How to grow your own
Mineralized Organic Super Foods

ORGANIC TANK GARDENING----A SOLUTION TO THE SPRAYING PROBLEM
A METHOD PRESENTED BY DR. RAYMOND BERNARD

Page 42-43, Are The New Super Sprays Endangering Your Health?

(You can click on any of the ingredients listed for the mineralized soil to see options for purchasing over the web.)

In the last chapter, we discussed several ways to solve the spray poison problem, and mentioned that one way out of the dilemma is to grow one`s own foods. We shall now describe a very practical method by which this can be done-even by city dwellers who have no back yard or garden space, but who have a roof.* The idea was acquired while traveling a certain part of Ecuador where there was no rainfall, and where it was impossible to irrigate from wells. People there grew their fresh greens in long tanks which they filled with rich soil and kept moist. In this way they always had a supply of fresh lettuce and other greens.

The Organic Tank Gardening method differs from hydroponics in that, while vegetables are grown in tanks, no chemicals are used. Instead, various natural and colloidal mineral compounds are mixed with the soil in the tanks, as well as seaweed material, wood ashes, etc. Colloidal phosphate, which is a prehistoric marine deposit containing over twenty minerals, should be added also to the soil mixture, plus powdered GRANITE. Ground dried seaweed is quite soluble and supplies potash, plus many trace minerals. Hardwood ashes are a good source of potash, calcium and other natural minerals. These natural mineral fertilizers should be mixed with rich soil and sources of vegetable humus, as leaf mold, peat moss, etc. Such a combination provides a balanced plant food and can produce vegetables extremely high in vitamins and minerals, which are RESISTANT to insects and disease and which need no spraying.

After filling the tank, which should be waterproof, with the proper soil mixture, the next step is to arrange for a system of irrigation. This should be based on the idea that the water that enters the upper part of the tank, after passing through it and dissolving natural, organic minerals, should be collected and then circulated over again, supplying valuable plant food that is immediately available. One method of doing this is to place a reservoir, or barrel, at the upper end of the tank, which should be slightly inclined toward the lower end, where there should be an outlet from where the water leaves and is collected in another barrel, placed in a hole in the ground. Then the water from the lower barrel can be either pumped back to the upper barrel and used over again, which can be done with a fish tank electric pump, or it can be transferred by hand by means of a pail.

Where one has more than one tank, a common barrel of reservoir at the upper end can supply all tanks by rubber tubing, whose outlet should be subject to control by means of a valve that can be opened or shut to permit more or less water to flow. The tank should be kept moist at all times, but not too wet. The combination of an abundance of vegetable humus (NO ANIMAL MANURE SHOULD BE USED), plus an abundance of trace minerals of organic and rock origin, and plenty of water, together with sunshine, * provide the basis condition for producing vegetables, melons, berries, corn, etc. or superior nutritional value, many times richer in vitamins and minerals than foods not supplied with continual moisture. A single super vegetable thus produced should be equivalent, in vitamin and mineral value, to many similar vegetables produced by the old-fashion method, especially when chemical fertilizers were employed, since these lead to the presence of chemical residues in vegetables which interfere with the proper assimilation of their minerals and vitamins.

By the Organic Tank Gardening method, super-vitaminized and super-mineralized foods may be produced, capable of forming a super race. These foods will be so rich in nutrients that much less of them need be eaten, and consequently grown, than old-fashioned foods. The new emphasis will be on quality, rather than quantity. (Imagine eating delicious vitamin and mineral rich veggies from your garden rather than just swallowing pills from a bottle!) Recognition of the fact that the new tank method of raising foods in continually irrigated mineralized soils will create foods far superior to those grown by the aid of composts containing animal manure will cause many health seekers to establish tank gardens, in order to raise their own home-grown supply of greens, etc. This will also provide an interesting hobby or pastime. Such tanks can be placed on roofs, porches or anywhere around one`s house.

