Re: Pine Tree Problem

In article <fbvhv35e0hn9kc9q6rutgkm0h5t2phjiv8@xxxxxxx>, Charlie wrote:

On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:42:03 -0400, Bill <b2forewagner@xxxxxxxx> wrote:


My dad taught me to take a hand full of garden soil squeeze it and see
how it broke up. This for early soil preparation if it had been wet.
He also used to take the same soil and taste it. This for getting an
idea if lime was needed. This was 50 years ago.

Bill

Here is a good read concerning soil.


<http://www.regional.org.au/au/asssi/supersoil2004/keynote/lineskelly.htm


Thanks Bill. This is an excellant essay. What realized, before I read
the following passage, is the spiritual aspect of our relationship with
the soil:

"In some intuitively perceivable sense, the quest for a deeper
understanding of the soil?s role in the natural environment and in the
life of humanity, is more than an intellectual exercise or a merely
utilitarian task. It might even be something of a spiritual pilgrimage,
impelled by an ancient call, a yearning to return to a life of greater
authenticity."

As I said to Billy, this essay occupied my thoughts for the better part
of the day. Reflecting back over my life, from my earliest memories,
the time I recall being most spiritually barren, were the times I was
away from and uninvolved with the soil.

Also important is this passage:

"Soil is the connection to ourselves. From soil we come and to soil we
return. If we are disconnected from it we are aliens adrift in a
synthetic environment. It is the soil the helps us to understand the
self-limitations of life, its cycles of death and rebirth, the
interdependence of all species. To be at home with the soil is truly
the only way to be at home with ourselves, and therefore the only way
we can be at peace with the environment and all of the earth species
that are part of it. It is, literally, the common ground on which we
all stand. What has happened to our modern industrialised society is
that we have gone through a divorce. We have become divorced from the
soil. And I submit that until we heal that divorce and become lovers of
the soil again, many of our social problems will go unsolved including
our food safety and environmental protection problems. (Kirschenmann
1997)

This essay played in my minds eye as the complete unfolding of the
human experience on this earth.

Thanks for the spiritual uplift and helping me along the way.

Your faithful student :-)
Charlie

I read ideas like this and think of the issue of food quality and how
it effects scholastics and social interaction. Perhaps being grounded
is a health concern on a larger scale.
Of course our rural heritage has had it's share of violence too.
Finding a balance is difficult today all I hope for is a gentle
correction. Read that as slow, small and individual.
Then there is that pesky notion of aging. Seems trivial things get
more attention than 40 years ago when I was too busy living hard.
The word domesticated comes to mind. Which is a challenge that requires
spunk.
So I say live hard and hope others do too.

Your faithful student :-)

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA
MaCain in 2038 !!
.

Relevant Pages

  • Not Finding Life? Dig Deeper
    ... NOT FINDING LIFE? ... A place so barren that NASA uses it as a model for the Martian environment, ... Chile's Atacama desert gets rain maybe once a decade. ... Betancourt had to search the soil for biologically produced minerals such as ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Not Finding Life? Dig Deeper
    ... NOT FINDING LIFE? ... A place so barren that NASA uses it as a model for the Martian environment, ... Chile's Atacama desert gets rain maybe once a decade. ... Betancourt had to search the soil for biologically produced minerals such as ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Re: wheatgrass
    ... light through the mystery of chlorophyll, basis of organic life." ... In fact, the top 8-12 inches of soil, ... cell matrix containing vitamins and minerals is the key. ... Although this clay is infused with the life of my spirit, ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • wheatgrass
    ... light through the mystery of chlorophyll, basis of organic life." ... In fact, the top 8-12 inches of soil, ... cell matrix containing vitamins and minerals is the key. ... Although this clay is infused with the life of my spirit, ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • Re: Sugar Mill Poses Explosive Risk
    ... Cuba admitted the country's ecological disaster at the ... Hurting the environment and going nowhere ... to soil erosion, water pollution, contamination and degradation of coastal ... desertification processes cause losses of $42 billion annually. ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
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