Guest guest Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 for the gardeners... hi everyone... this is a cross post from fukuoka_farming/ makes ya wonder about ingesting the stuff... norm )~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why are any of you using RoundUP? Vinegar on a hot, sunny day will do the job just as well....and it won't poison the soil....or you. I am not saying to pour vinegar on the soil either. Spray it...or use a paintbrush to get it on the leaves. Shading the grass/weeds works to some extent depending on the grass, or the weed involved. Pickling vinegar <10%> or 20% vinegar works the best. Add a wee bit of citrus oil to it....and you have one powerhouse killer there. It will kill anything it touches....so that is why I mention the paintbrush technique. It keeps less of it from getting into the soil...and directs it only where it is needed. Vinegar is cheaper than RoundUp, too. I continue to wonder how anyone can be on a Natural Farming/Gardening group and use RoundUP....from the giant enemy of all agriculture...Monsanto. We are on...what is it now? RoundUP3? They have to keep changing it....making it more powerful because it stops working otherwise. RoundUp is not natural in any form. I know I am odd....but I don't think weeds are our enemies. I continue to experiment with using weeds to help keep the garden healthier, as well as more insect free. Sometimes it gets out of hand.....but that is how I learn....as we all learn I suspect. Mother Nature seems to know when the soil needs this weed...or that weed....though She doesn't see them as weeds....unwanted plants, like we do. She knows when the garden needs something....even to the point of having allelopathic plants do the job when She thinks it is a good idea for only that one plant to be there. A lot of the above is from observation on my part. I have let all of my beds go....let the weeds do their thing. Some of them I have thinned out because I had to do it....but I cut them off at the soil level. I want to see what happens from all of this. The one thing I do know is that the same weeds/plants do not grow there the next season. They could....they easily reseed themselves...but they don't. Didn't anyone ever wonder why that is? It could be they do regrow in the next season in some places....where their job wasn't finished to Mom Nature's satisfaction. Time will tell. It just occurs to me that in Nature no one weeds....so how do things grow so well? Isn't that what this list is about...mimicking Nature ala Fukuoka? Entomologists will tell you that a neat garden has an imbalance usually. Predator insects have no where to hide to do their jobs. It is a bit like a hunter going out to hunt critters in a flashy outfit with horns blaring. Wouldn't catch much would he/she? Natural Farming/Gardening is all about letting Nature do as much of the work as is possible.....because it is the way it should be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I guess I'm really doing the Fukuoka thing--my garden is a jungle of weeds. The guy who mows the lawn is going to weed-whip soon, I hope. kelpguy wrote: > for the gardeners... > > hi everyone... > this is a cross post from fukuoka_farming/ > > > makes ya wonder about ingesting the stuff... > norm )~ > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Why are any of you using RoundUP? Vinegar on a hot, sunny day will > do the job just as well....and it won't poison the soil....or you. I > am not saying to pour vinegar on the soil either. Spray it...or use > a paintbrush to get it on the leaves. Shading the grass/weeds works > to some extent depending on the grass, or the weed involved. > Pickling vinegar <10%> or 20% vinegar works the best. Add a wee bit > of citrus oil to it....and you have one powerhouse killer there. It > will kill anything it touches....so that is why I mention the > paintbrush technique. It keeps less of it from getting into the > soil...and directs it only where it is needed. Vinegar is cheaper > than RoundUp, too. > > I continue to wonder how anyone can be on a Natural Farming/Gardening > group and use RoundUP....from the giant enemy of all > agriculture...Monsanto. We are on...what is it now? RoundUP3? They > have to keep changing it....making it more powerful because it stops > working otherwise. RoundUp is not natural in any form. > > I know I am odd....but I don't think weeds are our enemies. I > continue to experiment with using weeds to help keep the garden > healthier, as well as more insect free. Sometimes it gets out of > hand.....but that is how I learn....as we all learn I suspect. > > Mother Nature seems to know when the soil needs this weed...or that > weed....though She doesn't see them as weeds....unwanted plants, like > we do. She knows when the garden needs something....even to the > point of having allelopathic plants do the job when She thinks it is > a good idea for only that one plant to be there. > > A lot of the above is from observation on my part. I have let all of > my beds go....let the weeds do their thing. Some of them I have > thinned out because I had to do it....but I cut them off at the soil > level. I want to see what happens from all of this. The one thing I > do know is that the same weeds/plants do not grow there the next > season. They could....they easily reseed themselves...but they > don't. Didn't anyone ever wonder why that is? It could be they do > regrow in the next season in some places....where their job wasn't > finished to Mom Nature's satisfaction. Time will tell. > > It just occurs to me that in Nature no one weeds....so how do things > grow so well? Isn't that what this list is about...mimicking Nature > ala Fukuoka? > > Entomologists will tell you that a neat garden has an imbalance > usually. Predator insects have no where to hide to do their jobs. > It is a bit like a hunter going out to hunt critters in a flashy > outfit with horns blaring. Wouldn't catch much would he/she? > > Natural Farming/Gardening is all about letting Nature do as much of > the work as is possible.....because it is the way it should be > done. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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