Those who do not want to give plants fluoridated and chemicalized city water may fill the barrel that supplies their water with spring water, purchasing a few 5 gallon bottles for this purpose (see information on fluoride). Since this same water can be used over and over again by circulating through the tanks, it should not be expensive to use. Foods grown in this manner will be free from chemicals and poisons and produce better health in the consumer than ordinary chemically fertilized, sprayed vegetables grown in the open. (Beware of companies who label their product "spring water;" it may actually be tap water. Another way is to chelate out the fluoride in your drinking water with gypsum. There is a product which I use in my huge veggie garden called "Soil Buster;" it comes in 25 lb. bags and is 70% gypsum including trace metals and minerals. The gypsum chelates out the fluoride (from NaF in solution: CaSO₄·2H₂O + 2Na⁺ + 2F^- ® CaF₂ + 2NaOH + H₂) and it tends to remain as a precipitate deep in the soil as naturally occuring, highly insoluable calcium fluoride (CaF₂) leaving the vegetables relatively unscathed.)

* When this was written, I don't think plant grow lights were available to use during the winter months with tanks located in warm rooms, which now makes it possible in the northern climates.

* The capitalizations of words within the text are my emphasis.

* I've designed an inexpensive tank that`s easy to assemble. It has room for seven square feet of vegetables, wheat grass, or just about anything you wish to place on your table for dinner. It`s easy to maintain and fun to watch your plants grow quickly, knowing they`re rich in all the nutrients your body normally requires. In my soil I use minerals, but no chemicals of any kind. I've yet to see any insects looking for a handout. These little buggers normally feed on plants with few nutrients grown in dead soil. This is like the bugs in your body, which do their best to get rid of your waste. Both are doing what they were designed to do.

Materials: (Legend: foot ~ ', inch ~ ")

1- 4x8' new or used �" or �" plywood sheet.

3 straight 2"x2"x8' pine or other inexpensive wood boards.

1 lb. 1 5/8" plaster board screws.

1 pt. wood glue.

128 sq. in. fiberglass screen wire.

1 box thumb tacks.

16"x7' waxed butcher paper.

1- 5 gallon bucket.

Assembly: There`s an old saying: Measure twice, cut once.

Cut 1x4' off the plywood sheet and set aside.

Mark lengthwise 4- 1x3' sections across the plywood sheet.

Cut these sections and label them #1, #2, #3, #4.

Cut 1' off of 2 of the 2"x2"x8' sticks.

Place them under plywood #2, carefully lining them up flush with the plywood`s outer edge.

Screw the plywood to the 2x2"s, 1 screw every 6".

In plywood #3, drill 2- 1" holes, 1 1/2" from one end and 4" from the side edges.

Drill 3 more holes on each side, 4" from the edges, evenly spaced to leave 8" at the other end (far end).

With 2x2"s face up, line #2 with waxed butcher paper.

Place #3 on top of #2 and screw the plywood to the 2x2"s every 4". Make sure the screws are sunk into the plywood, but the screw heads do not extend above the board, and be careful not to twist the screw heads off when driving them in. You've just sandwiched the 2x2`s creating a false bottom.

Screw #1 and #4 to the 2x2s to form an open box without ends. Place screws every 4.

Cover the entire open box end with the holes 8 in (far end) by lining up one end of the 1'x4' piece of plywood.

Mark the 1'x4' board and cut, then tack it to end of box with 4 screws in each corner.

At the other end, mark the remaining plywood to leave a 2"x8" opening for drainage at the bottom of the box. You'll see the butcher paper and into the false bottom. Tack this end.

Cut the last 2"x2"x8' stick into 5- 9" lengths and 2- 12" lengths.

With screws 3" apart, secure 4 lengths vertically in the box corners, screwing from the outside through the plywood.

With 3 screws, secure the fifth piece across the bottom at the completely enclosed end (far end), screwing from the outside. The drain end will have no cross piece.

