Thomas E. Billings put up a banner for his beautiful new baby:

> < http://www.beyondveg.com >

> I invite you to visit the site, both now and later, when it opens in
> full.

Thanks for the invite.  I peek in as time allows.

Are you looking for public feedback?  If so, I wish to make a few
comments on something you wrote.  If you accept the feedback in the
spirit offered, I'll try to discuss other points in other messages at a
later time.  Do understand that I'm not delving so much into the cooked
vs. raw struggle as I want to be sure important agricultural concepts
don't get trampled in the commotion.

Tom said:
"You have been given an old field, in which you want to plant crops. The
field is full of pernicious weeds. In order to plant your crops, you
must dig
out and dispose of the weeds."

This is truly misleading advice.  Indeed almost anyone setting forth to
dig out the weeds in a field of any size would soon tire and fall prey
to a wily RoundUp salesman.

Tom, I earlier told you that weeds *are an indicator of the health of a
soil*.  Did I not FAX you a sheet listing various weeds and what they
told about the soil?  This truth simply cannot be pushed under the
carpet.  For instance, some weeds grow in wet conditions; while their
cousins demand dryness; other weeds grow in acid conditions; and yet
different ones grow in alkaline soils.  Similarly, broomsedge grows
where the calcium content has been carried away in crops.  Further,
deadly nightshade (locoweed) grows in methane-filled organic piles which
are decaying the wrong direction.   Actually, most of what "grows" has
to do with the decay conditions of the soil.  Mother Nature is no dummy:
different soil states wake up different types of seeds.

Further, there are unlimited weeds growing in unlimited stages.  For
instance, a thistle will grow 7' tall in one field, but it's wind-blown
seed only grows 2' or 3' (sometimes only inches) tall in a better
maintained, more fertile, neighbor's pasture.

Tom, there are seven books on my shelf describing weeds and what makes
them grow---or not grow.  Research will bring to light that many, many
pre-toxic technology government publications discussed how to change
field conditions so as to ease, and ultimately eliminate, weed
pressures.

Weeds are far better put in their place by proper nutrition which
increases the health of the soil.  Similarly, crops are either hindered,
or helped, by the nutritional state of the soil.  I know many ag
consultants who can so balance a field that it will grow whatever is
intended.  For instance, muriate of potash is one of the chemical
farmer's favorites and yet any biological farmer will laugh as he tells
you how excess potash makes killer crops of velvetleaf flourish.

Soil is an incredibly complex substance.  The air, water, minerals, and
microbial life must be in correct balance to support crops that don't
need weed-digging, nor toxic technology, to provide food for humans.
There is more---much, much, more, but this message is too long.

I have no right to tell you what you can or can't put on your website,
but I do gently suggest that you investigate further before using
"weeds" as a metaphor for your ideas as to what might cause folks to
have "toxic" thoughts.

Regards,
Rex Harrill