High brix garden beans are nutrious and taste great.

The Quest for Nutrient Density

Food…. The mere mention of this single word brings so many images to mind; enjoyment, family, celebration, community, satisfaction, creativity, and exploration to name just a few. Around the world cultures and food are inextricably intertwined. Food, like language, defines a culture.

In America a culture war of sorts is going on between an industrialized food supply and those who wish to celebrate food as a labor of love. We also see a tremendous surge of interest in the nutritional aspect of foods. On the one hand we see a society facing an ever-increasing amount of degenerative diseases and on the other hand we hear many people calling for a return to wholesome foods that truly nourish.

In a previous article (see Food Quality & Digestion) we looked at the tremendous variation that exists when comparing the best and worst quality of the same food. The striking supposition from that article is that as the nutrient content varies, so does it’s impact on human health. The logical conclusion is that we should all be eating high quality food.

The USDA has done a tremendous job of databasing the average nutrient density of fruits and vegetables along with many other foods. The long-term trend is no surprise but disturbing none-the-less; nutrient density is dropping! With an eye on health that comes from nutrition, we must not be satisfied to know the average. Rather we must seek optimum nutrient density. This is the type of food that will lead us away from the scourge of malnutrition/degenerative diseases and help us fulfill Hypocrites’ dictum to “Let food be your medicine, and your medicine be food. More...

...why go through the bother? Is it really worth the effort?

Human Health Starts in the Soil

Sometimes, when beginning a certain endeavor, it is important to look at the final destination of what we are hoping to achieve before we set out on the journey. This high and lofty vantage point can help guide and energize us once we have taken the plunge and are in the midst of all the struggles and difficulties that lie in our path to the final destination. A classic book on this by the famous puritan author John Bunyan (1628-1688) is told as an allegorical story in Pilgrim’s Progress. In this story Christian decides that he must make the journey to the Celestial City. The journey he takes and the adventures he encounters while progressing toward the Celestial City make up the story told in the book. If I had to sum up the whole book in one statement it would be: Count the Cost—Then Pay the Price.

Gardening vs. Buying Commercial

This same principle carries over to gardening. Why garden anyway? Food is very much available and fairly cheap all around us. A lot of what we can buy is much more convenient to prepare than cooking from scratch with garden produce. Besides that, a garden is actually quite a bit of work. First you have to prepare the soil, then fertilize it, then plant it, then water and weed it. Lastly the produce must be harvested and preserved for future use. Why go though all the bother? Is it really worth the effort? These are questions and issues that each of us must answer on our own and according to our own circumstances.

In response to those questions we really have to ask ourselves what are some of our long-term goals in life. Two responses pertaining to gardening quickly come to mind; 1) to live long and healthy and, 2) to raise a healthy family. Can a garden help achieve these goals? Yes, but not necessarily. More...

