enrollment of around 30 sustainable ag/enviro
> >students. I'm excited!!
> >
> >It would be great if others have similar programs and we could get
> >some synergy going with our materials.
> >
> >Also, as I'm sure most already know, there is a "market" for
> >web-based education in this country and around the world. If we had a
> >short web-based educational program, I think we could get it into the
> >school system and, perhaps, even get paid to do so. The point here is
> >that by going web-based we could bypass much of the greatest
> >exepenses of video production and still hit a very important segment
> >of the population (and be available on-demand to the rest)
> >
> >Just some thoughts.
> >
> >-Allan
> >
> >>I think the Korrows' idea about doing a video is good.  I have an
> >>excellent video on the patenting of life called "Not for Sale" from
> >>Moving Images Video Project, 2408 E. Valley Street, Seattle, WA
> >>98112 206 323-9461, .  Their distributor is
> >>Bulldog Films, I think.  You could do worse than getting in with
> >>them.  You want professional video people to make the film.  There
> >>is a filmmaker here who made a video about Sandpoint which I am
> >>going to see for the first time on Sunday.  You first need to decide
> >>what information you want to get across to people about
> >>Bio-Dynamics, then you need to find a filmmaker to work with to make
> >>it really good.  "Not for Sale" has shots from all over the world,
> >>really exciting music and is very well put together and edited.
> >>
> >>I bet this group could collaborate over the net and come up with
> >>something that would set the record straight.
> >
> >

Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps

[Merla Barberie]

Finally, Hugh, let me also say that because the amounts of compost needed to
produce compost tea are ridiculously small, compared to normal field
application rates, it is more reasonable to seek out the best quality
ingredients, use the best practices possible aiming for the highest quality
of compost, and pay for the testing of it all, than it would be for other
sorts of composting. A few such people in an area could provide 'tea quality
compost'  to many other people, and share costs that way very reasonably.

Frank, I can't get . Is this the company you
recommend to test compost?

From: 

Montana ImmunoTech and scientists at Montana State University-Bozeman say they
have the fastest and most sensitive test yet for E. coli 0157. They plan to
develop similar tests for two other food-borne pathogens--Salmonella and
Campylobacter.

The invention came from research MSU-Bozeman microbiologists Barry Pyle and
Gordon McFeters did for NASA, and now the two have teamed up with Montana
ImmunoTech to fine-tune the technology.

The group has applied for a patent on the process, which uses antibodies to
detect key molecules on the surface of the dangerous bacteria. They did their
tests on raw hamburger. Grants from the National Institutes of Health and the
MSU Program for the Development of Applied Biotechnology have helped pay for
the project.

Right now the scientists are working on a sample kit. Already one company is
interested in licensing the test, said Jutila.

Although the test works well on raw meat, Montana ImmunoTech proposes testing
live animals before they're slaughtered. That way packers can separate the 1
percent to 2 percent of cattle infected with E. coli 0157 from other animals.
Nearly 137
million head of livestock and 7.7 billion birds are slaughtered in U.S. plants
each year, according to USDA spokeswoman Jacquie Knight.

Here I am worrying whether the one of 4 cows on a non-commercial ranch in a
small town could have E. coli 0157 and the article that you cite from which the
above excerpt comes says that only 1-2% of cattle in a feedlot/slaughter
situation have it.

As I understand it, Elaine says that if the pH in your compost tea is above 5.5
- 6.3 that you won't have any E. coli either.  What have I missed?

What I'm getting at, Frank, is what are the odds of my having 0157 in my CT?
I'm just trying to get some perspective on this.  The trouble is that no matter
how low the odds, the rule still prohibits me from using compost tea if I'm
certified organic.

Thanks,

Merla




Frank Teuton wrote:

