The BLOG (Border Landcare Organic Group) field day for August was held in Tenterfield at the property of Rex and Christine Maddocks and discussed food and health.
Christine Maddocks has suffered for many years with debilitating headaches and allergies without any apparent medical reason. Christine gave the group a very personal account of the coping strategies she has developed to maintain her active and productive lifestyle. One special point of interest was the description of how some chemicals, particularly salicylates which occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables, are implicated in causing severe headaches for those susceptible.
Rex Maddocks then shared his secrets of producing top quality organic vegetables.
Tips included adding feathers and hair to compost to boost the nitrogen content of leafy vegetables, though a warning was given about not using hair that had been exposed to too many chemicals, such as bleached hair. The importance was stressed of always using compost and rock minerals to ensure microbial activity and mineral rich veggies.
Mr Maddocks explained how the mineral content of our food has declined dramatically over recent decades to the detriment of many people’s health and how important it was to our health to eat food that contained a full range of minerals.
The BLOG group then had a tour of the Maddocks’ property and Rex showed his field trials of the effect of various combinations of mineral rocks, dolomite and organic inputs on garlic.
