Since the World Health Organization has listed glyphosate as a possible carcinogen for humans common sense says the presence of it in the food we eat needs to be looked at. Denial does not cut it. You'll recall from this discussion what "possible" and "probably" mean in the context of the WHO report. Rather than getting all excited and allowing yourself to be distracted by the buzz words, try looking at the entire report. Cherry-picking does not cut it. People who understand that just because a product or material is synthetic does not automatically mean that its "bad", or that naturally-occurring substances are automatically "good", don't have blinders on. Rather, it seems quite the opposite. By taking the blinders off, we can see that where something is produced has nothing to do with toxicity. Interesting how people dismiss a known carcinogen in beer, ethyl alcohol, and focus instead on something that they want so badly to be one. To put the quantities in perspective, beer can range from 4 to 8% alcohol. (Sure, some have a bit less and some have a bit more, but I think most would agree this is a fair range.) This article, the first from the link provided above, states that a study has found 0.46 and 29.74 micrograms glyphosate per liter of beer. That's equal to 0.000046% and 0.002974%.

I hear you. Last winter I practically hibernated from December to March. Even my lawn went partially dormant, but single digit temperatures aren't something you can do much about. >>So is the concern with using super green and freezing temps that, when the ground freezes, the slow release nitrogen will run off into streams? And with any slow release formula. It's also why I don't recommend heavy organics after October 1st anywhere in the northern part of the nation. Most years, they'll have at least six weeks to decay, minimum. >>What do you do to actively discourage soil freezing? :-D Raise organic matter levels. OM has a spongy, open, and more airy structure, so even if the surrounding soil freezes, the OM maintains channels into the soil where moisture and resources can penetrate without running off. OM's also happy to bind most resources for you. Doing the above encourages worms, which also drill channels in your soil. Same effect. Increase potassium levels to about 5% saturation. Like any ion, it turns down the freeze temperature slightly. Plus it armors the grass to tolerate cold temperatures quite nicely. Proper calcium and magnesium levels also help with freeze temps, but don't assist the plant in surviving cold weather. OK, sit down for this one. Spray raw milk (pasteurized whole milk if that's all you can get) at 4 ounces per thousand square feet on your lawn once a year (more is just fine). Why does it work? Nobody has any friggin' idea. But it must be an enzyme as the effect lasts a year. In a well-tuned soil, the effect is to increase grass' and gardens performance a little bit. It's obvious, but nothing extreme. In poorly tuned soils, tune the soil first before bothering. But it also does something to decrease the freeze temperature. Soils maintain a flexible, spongy structure much colder than they would without it. Why? Clueless. But it works.

Sounds expensive. They use it at Flemington I believe so it must work well. I think I would rather go Tom's way though. I would prefer to go completely organic but keeping the organic matter up to them is a problem - and hard work, so I try to alternate between the two. One thing I have noticed with my own roses is that extra potash is necessary in one form or another - either in a Fruit or Flower fertilizer or just potash mixed in with Blood & Bone or used solubly with manure teas. ( I'm a miser and make teas instead of using Charlie Carp!) The blooms are much bigger and there are more of them. I've noticed that the complete citrus and rose foods which I believe are similar, don't produce the same effect as Fruit & Flower. I read somewhere that potassium deficiency makes rose more vulnerable to fungal disease too. What slow release foods do you use Tom? And has anyone use plant tablets?

Re-post the info. I posted in June. Today Old Port is a BS-fest & doing nothing as of today, August 30. Last month I scraped off red-lava-rock, and replaced with horse manure plus high-phosphorus NPK 4-10-7 (blood meal, fish bone meal, sulfate of potash, and kelp meal) . I should had done what I did in spring: chicken manure NPK 5-3-2, plus red-lava-rock for potassium. Lesson learned, I find that minerals (in rock dust, or Azomite, or red lava rock) is great to INCREASE the yield in crops. The problem with MG-potting soil is it's not rich in minerals like clay or rock dust. Here's an excerpt from below link: http://remineralize.org/2007/11/soil-remineralization-and-the-climate/ " Remineralization also enhances and speeds up the process of composting, so if you are composting for your garden, consider putting on some rock dust. Remineralizing by adding rock dust to compost is a very practical way to apply it to soils. For Forests The results of long term experiments released in 1986 showed that in a forest where pine seedlings were remineralized, after 24 years the wood volume was four times higher than in the untreated area. Remineralization trials of a dying forest on Mt. Mitchell by Dr. Robert Bruck, Ph.D., showed that twelve weeks after application of rock dust, height of growth of red spruce was increased by 27% over non-treated controls, and height growth of Fraser fir was 19% greater than the untreated controls. (Forestry Research packet) The Men of Trees organization in Australia is doing remineralization trials with many species of trees in Australia with phenomenal results, such as five times the growth of trees seedlings of one variety of eucalyptus, over the untreated controls. (See Forestry Research packet) For Agriculture The best source of soil minerals is simple crushed gravel dust. In 1976 John Hamaker spread gravel crusher screenings on part of his ten acres in Michigan. The following year, in an area of sparse rainfalls and dry summers, with no irrigation, his corn produced 65 bushels per acre, compared to yields of under 25 from other local farms. Moreover, when independent analyses were done, Hamaker’s corn was found to contain 28% more protein, 47% more calcium, 57% more phosphorus, 60% more magnesium and 90% more potassium than the same type of corn grown with chemical fertilizers nearby. - See more at: http://remineralize.org/2007/11/soil-remineralization-and-the-climate/#sthash.3RNlqfTo.dpuf Here's the result of my top-dressing Old Port with red-lava-rock, the free-sown snapdragons go beserk. Old Port got winter-killed to 4 inch. tall early April. Pic. taken June 8: