One of many the things that I love about the Internet and World Wide Web is the ease with which we can now access information on such a broad range of topics, and the width and breadth of material that can be sourced. It has brought a massive library to the fingertips, studies and libraries of those of us lucky enough to be able to access it. (No, here is not the time to mention information overload.)
However, my jaw hit the floor when I came across what Steve Solomon has created with the Soil and Health Library.
A former teacher and author of mainly gardening books, including "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" and "Gardening When It Counts",
Steve has amassed a very extensive virtual collection at the Soil and
Health Library, specialising in four main subject areas: Agriculture;
Health; Personal Sovereignty; and Spiritual Freedom.
Based on Steve's belief that a person is only as valuable as they are of help to others, I value him extremely highly, as almost single handedly, he has created an awesome resource and made it available for a very minor charge.
I've listed some of the true treasures that I've source below, but to find material for yourself, go to Soil and Health Library now.
Given that organic agriculture is based on the way society has been farming for centuries, it stands to reason that some of the older publications will contain a few forgotten 'secrets' and 'gems' of wisdom, or even just detail a practice and the reason for following a particular course of action. And while the library contains some older jewels, there are even some rather recent 'out-of-print' titles that clearly need to be available.
For me, the following were of great interest, and I'm working my way through them.
Bio-Dynamic Agriculture - An Introduction by Koepf
Farmers of Forty Centuries by F H King (or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea + Japan)
Farming + Gardening for Health or Disease by Albert Howard
Green Manuring - Principles + Practice by Adrian Pieters
Russian Comfrey - Stock Feed or Compost by Lawrence Hills
Natural Way of Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka
The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
In addition to being able to access great titles, the whole concept makes so much sense - primarily as it's so sustainable. Aside from the power that is required to run your computers and their associated infrastructure, e-books save so much energy - books weren't printed on dead bleached trees; packaged, boxed and transported to a shop; unsold copies re-boxed and transported back to a warehouse: pulped and the process repeated.
I haven't ventured into the other subject areas available at Soil and Health yet, but given the extremely robust debates that can occur in the soilandhealth@yahoogroups.com discussion group, I'm sure they are just as broad and provoking.
So thanks Steve Solomon. Your effort to help this 'other' is most valued.
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