Jess,

Thanks for that song.

I really like that.

So you can actually see the mychorizzal fungi? I thought it might be microscopic. Interesting!

Sam - birds that eat Jap grubs!!! That's wonderful!! It must feel so satisfying watching them eat those grubs up!

Carol

Yes it is cool Carol about the birds too.

I think Carol is correct about the mycorhiza being microscopic. Carol is correct according to Michael Melendrez.

I am not sure what the white strands are ? The white strands fungal hyphae mycelium, but it isn't the mycorhiza.

Michael Melendrez says the mycorhiza is microscopic. You can't see it. It gets into the rocks and breaks takes the minerals. Mycorhiza is inside and outside the roots.

Mycorhiza gets into the sand silt clay rocks pebbles.

what I saw underneath the horse manure looked almost exactly like this... ? Samuel, Carol? is this mycelium?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBJ0rXwILY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzbI7wAS-JM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OF8n_sY8as

video on mychorrizal fungi & micro organisms

and this is the product I used available here in SA and created locally

http://www.mycoroot.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhhZdune_5Q

another version of the song 'my body is a cage'

glad you enjoyed that, Samuel, Straw :-)

Straw added more fantastic info on probiotics and their benefits to our bodies as well as Magnesium in this thread, many thanks Straw! I am certainly getting the probiotics next time I go to the shops... :-)

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3731898/march-3-16-favorite-links-wise-quotes-your-garden-and-health-goals?n=1

'It’s a relationship 600 million years in the making. Current theory holds that fungi were first to leave water and to pioneer life on land 1.3 billion years ago. Plants eventually followed, and their success was bolstered by partnering with fungi. Today there are more than 2,000 species of fungi in cahoots with the roots of Douglas firs alone.'

http://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/secret-underground-lives-mushrooms

what I find very perplexing but interesting, is that the Firs are the ones being killed of by the massive mushroom/fungi in Oregon? why do you think that is happening Samuel? How old are Fir trees, do you know? (what period did they start growing?)

also, here are a variety of fantastic articles all relating to good soil, mychorrizal fungi and micro organisms

https://bio-organics.com/latest-news/page/5/

1. Work the soil as little as possible. No-till is best, limited-till is next best, plowing is next best, and rototilling is the worst. The more you can avoid disturbing the established biological communities and earthworm tunnels underground, the better.
2. Mulch with organic materials that will decompose. Try to add organic matter from the top rather than tilling it into the soil. After earthworm populations build up in the soil underneath mulch, it will quickly disappear as the worms feed on the bottom layer.
3. Add useful organisms, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria for legumes and mycorrhizal fungi spores at planting time. These can be dusted on seeds or transplant roots, blended into the soil, scattered in planting holes, or added to seed starting mixes. Plants that have the right types of beneficial microbes on their roots can uptake far greater amounts of nutrients and moisture.
4. much like soil-chemistry tests (which I find are still recommending strong additives like superphosphate – quick death to mycorrhizal fungi). Find ways to keep the living things in the soil prospering, and your plants will also do well. If you don’t want to do bio-assays, just stick a shovel into the ground and see if you have lots of earthworms. (If you have trouble getting the shovel in, that’s the first signal of soil problems, and it’s not just that the soil is clay. Go dig next to a nearby wild shrub or grassy patch. Easier? That’s what you are aiming for – soil kept loose by living microorganisms.)
5. Don’t let the soil lie bare. Even temporary cover crops in for just a few weeks can provide nutrition for microbial life in the soil, plus they contribute valuable organic matter as their roots decompose. Cow peas, annual clovers, and ryegrass are just a few of the many choices available...

https://bio-organics.com/latest-news/page/5/

'You gotta hand it to the Dows, duPonts, Bayers, Orthos, and Monsantos of the world – they’ve successfully developed countless pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and even altered plant genetics to match their chemical products – all to “solve growers’ problems.” Kill, control, sterilize, fertilize, immunize – got it right here, pal.'

http://www.smilinggardener.com/soil-food-web/

'What Hurts Them?

If we use toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides, or withhold water from the landscape (such as by using drip irrigation), or do a lot of deep rototilling or other soil disturbance, many of these soil food web organisms probably won’t be around for very long.