> > Dear Frank,
> >
> > You're right to a point, mate. The presence of E. coli means next to
> > nothing. Everyone has it. Right?
>
> Hugh, the presence of E.coli in water has long been used as an indicator of
> the potential presence of other, much harder to test for pathogens. High
> E.coli counts mean high risk of the other pathogens. Since animal guts are
> the usual and typical places for E. coli to propagate, and it generally
> doesn't propagate elsewhere, E. coli is used as the indicator workhorse.
> >
> > The real question is the presence of E. coli 0157:H7. Can everyone agree
> to
> > that? It is a virulent pathogen, and it kills. But it is a very SPECIAL
> > kind of E. coli. In fact it is commonly found in feedlots. Never elsewhere
> > so far as I know, and I've been watching.
>
> Watch more closely, then. 0157:H7 is indeed most commonly found in feedlot
> cattle situations, but has been found elsewhere.
>
> http://www.about-ecoli.com/page4.htm
>
> "The E. coli O157: H7 bacterium is believed to mostly live in the intestines
> of cattle,1 but has also been found in the intestines of chickens, deer,
> sheep, and pigs."
>
> http://www.fass.org/fass01/pdfs/Callaway.pdf
>
> "It is well known that ruminants (both domestic
> and wild) can be asymptomatic reservoirs of
> EHEC (Wells et al., 1991; Hancock et al.,
> 1994; Bielaszewska et al., 2000). The
> microbial population of the ruminant is very
> diverse and microbes are found throughout
> the reticulorumen, as well as the intestinal
> tract. Because the gastrointestinal tract is
> well-suited for microbial growth it is no
> surprise that the ubiquitous and adaptable E.
> coli (represented by many strains, including
> EHEC) lives in the gut of mammals,
> including cattle and humans (Drasar and
> Barrow, 1985)."
>
> *
>
> "Researchers initially found that 16%
> of the animals tested in both beef and dairy
> herds were E. coli O157:H7 positive, and as
> many as 62% of dairy heifers were
> populated with E. coli O157:H7 (Mechie et
> al., 1997). Additional studies in Europe
> indicated that 18%, 32%, and 75% of dairy
> cows, sheep and goats, respectively
> (Zschöck et al., 2000), and 20% of feedlot
> cattle in the Czech republic were EHEC
> carriers (Cizek et al., 1999).
>
> http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/feng.html
>
> "Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 was only recognized as a human path

Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps

[Merla Barberie]

D & S Chamberlain wrote:
Hugh: I think that Frank has a valid point. Obviously
poorly made compost
tea can contain E.coli, the question is how do we stop it happening?
Perceptions are everything, if it can be traced that someone got
ill from
compost tea then there are legions of highly paid people who will
push the
perception, right or wrong, that all compost tea is bad.

This is a job for an Bio-Dynamic farmer who is also
a scientist.  Can anyone understand journal articles written by researchers
on E. coli?  Can someone start from the beginning with a skyhook--i.e.,
some background, then gather all the relevant scientific articles on E.
coli 0 157 H:7 and on E. coli in general and pull them together to form
a rebuttal to Will Brinton, et al., and publish in a prestigous journal
with a bunch of references.

Then, doggone it, write a book for laypeople like
Our Stolen Future which was the first book I read on endocrine disruption
from dioxin, a substance never mentioned on the label of herbicides which
contain 2,4-D.  Then make a video.
The author of Our Stolen Future was a woman who got her Ph.D. in
later life and who worked for the World Wildlife Fund.  She had amassed
all the journal articles and put 2 and 2 together and called together all
the scientists from different fields to discuss the implications. 
After many meetings (I have papers from those meetings.), she wrote the
book for laypeople.  There are hundreds of scientific articles on
endocrine disruption, but the EPA still allows dioxin-containing herbicides
on the market because of the same reason that the National Organic Standards
are based on "NPK organic" and  leave out 24-hr Compost Tea as Elaine's
group of researchers are developing it and  Bio-Dynamic Agriculture. 
No matter how impenetrable the political situation is, we have the right
and responsibility to put our information out there.
No amount of huffing and puffing will change the perception once
instigated, rumour and innuendo is the way that chemical companies fight
and there's plenty of
suckers out there willing to listen to them.
When I wanted to use Pfeiffer Field Spray on our road and it wasn't
registered in Idaho, that gave Randy his opportunity to scream me down
when I mentioned the word "Bio-Dynamics" by saying "It contains nematodes." 
He didn't know whether Pfeiffer Field Spray contained root nematodes or
not, but he's acted like he did.  He just knew that it hadn't been
tested by the state lab. What he said was irrelevant, but he made such
a fuss that I never did even get a chance to speak. I think some of those
present understood what I was talking about.  Brad, our Weed Supervisor
later told Randy that he was a jackass and Randy apologized to me at Bonner
Cty Weed Meeting in his oblique way.   Maybe there's hope.
We have to start somewhere to interface with these people who don't
have a clue about the things that are most important to us.  I heard
one of the late night TV talk show hosts make a derogatory joke about something
by comparing it to dowsing.  It's just lack of understanding. I don't
know how long it's going to take, but we have to keep working.
I think the Korrows' idea about doing a video is good.  I have
an excellent video on the patenting of life called "Not for Sale" from
Moving Images Video Project, 2408 E. Valley Street, Seattle, WA 98112 206
323-9461, .  Their distributor is Bulldog
Films, I think.  You could do worse than getting in with them. 
You want professional video people to make the film.  There is a filmmaker
here who made a video about Sandpoint which I am going to see for the first
time on Sunday.  You first need to decide what information you want
to get across to people about Bio-Dynamics, then you need to find a filmmaker
to work with to make it really good.  "Not for Sale" has shots from
all over the world, really exciting music and is very well put together
and edited.
I bet this group could collaborate over the net and come up with something
that would set the record straight.
Merla
 
 
 
