"Has any one had any luck getting granite dust from local sources?"

I got a 55-gallon drum of granite dust from a "headstone" maker for graves from a Vault company. They were glad to get rid of the stuff...

Blutranes

Awesome! Free? Did you provide the drum?

No. They were so glad to get rid of the stuff they told me to keep the drum. The problem was getting the drum off the truck. I had to transfer the dust to another drum (I did give the drum back). I have enough granite dust to last the rest of my life; not bad for someone who saved an awful lot of money...

Blutranes

Yep, I was thinking, if they loaded it, how would I get that much out of my van? I could sure go for a few rubbermaid totes full. I hope to hear back from any of them soon.

How are you able to find these sources? What resources do you use?

I've called every single feed store and nursery in my area and none have any granite products whatsoever

Can anybody suggest how much of granite dust to apply, in case I get some. :0)

Erik

I searched the internet for granite and my area. I came back w/ several stonecutters that do custom counter tops. Only one of my search results also did grave stones, but I'm sure a grave marker search would be effective also.

I was reading an Albrecht paper from the agr lib the other day that recommended granite dust.

Loss Of Soil Organic Matter And Its Restoration

Here is a link that might be useful: Holistic Agriculture Library

On a tangent here, but the Albrecht paper describes the benefits of grasses on water retention. It looks like rotation with a deep rooted cover crop is very beneficial to soil health.

Yes it does mention that, but I believe you're reading his second paper on the home page, I linked to the one on loss of OM. I may be confused though, I read several papers from that site recently.

I have a lb of hairy vetch that I'm going to cover crop my raised beds w/ this fall. I'm also going to get a lb of red clover, I got some small packets for a border, but I want to over seed my lawn that is kinda patchy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny's seeds red clover bulk

So I did a google search of my area for coupled with the word "granite" and got back results for granite top sellers. Do I just call these people and ask for their leftover granite "scraps"? lol, this is worse than asking for used coffee grounds

I'd like a source of potash too, and you're talking about wanting granite dust for a wide range of minerals, but what do you think of ATTRA saying,

"Granite dust is often sold as a "slowly available" potash source for organic production. Total potash contents in granite dust typically vary from 1 to 5%, depending on overall mineral composition of the rock, but granite is mostly feldspar, a mineral with low solubility. Therefore, little potash fertility is derived from this material...."

It also says,

"Certain micas, particularly biotite (black mica), contain several percent total potash, which, because of mica's physical structure (quite different than feldspar or glauconite), is relatively available in microbially active environments. If pure biotite can be obtained at a reasonable price, it may be cost-effective and useful."

I stopped at a stone cutters today, and he told me that they use an abrasive - aluminum something or other. He recommended a stone yard and said to ask for granite screenings or granite sand. Stuff that falls off of conveyor belt and washed off the different sizes as they are graded.

I imagine asking enough stone cutters might find one that doesn't have heavy metals in the dust.