Even if we do something seemingly benign, like use any of the horticultural soap products, we destroy many of them. We really, really want them to be around. Without them, our organic garden becomes a desert.'

Ginkgo: The Life Story of
The Oldest Tree on Earth

Revered for its beauty and its longevity, the ginkgo is a living fossil, unchanged for more than 200 million years.

"focused on the short-term. One of our biggest shortcomings is that we can’t see the long-term, and we see that in the way we respond to all kinds of environmental issues. So reflecting on a plant like ginkgo that was around in very different ecosystems when the dinosaurs were on the planet, that has been around for hundreds of millions of years, really puts our own species — let alone our own individual existence — into a broader context.
It’s a bit like those diagrams that you see, where there’s a picture of the Milky Way and there’s a little sign that says, “You are here.” Well, it’s the same idea. Guess what? We’re not at the center of everything. And guess what? The universe doesn’t revolve around us. And guess what? We’re only here for a short time, whereas some things have been here for a really long time. That ought to encourage us to take the long view as we think about our relationship to the natural world."

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/peter_crane_history_of_ginkgo_earths_oldest_tree/2646/

doesn't this makes you want to plant this tree? I know I am - this tree will have a spot in this little garden :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Carboniferous

the Carboniferous period: 354 million years ago

Is this when conifers*** started growing? I am still trying to figure out why they are being killed of by the giant mushroom....why would a fungi, that helped plants start to grow, now be busy killing them?

***'The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 12 extant division-level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae (Viridiplantae) and 10 within the extant land plants. Pinophytes aregymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue. All extant conifers are woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses,firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews.[1] As of 1998, the division was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species.[2]''

Evolution[edit]

The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, help them shed snow.

The earliest conifers in the fossil record date to the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) period (about 300 million years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinophyta

'That a homely, humble fungus could fight off virulent diseases like smallpox and TB might seem odd, until one realizes that even though the animal kingdom branched off from the fungi kingdomaround 650 million years ago, humans and fungi still have nearly half of their DNA in common and are susceptible to many of the same infections.

He asserts that after one of his public talks, in which he spoke about his discovery of a fungus that kills carpenter ants and termites by tricking them into eating it, he was approached by two retired pesticide industry executives. Convinced that their former employers would feel threatened by this relatively cheap, nontoxic pesticide, Stamets claims, they advised him to watch his back.

Mycelium's labyrinthine tendrils prevent erosion, retain water, and break down dead plants into ingredients other organisms can use to make soil. Stamets likes to call fungi "soil magicians."

and now...could this be the reason those trees in Oregon are dying...?

"Logging has razed the Pacific Northwest's old growth; less than 20 percent of the original forest is still standing. A handful of mushroom species, including agarikon, depends on this diverse habitat, whose disappearance Stamets views as not just a lost opportunity but a national security concern. The cancer drug Taxol was derived from the bark of Pacific yew trees, a conifer native to the Northwest. (See "Natural Selections.") And tests of 18 of the 28 strains of agarikon Stamets has cultured have found varying levels of antiviral potency, indicating the great diversity even within a single fungus species, adding to the urgency of protecting its dwindling habitat. It's conceivable that the most powerful strain is growing on a tree in a logging concession somewhere.

Foresters long assumed agarikon caused trees to rot, and preemptively logged them. Stamets, however, believes it actually protects trees from parasitic fungi. "The tree says, 'I will accept you, Mr. Agarikon, but I want you to protect me. Give me life, and I will give you my body.'"

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/11/paul-stamets-mushroom

https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world/transcript?language=en

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth. (Rumi)

Thank you, Jess, for educating me on the ecosystem of fungi and forest. I really like your link-quote "Guess what? We’re not at the center of everything. And guess what? The universe doesn’t revolve around us. And guess what? We’re only here for a short time, whereas some things have been here for a really long time. That ought to encourage us to take the long view as we think about our relationship to the natural world."

Why should we, with a lifespan of 70 to 90, destroy something than lasts for thousands of years?

Thanks Straw, I agree with my whole heart...

