Dear Merla, I think you are getting somewhere. If you can collect the seeds to your most troublesome weeds and send them to me I can get the Malcolm Rae cards made and send you the potencies your healer friend needs to copy onto your spray water.
I have to give you an "A" grade for persisting in the face of incredible resistance. One more indication that where there is a will there is a way. I bet if you could get those good 'ole boys to lay it on the line they don't any of them want to spray poison, but they are convinced it is their only option. It isn't. It simply isn't. There are other options. Getting them to see this is tough stuff. I've taken a ruined farm and restored it to where it is one of the most fertile spots in the county here. Alternative solutions in every case. Never any poisons, because of all my options I least embraced that one. I've never grown eggplant successfully. Flea beetles jump on it like slime on a searock. The only solution I've seen so far has been poisons (at the experiment station). I don't go there. So 13 trials and 13 failures with eggplant. Poison is the most inadmissible option because even if there is no eggplant, without poison there are future generations and maybe someone will find a way. But with poison the future goes down the toilet. Think there's any way these guys will see that? Best, Hugh >Hi all, > >Things are developing at their own pace on this, but I have a deadline >for the Budget on April 4, the next Weed Advisory Board Meeting. > >I found a healer here in Sandpoint with a BioMeridian Meridian Stress >Assessment. It's a computerized radionics machine. You put the >vibrational frequency of a substance into the computer and save it, and >she has another instrument by Digital Health that she uses to put the >vibrational frequency into a liquid in a bottle. This would be one way >to put the Pfeiffer Field Spray and the weed peppers onto our road >without violating any state laws, I hope. If it comes to this, I will >have to work out with her on the potencies. She says the instrument >takes care of this. I am supposed to collect small samples of the soil >on Rapid Lightning Road and hold this against my stomach while she tests >me with her instrument. There are a dozen references to the Meridian >Stress Assessment on Goggle search and they have a website at ><biomeridian.com> I don't know anything about this, folks, but I will >forge ahead with whatever works while trying to keep my nose clean. It >would be nice to document everything we use on the road to be a model >for the county. I am quite concerned about BD people's sensitivities >over dealing with a government agency, the materialism involved and the >words of RS at the end of Chapter 8 in Agriculture. What is the balance >here? I am prepared to keep all BD applications secret to protect our >whole endeavor in healing the earth from disinterested hearsay. From >what I have gone through, it feels like this might be necessary. > >My meeting with Christine, the State Inspector, was not very fruitful. >I've known her ever since I came here. She is probably an agnostic and >she can't deal with spiritual science and RS. What I did get out of it >was that if HC wants to register Pfeiffer Field Spray, and he probably >doesn't even if I supply the $100, he will have to list the ingredients >and have the contents tested. The ingredient list would look like the >label on a bottle of catchup--bovine manure, yarrow flowers, oak bark, >dandilion flowers, stinging nettle leaves and stems, chamomile flowers, >valerian flowers, enzymes (he would have to name them), and bacteria (he >would have to name them). They don't care about the energy from putting >all these in the earth in a rich BD soil or any spiritual aspects of our >work. > >I have ordered the application form for registering a soil amendent from >the state of Idaho and I will probably send this to HC along with the >above information. It's his call and I respect this. > >I'm busy trying to make out a budget for the cost-share grant to present >to the Weed Committee Meeting April 4. It looks like this so far >(below). Does anyone have any suggestions on content? I hate dealing >in numbers and money and am just putting my first draft out there. I >have $2200 to spend and I have to justify every cent. Thanks for any >help you can give. I am including the guidelines for the cost-share >grant. I am struggling. Maybe there are some experienced grant writers >out there? I know there must be more ways to follow the guidelines than >I am aware of. Help, if you have any experience with this. > >Merla > >* * * * * * * * > >Budget for 2002 >Rapid Lightning Neighborhood Weed Control Project > >History: Last year the county mowed twice with two different rotary >mowers on the 3-mile paved part of the road and Robert Coles mowed once >on the 5-mile gravel part of the road with a sickle-bar mower. >Residents weed