James Freyr

Yes. This can be rather common in conventional agricultural. Synthetic fertilizers, poison sprays, discing, plowing, mechanical tilling, are all things that kill earthworms and when done repeatedly can result in a soil with no earthworms present.

Thomas A. Cahan wrote: 'we' were diagnosed as having it...

Have you sought a second opinion from another healthcare professional with additional testing? Doctors make mistakes, technicians make mistakes, analytical machines can and do report false positives, errors happen everyday. While testing is for the most part considered reliable, all tests come with a sampling error rate, and no medical test is ever 100% accurate 100% of the time. I'm of the notion, and this is my opinion and beliefs, that a single positive test result requires further analysis and being able to repeat the results for me to come to reliable conclusion.

Whether a plantar wart on a foot, one on a hand or anywhere else on the body they're caused by the same virus. Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar is incredibly effective and reliable at ridding a person of warts, done so myself. An effective method is a small piece of a cotton ball or a piece of a q-tip for examples, saturated in apple cider vinegar and placed over the wart then held in place with a bandage for 12 hours. 12 hours on, 12 hours off, for about a week. In my experience doctor visits and liquid nitrogen never worked, it always came back. Prescription pharmaceuticals never worked, it always came back. Meanwhile, the real medicine that did give me permanent results, an actual cure, was in my cupboard the entire time.

Hope this helps!

Patrick Edwards wrote:SO my question here is -

If one were to buy 'conventional' seeds and grow them organically (no synthetic inputs), how long would it take for those plants to become 'organic'?

I think there’s many facets to this first question. May I ask you: Are you doing this in order to sell seed as organic? Are you attempting to adhere to organic guidelines? If this is the case, then I believe reviewing the NOP (National Organic Program) rules will give you the answer you seek. I don't know what it is. If you’re doing this just for your own use, I believe that one generation of growing using organic or better standards will be sufficient. It’s what I do if I can’t find an organic seed.

How many generations of growth before the traces of synthetic fertilizers and whatnot are removed from the plants composition?

See reply to the next question.

Should one still consider the 'conventional' seeds for soil building and tillage or would it make it impossible to grow anything organically by leaching said chemical fertilizers and pesticides into the soil?

If a seed is analyzed using a fancy mass spectrometer in a lab, I’m pretty sure the machine won’t reveal if a phosphorous atom, for example, came from a petroleum fertilizer or bat guano, or if a nitrogen atom came from synthetic urea or chicken manure. Some here may be able to shed more light on this, but these atoms were made in ancient stars and don’t vary much from one to the next*. Synthetic fertilizers used to grow one generation are not going to carry over to future generations through seed.

So some of those “whatnots” can be systemic, meaning they are taken up by the root system of a plant and whatever compound it is gets into the vascular system of a plant and can get into plant tissue and its fruiting bodies. I think it’s also possible that there may be a trace amount of a systemic ending up within a seed, but that’s just my guessing. Any seed that is germinated in soil will then rely upon soil bacteria & fungi and the minerals found in the soil to grow. A conventional seed planted in a soil is not going to contaminate that soil.

... how long before the soil has cleansed itself? If ever.

It depends. The soil type, the type of contamination, and the amount of contamination are all variables that prevent there being a one size fits all answer. Soils can be remediated using fungi and plants. Mycoremediation is the use of fungi, and fungi have the ability to cleave long chain man-made chemical compounds into lesser innocuous compounds and even individual atoms. Phytoremediation is the use of plants to pull contaminate from a soil. Certain plants are better than others, and can pull toxins from a soil, and even degrade or stabilize some compounds, but sometimes the toxins can accumulate in the plant tissue itself. Again, it depends on the contamination and application. But, yes, soils can be cleansed.

*Atomic isotopes exist, and these are the same chemical element with the same atomic number but different atomic mass and different physical properties. (From Merriam Webster)

Erica Colmenares wrote:
Could you describe how you did this? Did you just pour (or spoon?) the DE into the crack, where the subflooring and drywall meet?

I didn't have a spoon handy so I just used a thin piece of wood as a spoon to scoop and sprinkle into the gaps. Some ended up on the hardwood flooring and I used a dry paint brush to brush it into the gap. I recommend loading it up, even leaving small piles in the crack for the bugs to have to blaze a trail through. DE works really well when it gets into the articulating joints of exoskeletal bugs, be it their legs or a body segment. It can be more effective this way as compared to a light dusting that hardly covers a surface.