Samuel, will this only get rid of unwanted pests, or will it also kill beneficials?

http://www.gardensalive.com/product/beetlejus-for-ornamental-and-vegetable-pests

It works on just the beetles that chew on plants. It works on grubs that chew on roots, beetles, weevils, and even some wood boring insects.

Jess: I love those pics. you posted .. mushroom can be beautiful with your photography !! You have a very good camera, it's like seeing in real life.

i broke my right arm yesterday, so i won't type very much...but this is fascinating! i really didn't see what was so wrong about fertilizing with chemicals since everything is made out of chemicals, but if inorganic chem. kill the myrro. then i can see why.

carol

I'm so sorry to hear that, Carol. I hope your right arm heal ASAP. We all have our pain in life, and I hope your pain goes away soon.

Oh no. Carol Did you fall?

I think any kind of fertilizer is OK in pots because you water every day so it's OK to have a small dose of fertilizer every time. The worm castings are a good well balanced fertilizer.

I appreciate that you find this post and info interesting. I learn so much here myself... the mushroom info started with Samuel telling me about the giant mushroom/fungi in Oregon. Thanks Samuel!

I mentioned elsewhere.. every grain of chemical fertilizer is like a miniature bomb...

Carol, I hope you are okay? So terribly sorry about your arm...

• • freshly chopped alfalfa – lightly dig into the soil
• alfalfa hay – use as mulch, or in layers as you build a lasagna garden
• alfalfa meal – this is dried, ground alfalfa and can be sprinkled around the garden
• alfalfa pellets – alfalfa meal formed into pellets – check to be sure there are no other ingredients – sprinkle around the garden
• alfalfa tea – brewed by putting a cup of meal into a 5 gallon bucket and filling with water. Let this sit for several days. It will get stronger and more odiferous the larger you brew it. Strain the tea and water plants with it, or use it as a foliar spray.

Benefits of Using Alfalfa

This plant is just one of those all around good guys! I don’t garden without it. Here are 10 great benefits to using alfalfa in your garden:

1. Good Source of Minerals

Alfalfa is a good source of nitrogen, along with several other minerals including:

• phosphorus
• potassium
• calcium
• sulfur
• magnesium
• boron
• iron
• zinc

The N-P-K ratio for alfalfa is approximately 3 – 1 – 3, depending on its source.

2. Builds Organic Matter

Alfalfa builds organic matter in your soil providing nutrients to plant roots. Its high nitrogen content helps other organic material to decompose. Organic matter also helps to prevent compaction, acts like a sponge and holds moisture in the soil, improves soil structure, and helps to prevent erosion.

3. Feeds Microorganisms

The microorganisms in your soil love alfalfa because of the protein, amino acids, fiber and sugars in its stalk – items they need to thrive. Alfalfa hay has an almost perfect balance of carbon to nitrogen (24:1) which soil organisms require.

4. Stimulates Growth

Alfalfa contains triacontanol, a hormone which stimulates the growth of plant roots, enhances photosynthesis, and increases beneficial microbes which help to suppress many soil-borne diseases.

5. Fixes Nitrogen

Alfalfa actually takes nitrogen from the air and holds it as nodules on its roots, a process called “nitrogen fixing”. This nitrogen becomes available in the soil for other plants to use when the alfalfa plant is cut down and its roots are left in the soil, or when the plant is turned into the soil.

6. Stimulates Compost

When added to your compost pile, alfalfa acts as a stimulator. It decomposes rapidly, creating heat which helps the rest of your compost to decompose. And your finished compost will have higher nutrient levels when alfalfa is used. Higher nutrient levels in your compost and soil means more nutrient-dense produce in your garden.

7. Controls Harmful Nematodes

A study in Italy showed that alfalfa pellets significantly reduced infestation of root-knot nematode on tomato plants, and cyst nematode on carrots. As an added bonus, yields for both tomatoes and carrots were increased in comparison to the control groups.

8. Provides Drought Resistance

Because of alfalfa’s sponge-like ability to absorb and hold moisture, it helps plants grown in that soil to be more resistant to periods of low rain.

