Not that I didn't know Roundup has bad stuff in it but...

[helwen]

Roundup (Glyphosate) triggers over 40 plant diseases, and more

One element of this is that it stays in the soil a long time. First example in the article is about a soybean crop that died of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) because the farmer had used glyphosate on that soil _the year previous_.

I'm happy to say that use of this stuff on the farm is very rare and in very very small quantities -- usually to keep some of the tougher plants down that like to grow under the electric fence. And sometimes not used even then, thank goodness.

[EDIT] We didn't use it on the fence edges last year - L clipped the weeds short through the season. We did use a type of roundup though, on a couple of areas around the barn that had poison ivy.

Comments

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

Goats! That's my answer to plants requiring Roundup, like poison ivy. I loathe Monsanto and its chemical warfare weapons....

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Goats are a good answer. I corrected my post just now -- we didn't use it for the weeds, but did use some on poison ivy around the barn.

As far as I know, goats don't eat poison ivy. They also sometimes need a little encouragement to eat the undesirables, usually be keeping them fenced in a given area until they go for it. They're the best thing going for cropping purple loosestrife down to the ground though, which is totally awesome!

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know, ok? I'm not shy about employing some portable electric fencing :) I wonder how they are with... oh bother... is it garlic mustard? That invasive plant that the UMass botany students were looking for/at a couple of springs ago....

[the1butterfly.livejournal.com]

I recently watched a Youtube video about weeds (couldn't find it when I looked again) which was very interesting. This was focused on weeds in Australia, so it might be a bit different here. The man in the video said that weeds bring nutrients up from deep in the soil and grass actually robs the weeds of their nutrients because grass has a lot of shallow roots. Weeds also have a harder time regrowing than grass, because their tops are much more complicated. Weeds are made of win! Unless they're invasive or doing something like clogging your spring, I'd leave them alone. Many weeds are more fragile than people realize. If they're really cool, you can give them to me (just don't tell Mikey- he worries about the neighbors liking us).

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

Yes, garlic mustard is one of the three that seem to be a primary focus right now. Bishop's Weed is a second -- don't recall the third right now.

[calygrey.livejournal.com]

Goats and sheep both eat poison ivy, as will rabbits, cows, deer.

Sheep will also clear underbrush for you. Pigs do an especially good job of clearing a lot, including the poison ivy..

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Cool. Do they eat garlic mustard?

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Some weeds are cool and some are not. Like when they're invasive or poisonous to critters. For instance, garlic mustard is an invasive -- not native to our area. It is working on supplanting the native mustard plant. The problem with this is that there is a type of butterfly that lays its eggs on the native type but is mistaking the garlic mustard for the native variety. Unfortunately the garlic mustard is toxic to the butterflies babies, and their population is being severely affected.

But I agree that herbicides are not the way to go.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Also, wish we could have some/one of those critters, but we're not allowed to have any smelly animals here. No sheep, goats, pigs, or geese.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Blah. Just re-read your response. We can have cows but we didn't have a way to keep them near where the poison ivy was - and L points out that we couldn't have touched them while they were in that area?

Deer.... well, there are plenty in the area but I don't think they'll come near the barn either. Still, nice to know :)

I'm not a big rabbit person at this point, although I'm not ruling it out in the future. I think we'd have to make some more changes in lifestyle first! But definitely a possibility.