On 16 Feb 2004 13:51:02 -0800, (simy1) wrote:

One of the advantages of organic cultivation is that the balanced soil
will reflect, on average, in a better tasting veggie through better
health and metabolism of the plant, and better micronutrient profile.

There are many reasons for growing 'organically' or non-. 'Organic' is
certainly cuter, and doubles the smugness factor. :-) It's also
economical, if you happen to keep animals which produce manure that
would otherwise be a disposal problem (see: hog waste pools). But
'organic' evidence seems to include a lot of anecdotal material.

"The balanced soil"? Say, what? "...better health and metabolism of
the plant"? "...better micronutrient profile"?

As I wrote in another post, I find the limits of 'organic', um,
limiting. I *sure* don't want to eat from a garden that's been covered
in Sevin dust, but when I got some early corn from plants encouraged
by ammonium nitrate, it tasted pretty good to me.

This said, I found lettuce or chard grown on straight manure to be
worse than lettuce or chard grown in leaf mold with just a bit of
manure. I found that wood ash improved the taste of many vegetables in
my acid soil. I am sure that lime would work almost as well.

(Lime *is* 'organic' within the meaning of the act. It's simply
pulverized stone/mineral, not the product of some evil manipulation of
petroleum.)