Erica Colmenares wrote:
I'm wondering if you could describe this a little more. We're at this point in our house build, and I want to talk about it with our contractor (or just do it myself). Are you glad you did it? Maybe it's too soon to know if it was useful.

Hi Erica!

So it's difficult to tell if it's been useful as it's all hidden beneath baseboard and thresholds. Maybe if I removed a piece I might find bug corpses, but I don't need to know that bad ;) . Looking back and thinking about it now, I would have been more generous with the diatomaceous earth and really loaded it up, but I only had less than a quart with me, so I sprinkled it in lightly. I am glad I did it and I will say we don't see hardly any of the crawling kinds of bugs in the house, so I imagine it's having some sort of impact.

Melonie Corder wrote:

I'd love to utilize the Pine for something as they die off, drop limbs and shed branches.

One beautiful way to utilize what appears to be a dead pine, or any tree, is to leave it standing. A dead tree is far from dead, and is instead teeming with life. It is the second half of a trees life. A tree that appears to be dead to us is providing a host to numerous fungi, is offering habitat for a whole host of insects to live at least a portion of their life, often as larvae just beneath the bark. These larvae, and then later crawling or flying adults, are an important source of food for many species of birds. Dead trees provide habitat for cavity nesting birds to brood and rear their young, and there are myriad secondary cavity nesting birds that don't create their own cavities to nest in but instead rely on abandoned cavities made by other species. There are many species of these birds whose numbers are in decline in part through a lack of nesting habitat. Somewhere in recent history, largely through the tree trimming industry, the idea was sold that a dead tree is dangerous, has no purpose and needs to come down. Often it's not until decades later is it realized that a common practice has unforeseen detrimental effects. If a tree that has lived its living life is of no risk to falling on a structure and possibly causing an injury, I believe it is important to leave them be to live out their second life.

I love to read all the post but just do not have time as I'm most interested in middle and East TN.

Hi Owen! Permies has a wonderful search function that will enable you to narrow down and find topics within any forum you choose. To get to the search function, on the top left of your screen, click the icon to the right of the slice of pie that looks like a piece of paper, and scroll down to the bottom to search. Within the new search window are all sorts of parameters for you to choose from to find the information you seek.

john muckleroy jr wrote:... is there a safe poison ivy killer?

There are a couple ways to go about this that I can think of. One, is using goats as they will eat the leaves and young vines, but goats may not be practical or accessible for some. Another idea that comes to mind is using a 10% vinegar to spray on the leaves. Grocery store vinegar is 5%, and 10%'s can be found at some garden centers or online. This can work very well on many things but I find it is only temporary on grasses, as grasses can be relentless and grow back from the stored energy in the root, but other things usually succumb and don't have the stored energy like grasses do. Vinegar works by stripping the waxy coating from leaf surfaces and the plants dehydrate themselves and die. It works well applied on a hot sunny summer day after any dew has evaporated. Another option is a product out on the market called Weed Slayer. It's made from clove oil, and it is non-selective meaning it will kill anything the spray contacts, and it is systemic so the clove oil compound travels back down the plant and kills the root. All three options are non-toxic and relatively safe. I say relatively as 10% vinegar can burn if it comes into contact with skin, and a billy goat may get fun to him ideas in his little goat brain and charge, knocking a person down.

Anne Miller wrote:

[b]What are your thoughts on wood chippers? What are the pros and cons of wood chippers vs the PTO kind?

While I don't own a wood chipper, I want to have one in the arsenal as I have acreage and with it, trees, and I know it's a matter of time before storms bring limbs and trees down again. A downside, in my opinion, of the smaller chippers with an engine is it's another engine to maintain. Another downside is the lack of power. May I suggest utilizing your tractor's engine and look for a PTO chipper. Your tractors engine will make may more torque and run a nice chipper than will eat bigger limbs faster.

Janet Reed wrote:

I can no longer hide in fear. ... I can no longer let my life be ruled by the fear of it.

I’m returning to normal.

Janet, I applaud you and your sovereign choice, to take back your mind, and to recognize fear for what it is - a thought form.

I send you an internet high-five, and I also hope that at least one other person who reads this thread will be inspired to think, to think critically, to look around with an open mind and question information, and form their own conclusion to make their own choice for how they want to live.