If this is the first you've heard of HortIdeas, let me introduce you to some classic content:
Earthworms and Water Pollution from Farm FieldsThe latest issue also has several single-spaced pages on Interesting New Vegetable Cultivars for 2009. If you're a vege gardener and like to think of yourself in the loop, you need HortIdeas.
It seems hard to believe, but intentional destruction of earthworms might become a routine practice of commercial growers worried about chemical and/or microbial pollutants from their fields reaching streams and rivers.
That’s because evidence is accumulating that chemicals applied to the soil in fertilizers and pesticides, as well as microorganisms in manure, can move quickly to subsurface drainage pipe networks via “macropores” made by earthworms. Such macropores, which are channels typically larger than 0.08 inches across, apparently circumvent filtration and breakdown of the pollutants in the soil by providing rapid transport of water from the surface to the drainage pipes.
Perhaps researchers will develop tillage methods to disrupt the macropore connections, but if they don’t, we see the use of wormicides as a definite possibility. Unfortunately, what we don’t expect is what seems to us a much better solution to water pollution from farm fields: stopping the application of large amounts of soluble fertilizers, pesticides, and manure contaminated with human pathogens. That’s because the latter would probably be less profitable than the former.
Reference: Garey A. Fox (Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, 120 Agricultural Hall, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078), Ramesh Kanwar, and Rob Malone, “Earthworms and E.coli: A Perilous Combination for Drain
Flow Water Quality,” RESOURCE: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 15(6), September 2008, 22-24. (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2950 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659.)
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Thanks for the heads up on this venture. I am always looking for "hort" content outside of the regular sources. I am looking forward to this and will let you know what I think.
ReplyDeleteYou sure this isn't from The Onion? What insanity.
ReplyDeleteThis is "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" level absurdity.
The Earthworm is one of the best friends we've got. The ludicrousness of scapegoating Earthworm with being the facilitator of groundwater pollution is worthy of lightning bolts coming down and zeroing in on the purveyors of such nonsense.
Much of homo sapiens would claim that it's place at the top of the multi cellular heap is a given, but when I read stuff like this I have my doubts.
Ketzel,
ReplyDeleteWould love to interview on my Web radio show Mountain Mama Radio, www.mountainmamaradio.com
Show is one-hour long and broadcasts live on Mondays at 7:00PM Pacific Time on wsRadio.com Advice Radio Network.
Would especially like to discuss the whole topic of Layoff Moxie that you introduced on NPR (my all-time favorite radio).
Please let me know if you're interested and we can set a date. Dates still available are: Feb 16 and 23, March 2, 9 and 23.
Really look forward to talking with you.
Regards,
Miki Davis
Mountain Mama Radio