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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> know many
growers in the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand who consider themselves
to be the ORIGINATORS of this knowledge base of ecological cultivation.
Yes, there were the prophets -- Okada, Howard, Steiner, Voisin, Fukuoka -- but
in the industrial world the machine worldview has ruled for a
century. Organics was an entirely grass-roots activity for 50 years
in the U.S. until the Federal rule was formulated in the 1990s. The
agricultural education establishment was actively hostile to it. [Steve
Diver has been quite the exception to the norm, all along.] I myself was
rebuffed by my local Ag Extension agent in the early '90s when I began growing
Chinese medicinal herbs -- now he's very courteous and helpful. Fortunately I
was able to find enlightened academics, but many are encumbered by their
institutions. The ecological farmers have created their own
separate teaching organizations, associations and conferences.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bio-dynamics, historically, was developed only by
growers, never the province of the academy or industrial concerns unless
owned by Anthroposophists. It was almost entirely underground until the
1990s in the U.S., as its practitioners were met with utter derision at the idea
of following the course of the moon in their procedures, or using fermented
herbal preparations in homeopathic doses. As far as I'm concerned, a
bio-dynamically cultivated herb is as good or better than a wild plant.
I visited two biodynamic medicinal plant gardens this past summer, in NY
and Quebec, where the plants exhibited truly astonishing vitality. It's so
apparent I call it the "Findhorn effect."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For one moment, can we address class prejudice
against farmers? An anecdote will serve. This past September at
the conclusion of one of my workshops, an Oriental medicine practitioner in
attendance told me that the weekend had changed his life. He's a young
African-American man, practicing in Jersey, whose ancestors were
sharecroppers in North Carolina. He said, "I always thought that farming
was beneath me, something I would never want to be involved in. Then I saw
that man [referring to the bio-dynamic medicinal plant grower who was
lecturing], how incredibly skilled and thoughtful he is, and how wide-ranging
his knowledge. And my whole worldview shifted." He later told me he
had enrolled himself and his two young children in a horticulture
course.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To be ruthlessly frank, the big deficit of this
listserve is that the growers are missing from the discussion. I can
afford the time to write this response only because I'm holed up after a
snowstorm in January.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ecological cultivation of medicinal plants is the
way to go.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jean Giblette, Director<BR>HIGH FALLS
GARDENS<BR>Box 125 Philmont NY 12565 USA<BR>518-672-7365<BR><A
href="mailto:hfg@capital.net">hfg@capital.net</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:info@businesshorizons.com" title=info@businesshorizons.com>JPS
Kohli</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
href="mailto:MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org"
title=MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org>MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, January 07, 2005 1:27
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [MPWG] Cultivation of Medicinal
Plants</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Steve Diver has further strengthened my belief that
cultivation (bio-dynamic or organic or any other form it takes) will be the
next big thing to happen in the field of medicinal plants. It is my belief
that cultivation is the immediate next step forward which has to be
understood before embarking on newer (and maybe better) methods towards
conservation of medicinal plants. Good agricultural practices (encompassing
all processes starting from soil preparation to harvesting/storage) needs to
be implemented industry-wide and certification agencies will have an important
role to play.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Sadly, the growers/cultivators of medicinal plants are among
the most inaccessible parts of the chain of supply in medicinal plants trade
and the knowledgebase (as improved from time to time) takes an eternity to
percolate down to them. Lets hope things change for the better sooner rather
than later.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Note for Steve Diver - Your website mentioned in your
email is an awesome source of information. My compliments for this
achievement.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>J P S Kohli (B. Pharm)<BR>Business
Horizons<BR>Pharmaceutical Publishers<BR>G-59, Masjid Moth, GK-2<BR>New Delhi
- 110 048, INDIA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Ph: 91-921206 1554<BR>Fax: 91-11-5163 7296, 2921
1676<BR>E-Mail: <A
href="mailto:info@businesshorizons.com">info@businesshorizons.com</A><BR>Alternate:
<A
href="mailto:businesshorizons@yahoo.com">businesshorizons@yahoo.com</A><BR>Web
Site: <A
href="http://www.businesshorizons.com">http://www.businesshorizons.com</A></FONT></DIV>
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