Ocean Arks Carbon Sequestering Project: A Forest in Costa Rica
Written by John Todd
A Conversation with Tree Farmer David Milarch Who Sees New Hope in Old Giants.By David Yarrow
Christmas Eve, 1996, I interviewed David Milarch, founder of the Michigan Champion Tree Project. Tall, bearded, with stout limbs and a thick trunk, he looks like a latter day Paul Bunyan. Or a full size chestnut tree in flesh and blood. But his lumberjack physique is dwarfed by his immense ideas - and his ardent exposition of them. However, the Paul Bunyan figure interrogating me is no lumberjack yelling, "Timber!" His vision is to grow, not cut trees - to renew, not remove, forests. And the big man is talking about the biggest of the big trees: the Champions.
Int'l Coordinators Taking Leaps and Bounds
Within the next month at our website, our International Coordinators will have their own blogs in their languages as well as English and will be complete with lots of photos and video clips.
As a preview, have a look at the following updates, photos and videos from our International Coordinators:
Timo Ter Voort, our coordinator in Holland, has a stunning video in English about the product he has created in Holland called Living Foods’ Sea Minerals (Zeemineralen).
Living Foods grows remineralized foods such as the wheatgrass shown in these photos.
Niklas Fred from Finland has recently sent an initiative to the Helsinki University faculty of Forestry and Agriculture to do a Finnish research project on the effects and use of rockdust. He shared, "The initial answer was very positive" and that he is waiting to hear back "with a very positive feeling." For now he says that he is "just waiting for the upcoming season to see the changes...[from] the rockdust...[he] applied last year."
Alberto Machado of Brazil has a wonderfully informative video in Portuguese about the application of rock dust and the results there. This is worth a look even if you don’t understand Portuguese for the beautiful images of rock dust applications and results.
These photos display a Brazilian landscape before, during and after remineralization.
In Mexico, Ing Bernardo Castro is co-facilitating the III Taller Internacional de Agricultura Organica, or the 3rd International Conference on Organic Agriculture, where people from various countries will gather to learn about using accessible, low-tech solutions for healthy, organic agriculture practices. Ing. Bernardo Castro will be leading several workshops on rockdust as a highly viable alternative to chemical fertilizers highlighting its effective applications to increase soil fertility and vibrancy.
The Potential of Remineralization with Rock Mineral Fines to Transform Agriculture, Forestry, Sustainable Biofuel Production, Sequester Carbon and Stabilize the Climate
Remineralize the Earth (RTE), an international nonprofit (NGO) based in Northampton, Massachusetts has been invited by the State Department to sponsor an Official Side Event at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC) on March 3rd. President Joanna Campe and Executive Director Dan Kittredge will be speakers.
RTE at WIREC 2008 in Washington DC
Remineralize the Earth has the honor of hosting an Official Side Event at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) on March 3rd from 1:30-3:00pm. The title is Sustainable Technologies to Enhance Biomass Production: New Tools in the Toolbox. Joanna Campe will be speaking on Soil Remineralization Around the World and the Real Food Campaign. Robin Szmidt of the Soil Remineralization Forum (UK) will be giving a presentation titled Enhancing Soil Sustainability and Bioenergy Crops Using Mineral Fines.
The WIREC 2008 conference is the largest and most important renewable energy conference in the history of the U.S. The conference is a unique chance for the world community to discuss the opportunities and challenges of a major, rapid, global scale-up of renewable energy and advance the goals of energy security, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
For information about this and other events go to Recent and Upcoming Events
Look for a powerpoint presentation and press release for this event in the upper right hand corner of our homepage.
Sustainable Technologies to Enhance Biomass Production: New Tools in the Toolbox
Remineralize the Earth has the honor of hosting an Official Side Event at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) on March 3rd from 1:30-3:00pm. Joanna Campe will be speaking on Soil Remineralization Around the World and the Real Food Campaign. Robin Szmidt of the Soil Remineralization Forum (UK) will be giving a presentation titled Enhancing Soil Sustainability and Bioenergy Crops Using Mineral Fines. specifically for composting. He will be joined by Larry Sikora, formerly of the USDA, who did research on remineralization for composting at the USDA in the 1990s.
From humble beginnings in Tanzania in 1984 to the establishment of a course at the University of Guelph, to the official opening of an Agrogeology Centre in Indonesia, the field of agrogeology is gaining wider global interest and exposure. The first Rocks for Crops International Conference took place in Brasilia, Brazil on November 7-14, 2004. Visit their website, Rocks for Crops , for abstracts of papers from the conference. Remineralize the Earth is working on the development of a large research database that will include agrogeology research from all over the world. Abstracts from the International Workshop in Brazil available here . Peter van Straaten, agrogeologist and author of Rocks for Crops, will be coming out with another book soon. The Rocks for Crops book is no longer in print, but can be found online here .
Agrogeology- A new field of geology in which geologists are carrying out projects for agriculture worldwide utilizing rock dust for soil remineralization as well as other natural byproducts. Please read an excerpt from Some Thoughts from Rocks for Crops Conference by William S. Fyfe, Professor Emeritus (Geology) at the University of Western Ontario.
Each organism has a role and occupies a niche. In fact, shown by the Russian ecologist, Gause, about 30 years ago that each niche has only one organism with its specific food. If another organism is introduced, it either gets wiped out or creates its own micro-niche by living symbiotically with the first, for example, by using the waste matter of the first organism as food.
People Planting Paradise: Stephan Reeve on Maui
Written by Don Weaver
In October 2001 I made my 3rd trip to Maui to visit my good friend, dedicated horticulturist, and tree planter, Stephan Reeve, who, like me, is a long-time health and raw-organic foods enthusiast. His "Fruition" orchard-farm project is an inspiring ecological model.
Success in Brazil with Citrus and Ornamentals
Written by Eng. Agr. Carlos Alberto Cristan
In the area where the citrus trees were thriving, the ground was very flat with splintery "rusted" rocks that had a dark, almost black color. On researching further I did mineral analyses and began to do practical experiments in the field. I began to research various rock deposits in the region and studied variations in their mineral constituents.