Yup, because of course you want to be spraying poisons on ground where you grow food.
I'm by no means a grass expert but I believe most grasses of that type (called rhizomial ??) will not be able to survive buried at least 12". Don't quote me on that.
We have some perrenial grass here that is quite persistant, although I've not identified it exactly. If you leave a clump in the ground it will survive, but only if less than about 4-6". My strategy for those areas is to flip the sod with a bottom plow and let it dry, and/or remove the clumps. Where the roots are exposed it dies.
Thought I'd take a pic of the main pooh pile to make all you gardeners jealous. What's left in this batch is about 20 yards and it's got about another 2 weeks before it's ready. And yeah, the apple trees are blooming. The brown thing is a mobile chicken coop.
Bermuda will survive even if a foot deep in well aerated soil.
(been there dun that)
Horse manure works great because it isn't as "hot" as steer manure and has a lot of incompletely digested fibrous material that really helps loosen up clay soil, and you can also usually get it for free or next to it.
Just make sure you compost it for a few months and don't put it on fresh or you will burn up your plants, mostly from the overabundance of the nitrogen in the urine. Also it gives time for any anti parasitic agents the horses had in their system time to break down. Horse wormer even in incredibly small concentrations will nuke all the earthworms.
Roundup on the other hand breaks down completely in about two weeks.
Had the craziest strong Brandy wine Amish heirloom tomato last year. We have 6 strong starts off the biggest tomato warming up in the bullpen. Suppose to warm up soon and they'll be planted.
Well, I'll take your word for it TGT... I dunno. I've no real experience with Bermuda. But I've never seen grass survive when fully buried... now bindweed on the other hand...
If you wish to believe the Roundup is somehow safe, I guess I won't convince you otherwise. My thinking is that when you fúck with nature, she tends to fúck you back. Usually in unpleasant and frustrating ways.
More important companies like Monsanto are directly responsible for massive damage to agriculture and rural communities that may never fully heal. Thankfully the revolution in small-scale local farming is gaining speed. We're the people who will keep food costs down and be able to provide you with wholesome natural non-toxic food when all around you huge food monopolies are jacking up prices and forcing you to eat cheatoes.
We have a sweet deal with a local stable. They need to get rid of their crap, so we come about once a week with our dump bed truck and they load it for us. We don't pay for it but that doesn't mean it's free.
I find horse manure on it's own to be lacking. We also got a bunch of sheep manure -- the two together is fantastic. My philosophy with compost is the greater diversity the better.
Very envious of your spread there khanom. We have a tiny patch of city land here ... no room for a manure pile. We have two 50-gal drums of worm compost. They survive winters easily ( tho' we have a fairly mild winter ).
And agreed on grass. Around here the quackgrass ( rhizomal ) needs to be dug out , rhizomes and all and then ya gotta be vigilant for the little bits missed.
Don't use Roundup on food crops. Better to go an Organic route - yeah, I know - there's crap in the atmosphere but why put more in? Dig dig dig. We ridded our yard of convolvulus (sp?) that way. I still fight quack grass despite digging it out every spring.
There's no perfect garden. It's always work in keeping the weeds away.
Thanks for the note about horse-worm meds in horse manure. We don't have an easy source for horse manure but I do tend to jump on it if we get it. Don't wanna mess with our earthworm population !!!
so back to this project. Round-up, no. unfortunately, I can't do a raised bed, so the next best thing would be to dig and haul. I can't get the depth being suggested but I suspect if I clear most of the "offending" soil, I can line it and replace. I have to be ghetto cheap about this, so I'm scavenging things. I'm also starting plants in toilet paper rolls! I the previous grass infested patch, I was thinking planting sunflowers, zuchinni and herbs in the ground. maybe corn. to disguise my mj plants in containers. tomatos and maybe peas. for sure cucumbers to pickle. then I started thinking I could do greens in the ground too. I need to do more research. your stuff all looks awesome folks! since I live on the SF peninsula, the weather is bomber and I get lots of summer sun. the Star Gazer Lily is in heaven and I also have orchids that are stoked to be outside in the shade.
I can't wait to buy land and grow more food and rustle chickens. maybe goats for cheese. plus guns to keep the zombies out of my food.
I'm pretty sure it's an old-timey injectible vial. Medical waste.
Back almost a hunred years ago, the big place next door was a tuberculosis hospital - and it's built like one. My place - a hundred yards away - was the doctor/nurse quarters.
The real estate guy told me about potential medical waste when I got the place. "If you dig up any jars, DON'T open them".
Glyphosate (trade name RoundUp, etc), is the most widely applied agricultural chemical in the country. If you're fretting over if being applied near food crops...well, that ship sailed decades ago.
It's basically an enyzme synthesis inhibiter. It only works on actively growing plants, the uptake method is through the foliage (i.e. it won't work as a pre-emergent). And it does breakdown relatively quickly for an herbicide. EPA gives it one of the lower toxicity ratings.
If you're fretting over if being applied near food crops...well, that ship sailed decades ago.
And: Still, I wouldn't want it on my food.
Farmers spray it ON food crops. You know that right? That's the whole point.
EPA gives it one of the lower toxicity ratings.
Given your apparent confidence in government work, which is possibly lower than my own, I'm not sure this means much.
The perpetual problem of humans monkeying with nature is that we are rarely able to know and understand the long-term implications of our actions. In the early part of this century almost no agricultural chemicals were thought to have negative effects, but naturally with use and time to see them we discovered that was very much not true.
Everything you do on a farm has consequences. Everything you put on or near the soil affects it. Sometimes it's perceivable, sometimes it's merely measurable, and sometimes you don't see the consequences for many years.
If you google glyphosate toxicity you can find studies that link the chemical to deliterious effects on living creatures (here's just one). But do you need a study to tell you that wiping out all plant life in a given area will not have some consequence? It matters to me that it is toxic to humans or toxic to mice, but far more important is that this practice ignores the delicate balance of systems farmers must work within to ensure long-term soil health and productivity.
I'm really bummed, as this has been a hobby of mine for a few years now.
The irony of poverty is not being able to afford to get my garden going this year. If I could fund the startup, I'd be paying less for the veggies I love to eat.
How long does that plastic last? We were thinking about doing some of those, but it seems like 2-5 years max before the plastic would deteriorate up in Tahoe. Currently harvesting used windows in the tahoe area...
Wes, if you are asking me, it's not plastic. Well, it's still a petroleum product. But it's a breathable lightweight row cover for keeping insects at bay and reducing heat. It comes in heavier weight versions that are excellent frost protection. It lasts long if you are careful -- it rips easily.
The brand we use is Agribon, available many places. We bought from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley.
We do use greenhouse plastic on our cold frame, and it should last 3-4 seasons with care.
I'm real happy with what I've got going this year.
No problems. No setbacks.
This is when it's fun. Production matches exactly what I can cook and eat. Sometime in the next couple weeks the work will start and I'll be firing up the canner.
She canned a case of Boysenberry jam weekend before last. Probably need to do at least two more batches and a batch or two of Raspberry
Thanks to climate cooling I'll have a bumper crop of tomatoes so the Salsa and sauce canning production will start in about two weeks.
The heat loving plants like the corn have been a dud this year. The Sweet potatoes are rather stunted, but the beans are finally starting to take off late from a state of arrested development.
I will have to transplant the Shallots this weekend.
when you grow them from seed you get clumps like Scallions and then you need to replant them and give e'm some room.
The Goat got hers, too. She gets rid of the ends, peels, seeds, etc. Unlike the Dogs, who know there's no future in begging, the Goat thinks she needs to be front-and-center for the whole process.
Let us know!