Welcome to Mother Earth’s Minerals - Volcanic Basalt

We first came across the amazing benefits of volcanic basalt while reading an article in the Daily Mail, based on the content of a book by Graham Harvey, entitled 'We Want Real Food'. By using crushed volcanic basalt we have grown good tasting and large nutrient-rich vegetables in 'Mother Earth’s Garden' in Combe Martin, Devon. We want to share this information and the benefits of this naturally created product with you, a product that is older than the hills.

Basalt Testimonials

Lorraine Colebrook

Lorraine Colebrook is the main gardener in charge of the organic kitchen garden at Knightshayes Court in Tiverton. She has worked with Mother Earth’s Minerals volcanic basalt for two years and this is what she has to say about its benefits -

"I have now used Mother Earth's Minerals volcanic basalt for two years in certain areas of the walled kitchen garden at Knightshayes Court.  These areas have been with the cucurbits – the marrows, courgettes andpattypan summer squash.  These plants have been in the same area for two years and so have had a double dose." The recommended amount of 0.5 kilograms per square metre was not applied, which allows for a single application of volcanic basalt to last five years.).

"In the walled garden and the free standing orchard (of) mainly apple trees, have also had two applications in that time.  The results have been very encouraging in both areas and I shall definitely continue to use this product."

The walled garden (about 2.2 hectares (4 acres) is accredited with the Soil Association and therefore the first job was to check that we could use this product on this site.  The results were sent back and approval given.  The two years of using this product could not have been more different with the weather conditions; the first year with the cucurbits was wet, cold and grey. The plants which had to go outside eventually started to go backwards and I was afraid we would lose the lot. Each plant was given a couple scoops of basalt around the base of the plant and dug around.  That year we had the best crop of courgettes, marrows and pattypans with the plants looking vigorous and healthy throughout the season.  I had taken the precaution to cover the whole crop with fleece and I am talking about 300 plus plants, a large area. This must have helped but I feel the benefit of the Mother Earth's Minerals was crucial to their recovery. 

This year we had the opposite weather situation and the plants were stressed through lack of water.  The plants were given the same amount of this mineral rich aggregate as the previous year. Again I have had an amazing harvest. The vigour of the plants has been very noticeable.

We mentioned last year of a plan to take a more scientific approach for testing this product.  Due to staff changes we were unable to complete our plan but did manage to put the appropriate amount of volcanic basalt in each of the raised beds we were going to use for the purpose. This next season we would like to continue this experiment so that we have more concrete results. 

The results of the breakdown of this product by the Soil Association made us change the way we used the product. Mother Earth’s Minerals is 58% is Silica which can cause lung problems if inhaled and skin irritation. We use it with staff wearing adequate face protection and gloves, choosing a quiet weather day to distribute. People wanting to use the basalt for remineralisation must consider its weight which is surprisingly heavy. On site we used our tractors to move the product around but had to carry by containers to the actual plants. Gardeners and allotment growers must be fit and without back problems to care more than a half bucketful!
I have been very pleased so far with the results of using this product. I haven't mentioned the fruit which is harder to see quick benefits from but am pleased with the health of the walled fruit since using the crushed basalt and will continue to use it every year. The plants have improved in their general health. They had been looking tired and have over the last 2 years picked up in vigour and production."
 
I hope some of this is helpful for you Brigid. I think that the raised testing beds will be good evidence and we will take photos along the way. I hope to meet up with Katherine if she visits with her friend and would be happy to show her the site for our raised bed experiment. We still have a cap left from an earlier visit so will try to remember to pass this on as well.
 
Best Wishes to you all
Lorraine

John Hamaker’s experience:

The American ecologist, agronomist and science writer John Hamaker: "In the summer of 1977, he planted a small maize crop on a few acres of land in Michigan. He described the land as 'worn out', but before planting, he ‘mineralised’ the soil by mixing in glacial gravel screenings-glacial dust-from a nearby quarry" -Daily Mail 22.2.06

The yield of Hamaker’s crop worked out at 65 bushels an acre, conventional farmers in the area were harvesting just 25 bushels with the same variety. Even more impressive was the nutrient content.

