Comments on: Frederick Dobbs On Balancing Garden Soils

By: Frederick Dobbs

Frederick Dobbs — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:42:21 +0000

Dear Siddhartha, Not long ago, I edited a speech of Berry’s (I don’t think he uses a computer), but I had all but forgotten about Bromfield. I will reacquaint myself with Bromfield. Happy holidays.

By: Siddhartha Banerjee

Siddhartha Banerjee — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:20:56 +0000

Good soil and civilization go together… in this, the United States is blessed. Yet, as American agriculture becomes more and more myopic like its industry, the voices of such prophets-of-the soil like Louis Bromfield and Wendell Berry become more urgent.

Bromfield, an ambulance driver from the Great War, later Hollywood screenwriter and novelist turned gentleman farmer, returned to his native Ohio and was devastated by the condition of the soil he found in what he was to call Pleasant Valley.

This saga of the soil in a little corner of Ohio is documented in his books, most or all alas no longer in print, but most notably in “Malabar Farm.”

Bromfield’s literary work has not aged particularly well; his movies are nearly forgotten.

But what he did in Pleasant Valley, near Lucas, Ohio, remains perennially relevant, an inspiring story of what one person can do to animate dead soil. I remain in his debt.

Oxford, Pa

By: Frederick Dobbs

Frederick Dobbs — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:38:34 +0000

Dear Dick, I appreciate your comments; thanks for adding to the story.

By: Dick Rifkind

Dick Rifkind — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:20:52 +0000

Ph article is good as far as it goes but is insufficient re amending.First, it is always better to err on the acidic side since nutrient availability is good-too acidic may make some nutrients available in toxic amounts, but too high a pH makes nutrients unavailable which is usually worse. Incorporating sulfur into a soil does an excellent job of lowering pH because it combines with water to form sulfuric acid. Sulfates such as aluminum or ammonium also work but aluminum may be an overkill and both may cause fertilizer burn. Sulfur simply combines with the water existing in the soil. In the rather basic soils in New Mexico I routinely add granular sulfur with excellent results–we have some lovely pin oaks!
Dick Rifkind aka “The Gabby Gardener”

By: Frederick Dobbs

Frederick Dobbs — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:15:23 +0000

Thanks, Jemma. Happy holidays.

By: jemma

jemma — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:07:24 +0000

Thank you for this great article. It so clearly not only speaks to soil manipulation for the development of varied landscape designs, but implicates the modern media’s common misconceptions regarding the true natural proceedures of mother nature and her ability to WIN.