In article ,
VickyN wrote:

Land still needs to be rotated because of high application of
fertilisers building to toxic levels... particulalry P (locks out
iron).
Ah, maybe rotated is the wrong word, easy to confuse with ordinary
crop
rotation I suppose. So let's just say land is left unusable for
certain
periods of time.

'Billy[_10_ Wrote:
;928908']

Nitrogen input reduces organic material in soil, but micro nutrient
deficiencies arrive slowly enough that amendments can be added to
augment the soil.

By this do you mean we replace the organic material directly in the top
few inches of soil? Micro deficiencies arrive slowly usually because
they are immobile in the first place. Very hard to correct once set in
in certain cases.
Nitrogen is used for making protein, which promotes an increased
population of microorganisms. The more organisms there are, the more
food (organic material) they need. Conversely, the more organic material
you have in the soil, wood chips for example, the more nitrogen the
microorganisms will need, even restricting what is available to a
gardeners plants.

Micronutrients, as their name implies are needed in only very small
amounts. This can usually be corrected with mulching of the use of
compost.
http://www.indoor-gardening-guide.co...Plant-Nutrient
-Primary-secondary-and-micro-nutrients.html



'Billy[_10_ Wrote:
;928908']E. coli is an enteric bacteria. That means it is present in
your colon
right now. IIRC natural E. coli is benign. E. coli 0157 H7 though is a
killer, and comes from confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) where
grain is fed to ruminants, acidifying their stomachs.

'Power Steer - NYTimes.com' (http://tinyurl.com/5u3abk2)
Escherichia coli 0157 is a relatively new strain of a common intestinal

bacteria (it was first isolated in the 1980's) that is common in feedlot

cattle, more than half of whom carry it in their guts. Ingesting as few

as 10 of these microbes can cause a fatal infection.

Most of the microbes that reside in the gut of a cow and find their way

into our food get killed off by the acids in our stomachs, since they
originally adapted to live in a neutral-pH environment. But the
digestive tract of the modern feedlot cow is closer in acidity to our
own, and in this new, manmade environment acid-resistant strains of E.
coli have developed that can survive our stomach acids -- and go on to
kill us. By acidifying a cow's gut with corn, we have broken down one of

our food chain's barriers to infection.

Thank you for the information... and as e.coli lives in soil and soils
are becoming more acidic, couldn't this too contribute to mutant strains
of e.coli?

No. Escherichia coli, lives only in intestines. Outside of the gut,
Escherichia coli may last 3 months, which is the minimum suggested time
to let fresh manure age before it is used in the garden. Escherichia
coli won't propagate in the soil. Escherichia coli is an enteric
bacteria. Escherichia coli is an indicator of feces, and the government
has set limits on how much feces may be present in the foods that we
eat.
--
- Billy

Mad dog Republicans to the right. Democratic spider webs to the left. True conservatives, and liberals not to be found anywhere in the phantasmagoria
of the American political landscape.

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/.../michael-moore
/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/