Compared with the conventionally grown crop, his maize contained:

57% more phosphorous.

90% more potassium

47% more calcium

60% more magnesium

In his own mineralised garden, Hamaker grew carrots three inches in diameter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Hamaker

John Hamaker’s downloadable book, written with Don Weaver, ‘The Survival of Civilisation’:

http://archive.org/details/TheSurvivalOfCiivilization-JohnD.Hamaker

Moira and Cameron Thompson's experience

They heard an excerpt on the radio of John Hamaker’s book, which became an inspiration for a new way of life for them which  began in 1984.

We contacted them and had long talks with Moira. They are visionaries; they live on a farm near Enochdhu, on the poor soil of the southern slopes of the Grampian mountains in Scotland. Here they tried out the techniques in Hamaker’s book, remineralising their soil with basalt dust. As Moira says ‘Our garden is the supermarket of the glen’. They started a charity SEER, Sustainable Ecological Earth Regeneration, with the idea of regenerating soil for future generations. The last three decades of their life has been a voluntary experiment in how to live in harmony with nature and to give back to the Mother Earth.

More dialogue on Basalt from America

Newer soil research coming out of the U. S. continues to reference the issue of demineralized soil, while following in the footsteps of the work by John Hamaker referenced above. Hamaker was an agronomist, ecologist, mechanical engineer and science writer, not only in the fields of soil re-mineralization through the use of volcanic basalt but was also familiar with mineral cycles, climate cycles and glaciology (the study of glacial development and movement), a topic referenced in the Science portion of this website.

Demineralization continues as a current top. The journal, Scientific American, has written about this in an article concerning the depletion of minerals in food, entitled, Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables become Less Nutritious?

This publication references research by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Texas, that was

An Australian View on soil Minerals

The Australian group, Remineralize the Earth, "is a non-profit organization whose mission is to disseminate ideas and practice about soil remineralization throughout the world."

The commitment of this organization is evident in their international representation within their the Board of Directors, with its members coming from America, Australia, Brazil and Canada. The beginning of their mission statement reads –

 Mother Earth’s Garden, Combe Martin, Devon

By using volcanic  basalt rock dust we have grown good tasting and large vegetables in our 'Mother  Earth’s Garden' in Combe Martin, Devon

Mother Earth’s Minerals is a Devon based grassroots company. Our interest is to re-mineralise you and your soil. We provide naturally sourced volcanic basalt to replace the minerals that have been lost from soil - and consequently from our food - over the last five thousand years.

We supply loose loads and dumpy sacks of this material to seven counties in the southwest; we deliver by contracted trucks with sixteen and twenty tonne load limits with no additional delivery charge to the following areas. 

DEVON                GLOUCESTER                DORSET              WILTSHIRE                     

CORNWALL        HAMPSHIRE                SOMERSET     

If you are located outside the counties listed above, please phone us  at 01271 889325 so we can send you a quote for the additional delivery charge.

Why Grow With Rock Dust?

Over use of soil for farming the natural erosion process - from wind and rain - have depleted the soil. Vulcanization and glaciation are important to creating and distributing minerals across the landscape, and the soils of the United Kingdom haven’t experienced either of these processes for millennia.

We’ve found an ideal way to re-mineralise your soil and thus optimally mineralise you. We've done a lot of research into what in our food would normally provide for optimum health. It’s the natural breakdown of volcanic material over time that contributes to the rich mineral content of good soil. With the help of micro-organisms, rain, wind and frost, large bits of volcanic basalt are broken down and distributed as ultrafine dust, so plants can absorb it and pass it along to us and the grazing animals that also eat plant life.

Please take time to check the rest of our website, where you will meet Mem, our logo apatasaurus, along the way. Visit our product sales page and other pages on history and the science behind growing things, which are important, as they explain why we sell basalt and show how it relates to the production of better quality food.

Graham Harvey's book, including sections on farming and de-mineralisation of soil: -  We Want Real Food A great reference book