9. Is a Dynamic Accumulator

Alfalfa roots reach down into the sub-soil up to 8 feet, bringing valuable hard-to-reach nutrients up to the soil surface where they are stored in the leaves of the plant. Using the cut alfalfa in your garden and compost adds these nutrients to the upper layers of your soil where other garden plants can use them. Alfalfa is particularly good at bringing iron to the surface, a micro-nutrient needed for chlorophyll synthesis.

10. Is a Great Cover Crop

Leaving garden beds bare in the winter leaves them exposed to the harsh elements of weather. They should always be mulched, or a cover crop should be planted. Also known as “green manure”, cover crops are generally planted in the fall and then dug into the soil in the spring to improve soil. The crop may also be cut down at the soil level and used as a mulch, rather than digging it in. All of the above benefits (with the exception of #9) would apply.

Carol I thought about your pots when I read this, maybe this could be a great substitute for chemical fertilizers? maybe the hay rather than the pellets, after what Straw wrote about the pellets 'mushing up'?

my seeds arrived yesterday - from next spring I'll hopefully have fresh alfalfa for mulch! :-)

CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS:

The great turning point in the modern history of corn, which in turn marks a key turning point in the industrialization of our food, can be dated with some precision to the day in 1947 when the huge munitions plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, switched over from making explosives to making chemical fertilizer.

After World War II, the government had found itself with a tremendous surplus of ammonium nitrate, the principal ingredient in the making of explosives. Ammonium nitrate also happens to be an excellent source of nitrogen for plants. Serious thought was given to spraying America's forests with the surplus chemical, to help the timber industry. But agronomists in the Department of Agriculture had a better idea: spread the ammonium nitrate on farmland as fertilizer.

The chemical fertilizer industry (along with that of pesticides, which are based on the poison gases developed for war) is the product of the government's effort to convert its war machine to peacetime purposes. As the Indian farmer activist Vandana Shiva says in her speeches, "We're still eating the leftovers of World War II.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/whats-eating-america-121229356/?no-ist

...and someone is making lots of $$$$$

GM seeds:

For example, Monsanto has crossed genetic material from a bacteria known as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) with corn. The goal was to create a pest-resistant plant. This means that any pests attempting to eat the corn plant will die since the pesticide is part of every cell of the plant.

The resultant GMO plant, known as Bt Corn, is itself registered as a pesticide with the EPA, along with other GMO Bt crops. In other words, if you feed this corn to your cattle, your chickens, or yourself, you’ll be feeding them an actual pesticide — not just a smidgeon of pesticide residue.

Sadly, GMOs are a great, big scientific unknown.

On the one hand, biotech firms like Monsanto argue that the GMO seeds they create are so unique that they need to be patented — something that has far-reaching and devastating effects on the global economy. (Just ask Percy Schmieser.)

The trouble is that nobody knows how these unnatural new organisms will behave over time. The seed companies that develop these varieties claim intellectual property rights so that only they can create and sell the variety. In some cases, companies — such as Monsanto — even refuse to allow scientists to obtain and study their GM seeds. For some crops, such as corn, wind can carry the pollen from GM varieties and contaminate non-GM varieties. And there is no mandatory labeling of GM content in seed, says Kristina Hubbard, advocacy and communications director for the Organic Seed Alliance.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/hybrid-seeds-vs-gmos/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972966587/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0972966587&linkCode=as2&tag=foodrene-20

Still searching for possible reasons why the fungi in Oregon is killing the Fir trees:

"How average Oregonians challenged the timber industry – and lost

Now, with the Legislature in session, lawmakers were closer to deciding whether to tighten laws for aerial sprays, used by timber companies to control weeds on clear cuts so trees can grow.

Her Rhodesian ridgeback mix, Mr. Leo, fell ill shortly after the October 2013 incident. The rescue dog soon lost 40 pounds and was put to sleep the following spring. Rickard's vet said the spray was likely to blame.

Rickard developed a sinus infection so severe she required two surgeries. Neighbors complained of severe sinus problems, dizziness and fatigue.

The incident attracted fresh attention to an issue that has festered for decades in coastal communities. In Oregon, timber companies spray chemicals from the air under the West Coast's weakest protections."

