Billy wrote:

Rodale has a different take on peat moss.

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/search/node/peat

Bill, "FarmI" was addressing the ecological impact of harvesting peat
moss. Rodale seems to just address the use of peat moss. The two sites
are talking past each other.

I grew up near Niagra Falls in a region with a thick clay layer of
subsoil and a pretty thin layer of loom over it. We added peat moss to
our gardens every year in an attempt to make the loom thicker. Mixed in
and dilute it appeared to draw worms that consumed it in a couple of
years. We could keep added moss every year as long as we lived there
without any build up or ill effect. We never deposited a few meters of
straight peat moss like happens in a bog so it did not build.

As to harvesting, it's like a forest. As long as new grows at least as
fast as you harvest it renews. I'm sure there are sustainable and
non-sustainable peat moss harvesting business out there. If I could
tell which is which I'd buy my annual bale from the sustainable folks.