Subject: Re: Is beer or saliva good for soil?
From: bum@mail.utexas.edu (Caleb Rounds)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 10:35:59 -0500
Message-ID: <MOD$970925.7173@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$970922.7382@rec.gardens.ecosystems> <MOD$970925.29296@rec.gardens.ecosystems>


In article <MOD$970925.29296@rec.gardens.ecosystems>,
mplewinska@mindspring.com (Magdalena Cano Plewinska) wrote:

> On Wed, 24 Sep 97 02:16:48, Kenneth Buker
> wrote:
>
> >I have heard Jerry Baker mention that beer and human saliva are good...for soil
>
> ROTFL! I can just see Jerry going around his garden, spitting away :)
>
> >Anyone know what the common ingredent is?
>
> No clue.
water is at least one common ingredient. I know what goes into real beer
(that is, not the macro-brewery stuff that has so many adjuncts you'd
think it was a drug like cigarettes -- that's a joke). malted barley that
has been fermented -- leaving some sugars and starches, hop oil, dead
yeast (sometimes live yeast), water, carbon dioxide, and some enzymes. I
would not be at all surprised if the beta and alpha amylase enzymes in
malted barley are similar to enzymes in saliva that help break down
starches. I have no idea what that would do for soil.
Caleb