Why must I live between all these chemicals?

[Decado]

So some chemical spraying company came by my neighbors today spraying herbicides all over their yard and (imagine the gall) he sprayed through our fence and got weeds along our fence and later said he thought it would be alright with us. It was most definitely not alright, especially since my dog likes to eat grass sometimes and usually from alongside the fence. Good thing he didn't spray my lilacs or I'd probably be in jail now.

[Dixana]

Regarding the NY Times link you posted HG, yes its true the chemical companies are being exposed, the truth is coming out about the dangers of the chemicals people use with no abandon, but what good does that REALLY do? Lobbyists that work for the companies that fund those politicians are never going to allow companies like monsanto to lose their moneytrain death products. We all know that's all that really matters in washington is "who's giving me the money and how can I cover their butt". Until the consumer (meaning us!) stand up and flat out say we're not buying your cancer causing, earth killing garbage I just don't see these products going away, and I don't know about you guys, but here there are 3 problems with this.
1: There are few to no alternatives. In the town I live in there are NO organic foods available at stores, so I have to drive over half an hour for produce that costs twice as much.
2: The vast majority are completely ignorant to what company makes what products and just think "hey the miracle grow makes my plants pretty, the weed and feed makes my lawn better than joe blows next door so it must be good" No concern for what it does/where it goes/who it hurts once their lawn is feed free and green.
3: The economy stinks and people are broke. I know a LOT of people who can barely afford to buy fresh fruits and veggies, much less organic ones. when you're trying to raise a family on little to no income that box of mac and cheese that only costs 69 cents is going to go a lot farther than some organic lettuce that, hey let's be honest, the kids aren't gonna eat anyway. But now I'm drifting into a whole different topic of why Americans are so obese.....
Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is where's the next option?

[Ozark Lady]

Hey, not using chemicals is great exercise and great for the waistline.

When you go out to the garden, and you manually weed, you often get personal. Some weeds you just can't get with the hoe, so you have to bend over there and stretch back there to get it.

Then the bugs, if you don't use many chemicals, you do alot of hand picking, nothing like the human eye to spot them, and then the human hand (or Apples chop sticks) to get them. I have a large, cheap pair of forcep like things, or huge tweezers that I use to get them! But, I still have to get on my knees and reach, and lean this way and that to spot them! And then we start checking out the "nightlife" and going looking for slugs by flashlight!

Maybe we need some advertisement, and some spiffy outfits for weeding and bug chasing? It is public relations that is missing here!

[applestar]

Speaking of... have you seen those baseball caps with LED lights built into the visor rim? I can't decide if the hands-free factor would be a convenience or if the lights will make every single night flier fly into your eyes.

Of course there are LED clip-onto-the-visor-lights and the pre-LED miner's headlamp style gizmos too. DH and BIL like to go night fishing, so I've seen every incarnation.

[Dixana]

My hubby and I each have one of those clip on the brim led lights :lol::lol: We use them for night fishing cats and they're awesome. dim, med, bright, 3-way flash, and 5-way flash makes it easy to see each other when we're down river too...
On another note entirely, the hubby has now demanded I save the slugs for fishing bait BLEH!

[Ozark Lady]

I have hands free elastic band, that holds a flashlight on my forehead.

Feels goofy, not overly bright, but it does get me around outside in the dark. Works fine for just seeing where you are going, when you are carrying things and have no free hands.

I wanna go fishing! (Off topic: Are ya catching anything?)

[Ozark Lady]

What the electric company right of way looks like today, after their clean up and a few days to green up again!

Hey, I found some young elderberries, just out of the range of their chemicals, and lots of youngsters in the remaining patch! Hooray!

[Ozark Lady]

Well, now the right-of-way is about to become...

A bag garden! I can't use the soil there, but I am just out of room in the regular garden, and clearing the trees is just going too slow!

A dear friend sent me a link to a pdf of a bag garden. They just bought bags of soil, and made them into beds.

Okay, I need too many to go that route. So, today, I hauled home another truck load of topsoil. And I got a roll of contractor trash bags.

This weekend will be... fill, enrich, slash and plant.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic- ... -Beds.aspx

A neighbor who was against spraying also dropped by, yesterday, and she offered me all the horse manure that I care to haul home. So, should I run out of goat, or poultry manure, I have another source!

There are a few weeds starting to grow in the right-of-way, nothing like it should look, but still some are growing. I am concerned that some roots will find their way out of the bags and into the soil there. Just a chance that I am going to have to take. These plants are already dead, if I can't get them planted...somewhere or other.

[Dixana]

OL we haven't caught much this year, weather's been too goofy. I caught one tiny perch and the hubby caught a big icky sheephead, but that's it!

I'm hoping this weekend we can catch a few cats. I LOVE grilled catfish

On another note, I'm now wondering what the hubby would say if he came home and the only side of our driveway with grass had suddenly become a bag garden......

[Ozark Lady]

I haven't gotten to go fishing. I hear tell the bass are running.

My grandkids keep going, and they always save their tiny fish for grandma's pond. Someday, they want to be able to fish in it!

So, my pond gained some bass and some perch. I notice lots of tadpoles and water insects are there, so maybe in time it will become a fish pond.

I still haven't come up with a good idea of something to plant on the banks or in the pond that would grow well, even with livestock grazing.

I am concerned that the black bags will overheat, so I will have to be prepared to mulch, mulch, mulch!