Why must I live between all these chemicals?

[gixxerific]

Everyone around me (in a subdivision) uses thing thats shouldn't be. My neighbor to the east thinks that Roundup is the best thing ever my neighbor to the west has Chem-Lawn come by several times a year spraying the death they spray. That is the one the really gets me being downwind. He is a smart guy and I keep explaining things to him but he's just too lazy to do anything about it. Everyone else here is basically the same way.

Chem-Lawn came by today I of course had a word with him. Asking if at all possible to not spray his death on my garden. He had rubbber boots on and getting some gloves on while I was talking to him. I than asked if he knew how dangerous this stuff was for him and the earth, with a smile he jokingly tells me that he knows it is bad. (other stuff I want to say but will get kicked off if I do ).

[GardenJester]

also, your property becomes bug refugee camp because all your neighbors uses these chemicals but you don't.

[Decado]

I hear you. My neighbor sprays his trees with some chemical and inevitably the wind has to be in my direction when he does it. There should be laws against this type of thing in populated areas, especially since these chemicals can cause damage to humans if inhaled or gotten on the skin as well. This subject really makes my blood boil.

[Gary350]

I know exactly what you mean. Everyone in my neighborhood sprays poisons on their lawn and trees too. It pisses me off I have to breath that junk. I have the right to breath clean air free of poison. I don't want any of that poison on my yard. I have probably the only yard in the neighborhood that actually looks real and natural with different types of grass, clover, very spoty, chick weed, dandalions and other stuff. Everyone else in the neighborhood their yard looks so fake all the grass is exactly the same looks like a green carpet. I guess the only way you can get away from it is move out of town to the country. You can't tell the idiots anything they continue to spray poison anyway and look at me like I am the idiot.

[Decado]

The problem with being out in the country is that you might get crop dusting chemicals blown onto your property, in much larger quantities than you see in any city.

[DoubleDogFarm]

This is the topic that made me leave GardenWeb forum. Plus all their pain in the butt advertising. When Chemical Ali in the Fruit Orchard Forum of GW starts calling me ignorant, it's time to leave.


I find it hard to talk organics, politics and religion with most people.

[a0c8c]

I noticed an organic pest control truck today when leaving my parents. Can't remember the name, but here in Austin you get tax deductions for using organic companies, so everyone's starting to go organic just for the savings. Atleast its a start.

[rainbowgardener]

Wow, that's really cool, about Austin. I wonder how they got the tax deduction passed (it must be local)? It would be good if other cities/ counties could do that too.

[gixxerific]

This is the topic that made me leave GardenWeb forum. Plus all their pain in the butt advertising. When Chemical Ali in the Fruit Orchard Forum of GW starts calling me ignorant, it's time to leave.


I find it hard to talk organics, politics and religion with most people.

I would hope you don't mean that this topic is making you want to leave. I hope you mean the stuck up know it alls and there narrow-minded attitudes made you leave there.

Here we are more open minded and welcome new ideas, if they are not or own we will still suggest alternatives but we won't call you names.

Well not to your face. Na Na Na Na Boo Boo!

[DoubleDogFarm]

I would hope you don't mean that this topic is making you want to leave. I hope you mean the stuck up know it alls and there narrow-minded attitudes made you leave there.

gixxerific, No, I like it here. Seems to be more relaxed. Over at GW seemed like ever forum had it's self righteous expert. I'm all for organics, permaculture, sustainablity, green building.....etc.

I also had a little flame war with a person who thought I was insensitive on a duck subject. blah blah blah.

Posting a few more pictures in the GW Farming Life Forum and that's that.

[Sage Hermit]

Ok here is what you do. Go to the craft store and order several of those yellow food coloring dyes id say at least 5 - 6. Fill up a couple buckets or a trash can with water and add the yellow. Now just pour it all over his lawn and be like of snap you totally killed your grass!!!!! do this at night and if he has dogs toss a cooked steak at them to keep them occupied for a while.

time is of the essence.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Ok here is what you do. Go to the craft store and order several of those yellow food coloring dyes id say at least 5 - 6. Fill up a couple buckets or a trash can with water and add the yellow. Now just pour it all over his lawn and be like of snap you totally killed your grass!!!!! do this at night and if he has dogs toss a cooked steak at them to keep them occupied for a while.

