Rock Dust

[Parsons Jack]

Hi Primrose,

I'm certainly willing to give it a try. I only moved in here back in January, and although the previous owners grew veg for 20 odd years, I'm not sure if the soil has been improved or not. They used all the old potting and hanging basket compost to build up the soil depth over the years, so it is very workable, but I'm not sure if much else went in. Nothing ventured as they say

[Weed]

I am really glad I brought this subject up now it will be good to compare results with those of you who are going for the Rock Dust treatment too.

I have two half plots adjacent to each other so I plan to treat just one of them this Autumn together with the green manures
I have talked my allotment neighbour, who also has two half plots, into using one of his half plots next year by planting his crops biodynamically

Hopefully we should have some useful comparisons

[PLUMPUDDING]

Just read an article in Augusts Organic Gardening magazine, mentioning Rock dust and it says that "there is no evidence to suggest that soil is in need of remineralising. In fact, there is a study of British agricultural soils dating back to 1969 which demonstrates that soil mineral levels are unchanged. Moreover, vegetables are now lower in minerals such as phosphorus and potassium despite the fact that these are added to agricultural soils in huge quantities. It seems therefore that we are looking at a problem not of deficiency but of uptake."

It goes on to explain the most probable reason for this and how to address the problem.

I love reading this magazine as well as KG mag. This particular article follows on from the Back to basics article in last months about feeding your soil. So is very relevant to this question.