Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] transition to organic fruit growing

From: Steve Diver <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:19:32 -0600

Hello Dale -

Some people read things from Quackwatch and
Skeptics Society and accept what they spout as fact.

But I've always viewed these sources as an
introduction to topics that "turn" your head and
spark interest.   It becomes a launching point
for doing reverse research to discover the
in-depth background to mavericks who cause
so much concern from the uber conformists
that would never dare venture outside the
rigid walls and confined thinking inherent to
Quackwatch and Skeptics.

Reams was an MD who cured many people,
running cancer clinics at various times.  That
fact got him in trouble with FDA.   The medical
establishment still shuns cancer centers
that use holistic approaches instead of standard
radiation and chemotherapy treatments.  

Later Carey Ream became an agricultural advisor to
help farmers raise nutrient dense foods so people
don't get sick in the first place.  He developed
the Brix charts that show Poor, Average, Good,
and Excellent levels of soluble solids in fruits
and vegetables, and he showed farmers how to
use soil and foliar fertilization practices to raise
excellent quality crops, thus providing greater
value to the consumer.    

He used the LaMotte Soil Test kit with its weak
Morgan extract, preferring it over the stronger soil
test extracts, saying that it mimics weak acids from
roots rather than "mining" the soil.  He showed
farmers how to take their own tests throughout
the growing season and make fertility adjustments,
accordingly.  This became known as the Reams test.  
He also used the electrical conductivity meter in
a unique way, viewing the data as a measurement
of soil energy.

The Reams Biological Theory of Ionization does
indeed deal with the energetics of soil-crop
systems, paying attention to fertilizer schemes
that promote vegetative and fruiting stages of
crop growth.  The urine-salive test that was
mentioned in Quackwatch was a biological terrain
measurement devised by Reams, based on RBTI.

If you can raise tomatoes and melons that taste
better, have fewer/few/incidental pests, and provide
enhanced nutritional benefits all because you manage
the crop with soil and foliar fertilizers based on
concepts and practices developed by Reams,
and others in eco-farming, does that spark an interest?

There's plenty to explore if you're curious.  

For perspective, a common Reams approach was
the use of limestone, poultry manure, and rock phosphate,
accompanied by selected fertilizers and foliar fertilizers,
all based on a soil test, as well as monitoring soils with 
the EC meter and plants with a Refractometer.

Steve Diver

Dale Wilson wrote:

>Katie,
>
>>Go to International Ag Labs and have
>>them do a soil test on what's plant available, a Reams test. Regular
>>soil tests say what's in soil, whereas the only thing that matters is
>>the plant is what it can access.
>>
>
>All the standard soil nutrient testing procedures are designed to
>estimate plant-available nutrients.  These tests are generally
>calibrated using extensive field trials.  Of course no single test can
>measure availability across all kinds of soil conditions and crops.
>
>Was the "Reams test" devised by Carey Reams, the "vibrational energy"
>guy who went to prison for practicing medicine without a license?
>
>http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/reams.html
>
>Dale
>

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---

From: Steve Diver <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:19:32 -0600

Hello Dale -

Steve Diver