AgPhysics

By Hugh Lovel

On a recent trip to Japan where I visited several organic farms as well as a golf course I noted that no matter how good their other practices none were composting well enough. All omitted clay from their compost mixtures. The same is commonly true on organic farms elsewhere, though I know of cases—most of them biodynamic operations—in Europe, India, the USA, Australia and New Zealand where composting is excellent. Read the rest of this entry »

“And these plants, the legumes, represent something similar to what takes place on the epithelial cells of our lungs during inhalation. By and large, the legumes are the only plants of this kind; all others are more closely related to the process of exhalation.”—Rudolf Steiner

By Hugh Lovel

Once in my childhood a new Rector for our Anglican Parish was installed. Within a few weeks the grand, old azaleas around the church and bordering its grounds were sawn back to stumps and all their mulch removed. Several weeks passed before new mulch was installed, nor was I privy to those politics. For some bushes the result was catastrophic, and for the others it was several years before a modest shadow of their former glory was seen. Other than that I do not recall ever seeing azaleas or rhododendrons planted without their roots being mulched. Though these bushes commonly grew without fertilizers, mulching was just something that everyone growing these plants did—either that or these plants didn’t grow.
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