Run a bead of wood glue around the inner bottom edge sealing any cracks.

Let glue dry and reapply where cracks still exist. You may use sawdust to fill any large cracks and then glue over it, rubbing glue into cracks. Cut fiberglass screen into 4 squares and thumbtack over drain holes.

Place the2- 2"x2"x12" pieces, 28" from each end, across the top. They will hold the sides together at the top. Use 2 screws to secure each end of each piece (8 screws).

You now have your first Organic Tank Gardening box like I use. If you decide to assemble a two-foot wide box, then figure the necessary material accordingly.

Place your tank box on anything substantial that will hold it 22" above the surface you desire to use. This will allow room to place a five-gallon bucket at a slightly tilted, lower end where the drain outlet is (2x8" space) to catch the water that flows through the soil. You reuse the water by pouring it back over the soil in the box.

(Were those instructions confusing? Don't worry. This is only a guideline. All you are really doing is building a large planter box with a sleuce and tilting it slightly towards your designated drain hole to allow drainage of your precious mineral water into containers for recycling. The garden box will eventually need more water due to evaporation (the minerals don't evaporate, chem wiz). If you are especially handy, you can also build in a small water pump that constantly irrigates your garden box. The main component of this garden box is the soil mixture.)

Notes on topsoil ingredients:

20 cups of Florida soft rock phosphate.

(Comment: Beware of Rock Phosphate containing soluable fluorides; this can be a much higher concentration than artificially fluoridated water at 1 ppm. If the rock phosphate has been processed with sulfuric acid in the presence of halides, this leads to soluable, radical fluorides that dissolve quickly in solution (calcium fluoride and sulfuric acid make calcium sulfate and hydrogen fluoride (Hydrofluoric acid), ie: CaF₂ + H₂SO₄ ® CaSO₄ + 2 HF); this depends on how it was mined by the industrial processors. Nature buried calcium fluoride and made it relatively insoluable, a heavy precipitate, so that Florida's indigenous plants don't absorb it. Industrial Fertilizer processors use sulfuric acids and heat to trap the fluoride out of the mined rock phosphate in scrubbers to make phosphate fertilizer and animal feed supplements for commercial agricultural use because these aren't allowed to have much fluoride as is present naturally in the rock (See article on acid mine drainage). The trapped fluorosilicates from the scrubbers are then bagged and sold for water fluoridation. This is only one method of deriving fluoride. Fluoride waste products and catalysts are a normal product of greedy, life-negative industrial operations. See how fluoride catalysts are used for making nuclear bombs...)

How to be sure you have healthy soft rock phosphate? Put a few grains in a cup of your spring water and wait 24 hours. If there is no noticeable change - GOOD. If the grains have dissolved in any way - then they are BAD; find another source.

20 cups of Azomite.

1 cup of Algit, Norwegian kelp meal.

40 cups of fine granite, no bigger than the size of Perlite, preferably dust size like the Azomite.

Mix well with the soil before you put the soil in your box. You may have to fill the box first, empty it into a mixing container, and refill the box. This can be done in segments with the proper proportions used for each segment. I also throw in a few earthworms.

Sources:

Florida soft rock phosphate and Algit kelp, www.groworganic.com, or 1-888-784-1722. Azomite.

Rock dust can be obtained from: http://www.gaiagreen.ca/(1-800-545-3745 (Canada Only) or 250-442-3745)

The London Ontario Canada seller is at: ontariogrowerssupply.com

I'm sure you'll find, as I have, this method is fantastic for growing your organic vegetables. One of the features is that, with a grow lamp, you can have vegetables all year long if you place your tank box inside a warm enclosure. I'm trying to convince my wife to allow one of our tank boxes in our laundry room. I haven't made much progress yet, but I'm pretty persistent and will keep trying. Thank you and have a high quality, abundant crop.

Tracy Jones
e-mail: tracysway @ msn.com

For convenience a word document on the construction portion of this post is available here.