 
- Original Message -
From: "Hugh Lovel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, 13 November 2002 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps
> Dear Frank,
>
> You're right to a point, mate. The presence of E. coli means next
to
> nothing. Everyone has it. Right?
>
> The real question is the presence of E. coli 0157:H7. Can everyone
agree
> tothat? It is a virulent pathogen, and it kills. But it is a very
SPECIAL
> kind of E. coli. In fact it is commonly found in feedlots. Never
elsewhere
> so far as I know, and I've been watching.Which should prohibit
compost teas > from feedlot manures, but why prohibitany others?
>
> If we could agree on where 0157:H7 occurs, then blanket testing
for E.
> coliis meaningless. We must test for E. coli 0157:H7.
>
> Forget the rest. How relevant is it? E. coli is not the problem,
0157:H7
> is.
>
> Please, give me good science, not scare propaganda a la De

Help with burying horn

[Merla Barberie]

Speaking of manure(Frank, you are very scary to a neophyte like me,
since I have no money to test my compost or my tea)...I am hoping that I
have found my source for BC locally and will find out tomorrow if I can
collect some cowpies off the pasture of two cows owned by the lady who
started the Gardenia Center, the New Age Church in town, certainly not a
feedlot, but a labor of love on her part, since she has to milk twice a
day.  I haven't talked to her about her motivation for having two milk
cows on her place.  I assume it's for the milk.  I'll find out tomorrow.

I'm ready to buy my horn, but we're wondering about our pocket gophers.
We have a bunch and we don't plant garlic or carrots in the ground
because of them.  They also eat fruit tree roots.  I hate trapping them
so we just tolerate them.  Though Venus is now in Scorpio, the little
critters are hunkered down right now and hard to find.

Is it all right to bury my horn in the garden in a chimney tile with
bricks on each end to keep the possible nibblies out of the horn?  I'm
assuming that putting small mesh metal wire fencing material around it
is worse.  It's hard being so dumb that I'm having unnecessary worries
about things like this and about whether the cow(s) are BD or not.

Next question.  Do I close the horn with bentonite clay?  If so, how
thick?  Why didn't I think to ask this question when I bought my horn at
Lovettsville?

Thanks yet again,

Merla

Re: G.M.O. transfers

[Merla Barberie]

Hi Peter,

Put "Percy Schmeiser" into your search engine.  He has a website where he
tells how Monsanto hounded him when his canola crop in Saskatchewan was
contaminated with Roundup Ready Canola and he had never planted GMO seeds or
used roundup.  They sent in retired Royal Mounted Police to intimidate
anyone who had been contaminated because their patent on Roundup Ready
Canola superseeded a farmer's right to save seed.  They offered a leather
jacket to anyone who would rat on his neighbor.  Percy had been the mayor of
his town and in the Canadian parliament and he knew his way around.  He
refused to pay the fine.  Monsanto sued him as an example.  He has fought
them all the way, but patent law made it impossible for him to win.  He has
spent $300,000 fighting them.

Read "Facing Down Goliath" on that website.

Evidently, many growers in the U.S. and Canada have been
contaminated--canola, soybeans and corn.  It's a nightmare.  Contamination
is inevitable.  Zambia refused to accept GMO corn as humanitarian aid
because they understood that it was just a ploy to contaminate their
country's seeds.

My advice would be to organize and fight this in any way you can,

Merla

Peter Michael Bacchus wrote:

> Dear friends,
> We in N.Z. are being threatened with the release of
> G.M.O.'s into our environment. In the U.S.A. you have been living with
> situation for a while
>  Have any members of this list had G.M. pollen affect
> plants on your properties?
>   Have you had any friends or neighbours affected in
> this way?
>Is it a concern for anyone or has some one found a
> way to protect from contamination or clean it out afterwards?
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Allan Balliett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 12:04 PM
> Subject: Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps
>
> > Sorry if you read me wrong, Jane. My intention was not to chastise
> > you but simply bring you up to date. No emotional energy here.
> >
> >   I have total respect for Jean-Paul, which is why I was curious about
> > why he would care about the physcial attributes of the preps.
> >
> > Your remark about 'political bruha' seems to trivialize the actual
> > state of things. It is important to understand that if the USDA says
> > that manure-based compost teas are 'dangerous,' it's not going to be
> > acceptable to the customers of we non-certified organic practitioners
> > to provide them food that 'shit has been sprayed on.' Anyone to steps
> > in the realm of reason in regard to this will really be putting
> > themself in jeopardy should any of their customers become ill for any
> > reason whatsoever after eating a meal containing  tea blasted produce.
> >
> > Let me be clear about this, though: the USDA is just discussing the
> > sanctions on tea right now. This is not, as far as I understand, part
> > of the certification rule currently. (Lloyd? Frank?)
> >
> > Ironically, I have been thinking of adding oat straw tea to my daily
> > routine. That and 1m hypericum 3x daily for a few weeks.
> >
> > Thanks for the post, Jane -Allan
> >