That's Just Mean

Here, this what you really do. Put on your ninja outfit. Go over to the one neighbor that sprays Roudup. Steal his tank. It's ok you'll take it back. Now go over to Mr. Perfect lawn and write, with the sprayer, Food Not Lawns, by Heather C. Flores. Take back the sprayer. Burn the ninja outfit, you looked funny in it anyway. This is all done in the dead of the night. In the morning it's like nothing happened. But wait

[Ozark Lady]

I live out in the country, the closest small town is 6 miles, and real town is 17. No farms around me at all. I have a national forest on 2 sides, man, I should be safe, right? The electric company came in spraying gunk all along the driveway, I mean everywhere, even on my fruits, I was furious, and they said it was to clear their power lines, so they killed fruits that won't get more than 6 feet tall? And they sprayed it where my goats can get to it and eat it... c'mon give me a break!

The whole community was up in arms, and the electric company is treading lightly for the time being. I am fortunate, my neighbors don't garden, and don't want chemicals mucking up their places either, most want to leave the forest natural. And so far, the county isn't spraying, they are still bush hogging and clipping limbs.

[lj in ny]

Luckily my new neighbors to the south try really hard to be organic (luck runs out with neighbor to the north). I had a conversation with the wife when they first moved in and she was talking about getting a lawn service. I told her I'd rather have clover than chemicals and I think that got her thinking. They have 2 small kids, I told her how worried I was about the effects of chemicals on my dog... They have organic lawn service. It's really hard to walk the dogs in the neighborhood, most people have Chem Lawn or something like it and the little chemical pellets end up in the road. We don't want that stuff stuck to the bottoms of the dogs feet so we try to walk them in the middle of the road- which presents it's own problems

[Ozark Lady]

It will not happen again, several neighbors and I have filed a complaint and grievance, in our complaint we limited them to cutting, no spraying, and only trees that are within 1' of touching the power lines. No more killing fruit that won't even get that tall! No more chemicals.

They would not have gotten away with it, but I happened to be in town and came home to my son irate and telling me that he stopped them, but too late to save half my elderberries and grapes. I just pray that my pawpaw trees were far enough away that they didn't get them too. They did it so late in the season, that it was hard to tell, natural leaf drop from their spraying spree. So, I am watching to see what returns and what they killed. grrr. All that spraying, and there was only one tree, a mulberry that was tall enough to be a problem, well, it is dead now, and where will it fall? Right on the power line! Such great wisdom! Yeah right!

[JV]

I don't use chemicals on my lawn but yet I'm not going to go around to my neighbors and tell them what they can and can't do for their lawns. Last time I checked we still live in a free country so far and if they bought their property and are paying taxes then they should be able to use what ever they want as long it isn't illegal. But that's just my opinion.

[DoubleDogFarm]

and that's why the say, " Good fences make good neighbors"

[cynthia_h]

Here's a Sticky in one of our forums re. Sevin/carbaryl and other chemicals used in this country on plants, even those which will be eaten by gardeners and their families. Note also the concerns about drift, sometimes also called wind drift, of chemicals. The vapors of these chemicals themselves are hazardous when inhaled.

It's interesting to me to note that the thread started in June 2008, almost two years ago. Some of the concerns raised then by members have now spread to a somewhat larger non-gardening world, but we still have a ways to go....

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8520

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[gixxerific]

JV I don't TELL my neghbors what to do though I do bring the facts and let them decide which is best. Oh and the stuff they spray in the yards is the same stuff my kids play in sometimes so it does effect me personally.

[Decado]

I don't use chemicals on my lawn but yet I'm not going to go around to my neighbors and tell them what they can and can't do for their lawns. Last time I checked we still live in a free country so far and if they bought their property and are paying taxes then they should be able to use what ever they want as long it isn't illegal. But that's just my opinion.

Which is why I wish it was illegal.

[peachyness]

My new next door neighbor had the gall to come over to me when I was working on my garden to tell me that I needed to use chemicals to kill my weeds. He has actually been coming over and spraying some of them for me!!! I will politely tell him later on that I plan to grow an organic garden and that I will pull the weeds myself.