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/04/how_average_oregonians_challen.html

https://books.google.co.za/books?id=7pFJyVkMW-IC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=HAS+THE+FOREST+IN+OREGON+BEEN+SPRAYED+WITH+CHEMICAL+FERTILIZERS?&source=bl&ots=xfb_G5xOU_&sig=sDrKRnc5k-2XpZtgqiYVDZ4uX60&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw-Y6IsbPLAhXJvRoKHYWEAO8Q6AEIODAG#v=onepage&q=HAS%20THE%20FOREST%20IN%20OREGON%20BEEN%20SPRAYED%20WITH%20CHEMICAL%20FERTILIZERS%3F&f=false

Jess: That green frog is so cute !! And your roses' foliage is PERFECTION, so thick & healthy. I read all the articles you post, and I learn so much from you. THANK YOU.

it's interesting that fir-trees being over-fertilized result in winter-breakage, and smaller trees. I see that with roses, W.S. 2000 is a very small rose own-root, but I over-fertilized it, and saw smaller branches this year. Cantigny rose park nearby has a display of no-fertilizer, just-right-fertilizer, and too-much-fertilizer on green beans .. The too-much-fertilizer is worse: tiny branch & wimpy .. next is the zero-fertilizer (looked healthy), and tallest is the just-right-fertilizer.

Thank you for the info. on alfalfa .. I'm getting alfalfa hay for $8 a HUGE bundle, birds use the stem to build their nests, plus it locks in the moisture very well around roses.

Thank you Straw, for your kinds words and for liking my roses... it's a huge compliment that (I don't deserve) you say you learn from my info... I am learning as I go along... :-)

I wish I could get hold of alfalfa hay, but hopefully my own alfalfa will be growing fast...my Calendula seeds are also here, delivered with the alfalfa... I am so excited - I got up early and sowed/planted a few already :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIcrurRrwTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nx2azzo70E

one of the best Afrikaans (my mother language) songs ever, sung by two of the best Afrikaans singers ever

translation:

From the Afrikaans poem “Kinders van die Wind” ("Children of the Wind")
by Koos du Plessis.

I know an age-old song
about life’s joys and woes;
about shipwrecks long gone
to the cellars of the sea.

The words are lost forever
but still, the tune persists —
like a dimly recalled image
from a very old folk tale.

Visions, dreams, and names,
have been scattered by the wind
and where all the words went
only a child could see.

Nomads, with no direction;
Seekers that never find…
In the end, we are all just
children of the wind.

http://thungle.blogspot.co.za/2004/10/children-of-wind.html

------------------

I hope you enjoy this :-)

I have a question - about hugelkultur...(and growing roses)...in an area frequented by the occasional termite infestation..

would logs perhaps attract them ...???

Such a happy song, will have to store that song in my Pinterest board, so it will cheer me up when I'm down. The singer is very pretty, so are the African sights. Really enjoy the meaning of the song, and the voice, and the language. I also watched the second singer, and still prefer the 1st singer with Africa scenery. THANK YOU.

The picture of whitish fungus in horse manure? Yup, it's fungal. I get whitish fungal growth on my 2nd pickled cabbage since I didn't make it salty enough to kill the fungus. The second batch of less-salty pickle gave me tummy ache .. will trash that. The first batch of MORE salty pickle was perfect, no white fungus. Probiotics (beneficial bacteria) don't mind the salt, but fungus can't grow with salt.

SALT kills fungus, that's why salty chemical fertilizer kills the mycorrhyzal fungi that help roots to obtain phosphorus from soil.

thanks everyone for your well wishes. i'm not taking -pain killers cause they're so bad for my compromised liver. this too shall pass. yes, i have a bag of alfalfa pellets that i got from a feed lot store.

i love the frog

carol

so i guess kelp or fish fertilizer would be bad too?

thank you Straw for liking the song :-), also for the info on fungi...

Thanks Carol for liking the frog :-) Carol, Straw mentioned that in hard alkaline clay soil, the pellets gunk-together and might cause a problem, but if you use it in your pots with the good soil you use there, it will be great... Kelp and fish fertilizer are organic, not chemical...I am sure it will work wonderfully....along with the alfalfa pellets...just get the amount to add from Straw...she also mentioned that the best roses she ever had was when she added horse manure on top of the alfalfa...

