| Two typical areas of concern are contamination of | | | | question. The two labs were Stukenholtz Labs, in |
| food & the ground water. | | | | Twin Falls, Idaho, and the Brigham Young University |
| A natural concern of many people is the use of | | | | Soil Testing Lab, in Provo, Utah. |
| mineral nutrients from commercial sources in their | | | | Under supervision, and according to specific |
| vegetable gardens. | | | | instructions from the labs, we drilled holes for 45 |
| They want to know if minerals would, or even could | | | | tests. Three gardens were tested for build-up of |
| 1) contaminate the food they eat or cause other | | | | fertilizer salts. Test cores were used at 1', 2', and 3' |
| problems, or | | | | depths in each hole. |
| 2) cause a toxic build-up in the soil and leach into the | | | | One garden was Dr. Mittleider's own backyard |
| groundwater, eventually adding to the problems we | | | | garden, which had been used for 21 years at that |
| have in our streams, rivers, and oceans. | | | | time; the second location was my garden at Utah's |
| We have the answer to those concerns. | | | | Hogle Zoo, which had been used for 9 years; and the |
| 1) Plants fed with mineral nutrients constitute 90+% | | | | third garden was a very visible large garden 20 miles |
| of our food supply in the United States, and higher | | | | South of Salt Lake City at a place called Thanksgiving |
| than that in the Netherlands, which has the healthiest | | | | Point, which had been in use for 4 years. |
| population in the world. Rather than minerals being a | | | | There was NO toxic build-up of salts in ANY of the |
| potential health problem, using organic materials to | | | | test sites. There was NO indication of ANY fertilizer |
| feed plants has several drawbacks and potential | | | | being flushed into waste-water systems. And some |
| health hazards. | | | | of the test holes even had LOWER salt levels than |
| Most manure and compost has not been sterilized, | | | | the controls, which were taken from non-fertilized |
| and therefore can have diseases, bugs, and weed | | | | aisles and garden periphery. |
| seeds in it, which will flourish in your garden and | | | | This did not surprise us (although it surely did surprise |
| substantially reduce your yield. In addition, there is | | | | a couple of people who had suggested we were |
| some risk of people getting infected from something | | | | polluting the ground water), because we use very |
| that's toxic to humans as well, such as the ultimate | | | | little mineral salts, and we spread their application |
| killer Mad Cow Disease. Unsterilized manure and | | | | over the growing season, instead of applying them all |
| compost have been blamed for numerous cases of | | | | at once, as those who apply manure most often do. |
| salmonella poisoning recently, and have caused the | | | | We only apply 7+ ounces of fertilizer salts to about |
| recall of millions of dollars worth of vegetables. | | | | 3,300# of soil, and do it every 7 days only 4 or 5 |
| Organic buyer beware! | | | | times for most crops. Ever-bearing crops will usually |
| Unless the organic material HAS been composted | | | | receive 8 to 12 applications, spread over several |
| very efficiently in an aerobic process, which is very | | | | months. |
| rare and requires sustained temperatures of 140+ for | | | | Compare this to the many POUNDS of fertilizer salts |
| several weeks, you run the risk of the | | | | organic growers apply to their gardens ALL AT ONCE |
| aforementioned problems. | | | | before planting. That concentrated one-time |
| In addition to the foregoing, you may get much | | | | application is much more likely to cause run-off or |
| lower nutritional value in your vegetables. This is | | | | seepage into the groundwater than the small |
| because you do not know what or how much you | | | | amounts the Mittleider gardener applies. And quite |
| are feeding your plants, since every batch of manure | | | | often emerging seedlings are stunted or killed by the |
| or compost is different, and because none of them | | | | heavy concentration of fertilizer salts from the |
| have been analyzed to determine their nutrient | | | | manure as well. |
| content. You can expect the manure to have much | | | | Our vegetables are healthier, because they receive |
| LESS nutrition than the original plant contained | | | | their nutrition throughout the season, as they need it. |
| because of going through the cow, then sitting in a | | | | And BECAUSE they are very healthy, they are less |
| compost pile for months in the rain and snow. | | | | susceptible to problems from diseases and pests. |
| 2) Because we use mineral nutrients in our gardens | | | | They also have fewer problems with pests and |
| and wanted to be CERTAIN we were not | | | | diseases because they spend less time in the garden |
| contributing to any toxicity problems, in 1998 Dr. | | | | before being harvested. As an example I've grown |
| Mittleider and I hired two highly respected soil labs to | | | | 82-day corn to maturity in 61 days. |
| perform extensive tests for us regarding this very | | | | |