Ocean Solids, Paper Seed Pots and a Wet Weekend

With my impending redundency from work I have a renewed interest in "frugal Living" .. Something that cought my eye was an origami style newspaper seedling pots as written about by fellow blogger Hazel...

Anyway

So now 'they' are finding that the nutrient quality of our vegetables has declined over recent years ! The decline is said to be small however. But yeh Gods what are we doing to our food supply... The study of the mineral content in various produce compared between current data and data from the 1930s found that several types of mineral concentrations had declined in both the US and the UK.



Now the obvious questions arise, such as the data collection techniques and how much better they probably are now compared to the 30s ... But again what are we doing with these modern cultivars to make this happen ... ANd of course is this then accelerated with GE foods ??



Other studies are showing reduced protein in modern maize (drop from 13.3% to 12.2%) and in Soy bean protein over the past 60 years ...



So maybe we have another reason to grow the heritage vegetables .... In reading the wonderful gardening book from our local (Palmerston North) guru Wally Richards, he advocates a mineral rich product collected from the sea called "Ocean Solids". The blurb on this is here...







This is dried 'ocean minerals' that you spread or spray onto your plants and soil ... the plants then take these minerals up and you have an enriched and natural food source ... Interestingly enough the ideal plant for this is the 'wheat grass' as it will take up around 90 differing minerals . Much more than other edible plants .. .Details here



To Quote from the book...

"When a land mass rises from the sea it is mineral rich and once plant life establishes on the land it too is rich in minerals. But over time through rain, erosion and leaching a lot of the minerals gained by the land are lost back into the sea. It is interesting to note that in isolated pockets on the planet, where because of the terrain, that leaching does not take place. People living in these pockets more often than not live to over 100 years of age, in excellent health. The reason, Maynard says, is because of the mineral rich diet they have, which allows the cells of the body to replicate perfectly, slowing right down the aging process and maintaining very healthy organs."



So I have already picked up my bottle of Ocean Solids. It has to be a better option than bottles of pills most of which the body cannot utilise in refined forms .....



Meanwhile we are in for a wet & windy weekend ...Perfect for staying in doors, but sod all else really ..