I hope you aren't in any pain and that your arm feels better today?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/apr/06/brazil.food

A handful of the world's largest food companies and commodity traders, including McDonald's in the UK, are driving illegal and rapid destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a six-year investigation of the Brazilian soya bean industry.

The report, published today, follows a 7,000km chain that starts with the clearing of virgin forest by farmers and leads directly to Chicken McNuggets being sold in British and European fast food restaurants. It also alleges that much of the soya animal feed arriving in the UK from Brazil is a product of "forest crime" and that McDonald's and British supermarkets have turned a blind eye to the destruction of the forest.

According to Greenpeace, public and indigenous land is being seized by farmers using bulldozers and even slave labour. Last year more than 25,000 sq kilometres (10,000 sq miles) of Amazon forest were felled, largely for soya farming.

http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/cattle-pastures-in-deforested-amazon-now-the-size-of-iceland.html

The largest rainforest in the world is being chopped down almost entirely for a single purpose: beef. That's right, one of the biggest, most beautifully diverse ecosystems on the planet is being traded in—for hamburgers. According to a report from Mongabay, a full 80 percent of the land cleared by Amazon deforestation from 1996-2006 has been used to create cattle pastures.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/31/cattle-trade-brazil-greenpeace-amazon-deforestation

A report today from Greenpeace details a three-year investigation into these cattle farms and the global trade in their products, many of which end up on sale in Britain and Europe. Meat from the cattle is canned, packaged and processed into convenience foods. Hides become leather for shoes and trainers. Fat stripped from the carcasses is rendered and used to make toothpaste, face creams and soap. Gelatin squeezed from bones, intestines and ligaments thickens yoghurt and makes chewy sweets.

Greenpeace says it has lifted the lid on this trade to expose the "laundering" of cattle raised on illegally deforested land.

Food for thought

How much of the Amazon rainforest has been lost and how quickly?

Since the 1970s, when satellite mapping of the region became available, around a fifth of the rainforest has been destroyed, an area the size of California. Greenpeace US estimates that, between 2007 and 2008, another 3m acres (1.2m hectares) of the Brazilian Amazon have been destroyed.

The reason why I have never EVER eaten ANY McDonalds product.

Question: WOULD ANY HUMAN BEING DO THIS, DESTROYING THE PLANET HIS/HER CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN WILL INHERIT? KNOWING THAT BY DESTROYING THE LAST LUNG OF PLANET EARTH WILL CREATE SUCH DESTRUCTION?

Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBIA0lqfcN4&ebc=ANyPxKr2tTabALOgWatjVt_STm6f7ydG3TTj98MLB5452Hb760vlWNqgPQWnHUOJfqXvWIxXBrF6821ffItAemwD3KidX8AnLw

Definition: Chemical versus Organic fertilizer:

A chemical fertilizer is defined as any inorganic material of wholly or partially synthetic origin that is added to soil to sustain plant growth.

Organic fertilizers are substances that are derived from the remains or byproducts of natural organisms which contain the essential nutrients for plant growth.

CHEMICAL :Example

Ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, urea, ammonium chloride and the like. Chemical fertilizers are manufactured from synthetic material. Artificially prepared.

ORGANIC: Example

Cottonseed meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, Alfalfa, leaves and manure etc.. Organic fertilizers are made from materials derived from living things. Prepared naturally.

Organic Food May Become a Thing of the Past

Over the past 15 years or so, a collection of five giant biotech corporations -- Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow and DuPont -- have bought up more than 200 other companies, allowing them to dominate access to seeds.

The takeover has been so dramatic that it is becoming difficult for farmers to find alternatives. As a result, in the U.S., 90 percent of soybeans are genetically-modified, and many conventional farmers have trouble obtaining non-genetically modified seeds.

According to The Ecologist:

"... [O]ne solution to restricting their control would be through banning the practice of granting patents on seeds, plants and genes. A patent gives a company exclusive rights to sell and develop a new invention. In the case of patents on plants and genes it grants them temporary monopolies and bans farmers from saving seeds".