[Gerrie]

We have road crews that come along once a year and spray for encroaching grasses or berries along the roadway. All you have to do is put up a sign that says 'NO Spray' and they won't spray. We're way out in the country so I think the crews figure they won't get in trouble by their bosses if they don't spray. I wish I could get DH to listen the same way. He won't come near the yard or garden with the sprayer but uses it along the perimeters of the seven acres. We have wells, I keep telling him this is going to end up in ur groundwater. He thinks he's going to live forever. I need help from "Dear Abby".

[Gary350]

My neighbor sprayed his yard today. The wind always seems to blow in the same directions for some reason the wind blows across my yard from the south and north towards the grade school 2 blocks away. This gives me an idea. If this stuff is legal I wonder how people would like it if I built a large water fountain full of lawn spray and sprayed it 20 feet into the air so all that bad toxic smell would blow across the grade school. Early morning when all those parents drive up with their kids I bet if the smell was so strong it knocked you down I bet a lot of parents would be screaming mad. It might make TV news if parents refused to let their children attend school with all that spray in the air. Wonder if those parents spray poison on their lawn. Wonder how they would like that.

[gixxerific]

It really is terrible. most people don't understand how BAD this stuff really is. They have never been educated and that in itself stinks.

It funny in a way my neighbors know how I feel I'm not afraid to share my opinion an anything. SO when they do use thing like Grub-Ex they tell me but kind of shy away. Don't worry I'm not too hard on them. I let them have nice and slow so as to not scare them away.

I have noticed several people lately around here deploying this and that while wearing either masks or respirators. That has to tell you something, right.

One day people this earth will be ours again, or......................................................

[Sage Hermit]

I only jest when I say sneak over and sabotage their lawns. Your direct approach works well and I wish you success and a large following.

[gixxerific]

I only jest when I say sneak over and sabotage their lawns. Your direct approach works well and I wish you success and a large following.

I know you were kidding and I'm sure everyone else did as well. I would never do that, the subtle direct approach as you say is a good avenue. They will eventually start listening I hope.

As far as the sabotage goes my Roundup crazy neighbor was mad at another person in the neighborhood so he wanted to trow "total vegetation killer" bombs in their yard. That stuff will kill everything for years. That is the mentality of some people around here so you see what I'm up against.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Yes, A little fun, not serious.

[applestar]

Yes. I have a neighbor like that -- not actually throwing weed killer on other peoples' property, but will go to pretty unneighborly lengths . He said he was "just looking out for the neighborhood" ... He followed that comment with "... you know?" I think he was expecting me to agree....

[rainbowgardener]

I have noticed several people lately around here deploying this and that while wearing either masks or respirators. That has to tell you something, right.

Yeah, my neighbor is always out there, even mowing his lawn with a mask on. He does all the chem lawn stuff. He says that he wears the mask because of allergies, but I have to wonder if his lawn wouldn't make him sick, if he didn't put poisons on it all the time. In the meantime, my un-poisoned, un-cared for lawn looks better than his and I have pix to prove it!

[DoubleDogFarm]

bring out your pix, bring out your pix!!

[cynthia_h]

There are some stunning pix of RBG's (lawn and) flowers, trees, etc. at "SPRING FLOWERS":

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22775

incredible looking plants! Congratulations, RBG!

Cynthia

[gixxerific]

Isn't it funny RBG I haven't used chemical ferts in my lawn either for a few years.

I finally broke down and bought some corn gluten to fertilize the lawn. I almost wish I hadn't. My grass is growing leaps and bounds above anyone else s around here. Oh well that's more fodder for the compost and more green mulch for me.

OH and RBG your pics are awesome, really. I wish I knew how to arrange plants and flowers like that. I do okay but that is really something there. Which reminds me back to my plants I need to figure out something for my new front garden.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I found this information about corn gluten here.
https://wihort.uwex.edu/turf/corngluten.htm

If you have a problem with GMO's, you may have issues with using corn gluten

Is Genetically Modified (GMO) corn used to make corn gluten?

Up to 60% of the commercial corn and soybeans in the United States is grown from GMO Seed. Corn gluten sold as a preemergent herbicide may indeed contain GMO corn, but it has not yet been tested. Here's the twist. Corn gluten can reduce the need for traditional herbicides that have environmental side effects. It likely now contains GMO corn. It could be produced from non-GMO corn, but would likely be more expensive.