Taking A Good Look At Your CornIt's time to be preparations for fall fertilization programs, but before you begin it is a good idea to take a good look at your current crop. This month we will focus on corn production and some of the common problems I have seen in my travels this summer. More...	Breaking Soybean Yield BarriersSoybean production is becoming more challenging and difficult each year. I don't know whether weather patterns are changing or disease and insects are more prevalent, but as I watch farmers attempt to improve yields and profits it certainly seems that what may have worked one year 6oesn't work very well the next. More...
ZwitterionsWhat does this word have to do with agriculture? For an old farmer like me, this sounds like a foreign language. Being an old farmer isn’t always bad. I have taken many things apart just to see how it works. That is what compelled me to sneak up on this word and do some investigation. More...	Agricultural Research on Fusarium MoldsI hope each of you have enjoyed the early spring weather we are having. I am writing this on March first and the weather is great. The old saying is March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. Maybe we will be lucky this year and the lion will be just a warm rain. Arouse & Crescendo have been around for a number of years. I have used these products on my farm and have been very pleased with the results. We have had many test plots and have seen larger root systems and higher yield. More...
Tomatoes: Farm and GardenGrowing a quality tomato without the use - or with limited use - of herbicides and insecticides is a very challenging and difficult task. I recently visited with a tomato grower who had potato beetles in his tomatoes. The set plants came already infested with the beetle eggs. Once we got-enough energy in the soil and the brix reading high enough in the plants, the potato beetles marched right out of the field. More...	Energy ManagementJune is usually a good time to start checking your crops and soil tilth. If you are raising row crops you can be doing this while you cultivate. Take notice of your soil structure and ease of cultivation as you drive across your field. Is the soil lumpy, mellow, or easily crumbled? More...
HUMUSI have done a lot of humus tests lately using the Lamotte Soil Humus Screening Test. The results have been very interesting and informative. At least 90% of the soils tested the past four years have shown a high humus reading based on the Lamotte method. The soils that didn't respond must have some problems that still need work. I wish that I had a 90% success rate on a lot of other things I have done in life. More...	Biological ConceptsStarting a biological soil program seems to be a very difficult thing for many farmers to do. The fear of the unknown and lack of documented research become real barriers. Using liquid fish fertilizer on a crop is often questioned by farmers. I am asked if it really works or I am told they have never heard of such a thing. I remember reading about Indians using fish for plant nutrient in my grade school text books. More...
The High Cost Of NitrogenNitrogen is probably the most important plant nutrient used by commercial farming operations today. The cost of producing nitrogen to society and your farming operation is very high. It takes approximately 33,000 BTU's of natural gas to produce a ton of commercial nitrogen. The result is an incredible waste of natural resources that could be used to heat the homes of future generations. More...	The Concepts Of Energy And How It Affects Crop GrowthIt has been some time since we have had a newsletter on the concepts of energy and how energy affects crop growth. I have been reviewing Dr. Reams old notes and cassette tapes concerning energy principles, and felt this would be a good time to review them with you also. More...
Two Fields ComparedA new client came to my office recently bringing two soil samples from two different fields. Each field consisted of 65 acres and has been in corn soybean rotation for ten plus years. The fields have been ridge-tilled since 1980. More...	For Every Action, There Is A ReactionThe modern day corn hybrids are very different than when I was a young farmer. I remember about the second or third year I farmed, the corn blew down. We still picked corn as ear corn and we had a pull type cornpicker. This became a huge problem because in order to harvest this corn, we had to harvest going one direction. More...
IAL: Past, Present & Future DiscoveriesWhat are we learning from our lab? In the past few months we have been doing a lot of research on the mixing of calcium and phosphorus. As most of you know, this is not an easy job, and if you have accidentally mixed them together it was an experience you won't forget. I remember four hours of my life with a shovel and hoe trying to remove cottage cheese-like material from a 1300 gal. tank. More...	This World of OursFall is a good time to carefully watch your crop mature, study your moisture reserves, crop health, shape, size, thickness of stalks and leaves. One of the important points is watching the way a crop dries down. Corn and soybeans should have the ears and pods dry before the stalk and leaves dry down. If the stalk and leaves dry down first the grain cannot dry out properly. You end up with grain that doesn't keep. Sometimes the plant and grain doesn't dry at all. This is generally due to excessive nitrogen and not enough calcium, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium. More...
Biological Farming For Long Range PlanningDuring the last 30 days I have been doing a great deal of traveling, and I have seen a lot of good crops as well as bad. This year's crop results are going to be greatly affected by method of tillage, seed variety, fertilizer and rainfall. So far, deep placement of fertilizer looks like the most promising method of application for a dry year. I have a few accounts who put anhydrous knives on their cultivators and deep placed liquid nitrogen 6" - 8" deep between rows. This seems to have greatly improved crop color and growth. More...	Looking At All The VariablesIn my area of the country corn and soybean harvest is progressing very rapidly. Yields are all over the board with corn running anywhere from 23 to 200 bushels per acre having essentially rainfall. I know of four different fields of corn nearby that were alfalfa last year and corn did not even make 30 bushel. Yet corn on bean ground in the same area has had highs of 160 to 200 bushels per acre. More...
Understanding Your SoilEvery once in a while I am asked why should I bother to change my current farming fertility practices. I used to get pretty excited about a question such as this and would really light into a person. Then I realized they simply did not understand the consequences of their fertility practices. More...	Nitrogen - The Key ElementNitrogen is one of the most critical elements we need to manage very carefully in modern crop production. In Dr. Reams tapes on crop production he emphasizes the importance of nitrogen, and the roll of nitrogen in the formation of a cell. More...
Cherries Made SweeterI recently received some sweet cherries from Doyle Cleveland of Bloomingdale, Michigan. The cherries were fantastic. They were very sweet, plump and firm. The brix reading on the black sweet cherries was 21 brix, while the white sweet cherries were 23 brix. This is considerably better than the chart Dr. Reams gave to me which has excellent cherries at 16 brix. More...	RL-37 What Is It?During the years I have been in this business. I have been asked specifically what the mode of action is for RL37. This is very difficult question to answer. In this newsletter I will attempt to explain some of the things International Ag Labs has found out about this product. More...
Biological Theory of Ionization - Part 1Humus is an aspect of soil fertility that is often overlooked. I think we need to look at this aspect of soil much more closely and learn how to maintain and increase humus in our soils. More...	Biological Theory of Ionization - Part 2I recently ran into an interesting phenomenon that might be of interest to many of you, especially those of you who use night crawlers for fishing. I was at a hog farm checking the chlorine level of the farm's well water and observed that when ran the chlorinated water out onto the ground, the night crawlers came wriggling out of the ground very rapidly. The owner told me that he has used this method of catching night crawlers for years. More...
Biological Theory of Ionization - Part 3I have been asked many questions recently about molasses and its use in soil fertility programs. Many people who are unfamiliar with my program recommendations become very concerned over the use of molasses in a soil program. I wish they would become as concerned over the use of herbicides and insecticides. More...	Biological Theory of Ionization - Part 4I hope everything is going well for each of you and hope you are getting plenty of rain. I have been listening to some of Dr. Reams' old cassette tapes on soils. The one I enjoyed most was his comments on the importance of Jesus in our daily lives and crop growing program. He was reminding me as I listened to the tape that man is not nearly as smart as he thinks. More...

Newsletters

The Quest for Nutrient Density

Human Health Starts in the Soil

Gardening vs. Buying Commercial