At this point, a mere FIVE companies – biotechnology companies at that -- own the vast majority of all worldwide seeds. The enormous ramifications of this should be fairly obvious.

Genetically modified (GM) seeds, particularly corn and soy, have already taken over in many areas of the world, effectively eliminating the use of conventional and "heirloom" seeds, and along with them, the ancient, sustainable farming practices that produces healthful food.

For example, in the US, as of 2009 genetically modified (GM) soybeans accounted for 91 percent of the soybean market. Eighty-five percent of all corn grown was GM, as well as 88 percent of all cotton.

Many pro-GM crop fanatics argue that genetically engineered (GM) crops are superior in a number of ways, but evidence to the contrary is all around us…

GM Crops = Higher Costs, Lower Yields, and Far More Dangerous Foods

Two years ago, 400 scientists from around the world created a report that shows how seed and plant patents are increasing, as opposed to reducing, costs as promised. For example, between 1996, when GE seeds were introduced to the market, and 2007, the price for soy and corn seeds doubled.

But the price farmers pay for using GM seeds do not end there.

Heartbreaking proof of the devastating effect of this agricultural change can be seen in the skyrocketing suicide rate in India, where rising debt combined with frequent GM crop failures bring farmers to the brink of despair on a daily basis.

Africa has also been negatively impacted by GM crops.

SeattleGlobalJustice.org recently reported that "in 2009, Monsanto's genetically modified maize failed to produce kernels and hundreds of farmers were devastated. According to Mariam Mayet, environmental attorney and director of the Africa Centre for Biosafety in Johannesburg, some farmers suffered up to an 80 percent crop failure."

In reality, GM crops are a scientific experiment based on flawed assumptions, and anything is possible – and I can strongly guarantee you, it isn't good, and it won't get any better.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/11/how-monsanto-controls-the-future-of-food.aspx

GM crops have spread from cultivated land to the wild in several countries, but they have not previously been found in uncultivated land in the United States.

The scientists behind the discovery say this highlights a lack of proper monitoring and control of GM crops in the United States."The extent of the escape is unprecedented," says Cynthia Sagers, an ecologist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, who led the research team that found the canola (Brassica napus, also known as rapeseed).

I recently interviewed GMO expert Jeffrey Smith on this topic. In that interview, he discussed a recent Russian animal study that illustrates the generational health hazards of a GM diet.

In the second generation, GM soy-fed hamsters had a five-fold higher infant mortality rate, compared the controls.

But it got worse, because nearly all of the third generation hamsters fed GM soy were sterile...

Humans have much longer life spans than hamsters and other lab animals, so we have not even begun to see the health effects of GM foods on our FIRST generation yet!

Many people are unaware of the fact that no safety study has ever proved that GM foods are safe for consumption. Studies have, however, linked GM foods to:

• Cancer
• Food allergies
• Damage to your immune system
• Super-viruses

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/30/gm-crop-escapes-into-the-american-wild.aspx

Excellent info., Jess !! Last 2 years I did threads on danger of GMO in cooking forum, and in this forum .. there were strangers who jumped in to criticize. One worked for Monsanto, the other was on anti-depressant with psychotic effect. Thank God for Dr. Henry Kuska came to defend me. They can't criticize now since there are more than one person !!

Soy-burgers changed in taste. Decades ago I ate one, and it was really good. Now I can't handle them, except for one that's labelled ORGANIC soy bean .. it's better-tasting than the other GMO-soy-burgers.

Carol: People use sea-salt to treat toe-fungus. I use sea-salt to pickle my veggies. About salt in seaweed, yes, that promoted black-spots in my roses due to the damaging effect of salt on water-intake of roots. Cow manure is salty too, and that promoted black-spots as well. I never see fungus growing on cow manure (too salty & too alkaline), but I saw white-mold growing on chicken manure in wet spring.

thanks jess and straw.

my arm is feeling a lot better - still not good enough to drive - but maybe monday.

Thanks Straw, I appreciate your info on fungi and also clearing up the salt content in cow manure and seaweed...also about GM versus organic Soy....

So happy to hear your arm is better Carol!

thanks jess!