If GMO corn is used, can certified organic growers use it and will European markets allow it? How do home gardeners feel? And if plants are grown in soil treated with GMO corn gluten, could a crop pick up anything that show a positive GMO detect in testing?

[gixxerific]

DDF [url=https://www.bradfieldorganics.com/corngluten900.html]here[/url] is where I get mine from. I tried to run the [url=https://www.bradfieldorganics.com/MSDS/Bradfield_MSDS_9-0-0.pdf]materail data sheet[/url] but my pc was just renewed due to problems and is not yet up to par. If you can view it maybe you you could make your opinion based on this.

But than again my friend wouldn't you rather use GMO corn gluten over anything Scots etc?

The brand I use is also endorsed by Paul Tukey (sp) who is very much into organic principles. So far be it from me to challenge him. You can see the vid [url=https://www.safelawns.org/video.cfm?action=view&video_id=15&show_sponsor=true&KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=320&width=400]here[/url]. Check out the rest of his site while there lots of goo stuff to be read and viewed.

[DoubleDogFarm]

DDF here is where I get mine from. I tried to run the materail data sheet but my pc was just renewed due to problems and is not yet up to par. If you can view it maybe you you could make your opinion based on this.

Neither the link or the hazardous material sheet have anything to do with GMO's. GMO in my opinion is not Organic. The video tells me nothing either. We have used corn gluten in the landscape business, but only on gravel paths and driveways. If you apply this to your garden for nitrogen, don't be planting any seeds for 60 days.

GMOs,
If you apply corn gluten to your property and it's 60% gmo corn Are you willing to pay the patent fees (Royalties) to Monsanto. I am not. Look up GMO and the horror stories. He who controls the food controls the world.

[Ozark Lady]

I keep looking at the ruin, the electric company did... all dead and yucky looking.
I would like to extend my garden, to do that to the north is to run into the herbicide areas. To the east, is the highway, and to the west is the mint patch, that I allot to the bees, south is heavy forest.

I look at my future garden, it is still tree covered. But, at this edge of it, I could begin gardening, except there is a strip of about 8 feet where the electric company did their diabolical spraying.

Okay, so does that herbicide get into my soil?
What do I do with the plants killed by it?
Can I remove the dead mess, and plant?
I read to test whether a field is still herbicide issue you plant beans and if they won't grow you know there is a problem.
I can't grow beans on a good day, so how is that going to help?
I suppose I could plant some in a none sprayed area and compare what they do?

How do I go about cleaning my land of the filth of that herbicide mess?
Where do I start? By removing the dead stuff I am sure, but do I need gloves and trash bags, and simply put it in a landfill?
Can I give it to the electric company? It is their mess after all!
And get this, the tall trees that touch the line, are alive and sprouting! They killed my stuff, and polluted my soil in vain! Grrrr.

[gixxerific]

OL dig it up and drop it off at their front door with a gallon of gas and a match to boot.

Of course don't actually do that ............................................

[applestar]

When they had that "hay field broadleaf herbicide passed through horses
digestive system and ended upin manure" problem in England, the plants that showed the symptoms were tomatoes and potatoes (tiny mutant leaves and shoots). So why not try tossing some tomato seeds there?

[Ozark Lady]

I took photos today, of the tall ones, with leaves, and the destruction underneath of my elder berries and grapes, that won't even get up there. I will definitely deliver the photos to the electric company, maybe even the newspaper. I am that furious.

I will also bag up the trash and photograph that... The war is on!

I am also making no spray signs so they can't sneak in here and do this again.

I look all around, the worst of their spraying is not viewable from the highway, or they didn't do this anywhere but here.
There is just a bit of odd brush here and there that they sprayed, that I can see driving through... grrrr.

I like the tomato idea. I will plant some there, and when they are yucky, I will take photos of that too. Wonder how the electric company will like that publicity? Can they say "public image"?

[Sage Hermit]

I saw the most disturbing video the other day onn youtube.

A guy in a spray tank back pack comes up to a guys bee hives and intentionally sprays the bees. The owner beat the EDITED - PLEASE REPORT THIS POST out of him.

I swear I will kill anyone who sprays my hives.