whacked what was left--absentee landowner�s >right-of-ways, ranchers� right-of-ways, around bridges, mailboxes and >parts of the whole right-of-way that the mower�s could not reach. This >type of containment of seedhead will be continued this year. > >� Purchase a second Stihl 085 professional weed eater. Residents� >weedeaters are not heavy enough and break easily doing this work. It is >necessary for Herb to oversee the use of the WeedEaters and it would be >helpful if another professional weedeater was available for the second >person. > >� We recommend Robert Cole�s sickle bar mower which he donated last >year. We would like the grant to pay him his time and the use of the >mower since he is not a resident of Rapid Lightning. > >1. Biodynamic weed peppers - Weed peppers made by burning the seeds of >spotted knapweed, common tansy, yellow and orange hawkweed, Canada and >musk thistle will be sprayed. These peppers will be in a homeopathic >D-8 dilution. > >� No further purchase will be made. We have bought a soil amendment, >Pfeiffer Field Spray, but we can�t apply it because it isn�t registered >in Idaho. Biodynamic preparations �affect the etheric realm of >existence and stimulate nonphysical dimensions that manifest in the >physical.� Hugh Courtney, Director of the Josephine Porter Institute. >They are made from exempted substances "unmanipulated bovine manure", >silica and "vegetable wastes" from the herbs-- yarrow flowers, stinging >nettle leaves and stems, chamomile flowers, oak bark, dandelion flowers >and valerian flowers that are buried in the garden over the winter. To >this has been added enzymes and several cultivated strains of beneficial >soil bacteria that have been isolated from the most fertile humus soils. > >2. Allelopathic Plants - Rye, oat and other seed will be >direct-seeded. > >� Possible plants and combinations of plants >Cereal Rye - Secale cerale - alone >Cereal Rye with Red Clover ((has shown excellent weed suppression once >established, and, being a legume, gives the added benefit of nitrogen >fixation by symbiotic bacteria) >Oats - Avena sativa - alone >Oats with Red Clover >Italian ryegrass - Lolium multiflorum - alone >Buckwheat - _____________ alone >Buckwheat followed by Winter Rye >Sudangrass followed by Winter Rye >Grain Sorghum - ___________(produces a hydrophobic, golden yellow >compound that exhibits remarkable selective herbicidal activity on >broadleaf and grass weeds.) > >3. Mulch > >� Possible mulches >Living Mulch - perennial ryegrass, red clover, white clover, hairy vetch > >Straw Mulch >Road Fabric >Sorghum stalks (allelopathic) >Sunflower residues (allelopathic) > >4. Crop Water Extracts <www.telmedpak.com> > >� Sorgaab (Sorghum water extract) >Sorgaab with Sunflower water extract > > >5. Bio-controls for knapweed, thistle and hawkweed are available. > >� Knapweed - Agapeta zoegana, Cyphocleonus achates, Larinus minutus, >Metzneria paucipunctellka, Urophora affinis, Urophora quadrifasciata >Thistle - >Hawkweed - Merla is going to a workshop on this on April 9 in Coeur >d�Alene > >6. Reclamation and aesthetic seed mix > >� Three suppliers are available: > >Plants of the Wild, P.O.Box 866, Tekoa, WA. <plantsofthewild.com> 509 >284-2848 >4 cu inch tubes @ 45� each in bundles of 20 >10 cu inch tubes @ 90� each in bundles of 20 >Common Yarrow, Pearly Everlasting, Blue Columbine, Arrowleaf Balsamroot, >Indian Paintbrush, Purple Coneflower, Blue Wild Rye, Sulfer Flower, >California Poppy, Idaho Fescue, Blue Fescue, Blanket Flower, Blue Flax, >Silvery Lupine, Silky or Blue Lupine, Desert EveningPrimrose, Scorched >penstemon, Hot Rock penstemon, Firecracker penstemon, Rocky Mountain >penstemon. > >Granite Seeds, Sandy, Utah >Rocky Mountain Seed Mix >Annuals - California Poppy, Scarlet Flax, Sullphur Cosmos, Wallflower, >Firewheel, Bachelor Button, Mountain Phlox, Plains Coreopsis, Shirley >poppy, Baky snapdragon, Gilia species, Drummond phlox >Perennials - Lewis blue flax, purple coneflower, Rocky Mountain Iris, >Lance-leaved coreopsis, Lupine species >Blanket flower, Sweet Anise, Penstemon species, Bloack-eyed Susan, >Mexican hat, Prairie coneflower, Colorado Blue Columbine, Aspen daisy, >Shany Goldeneye, Iceland poppy, Paintbrush species, Aster species >Grains - Barley, Cereal Rye, Foxtail millet, Japanese millet, Oats, >Regreen, Sorghum, Sudangrass, Triticale, Wheat, White proso millet >Turf grasses - Alkaligrass, Annual ryegrass, Bermuda grass, Blue Grama, >Buffalograss, Chewings fescue, Colonial bentgrass, Creeping bentgrass, >Hard fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass, Red fescue, rough >bluegrass, Sheep fescue >Legunes - Alfalfa, Alsike clover, Birdsfoot trefoil, Cicer milkvetch, >Crownvetch, Hairy Vetch, Ladino clover, Lupines, Northern sweetvetch, >Prairie clover, Red clover, Rose clover, Sainfoin, Strawberry clover, >White Dutch clover, White Sweet cover, Wooly pid vetch, Yellow sweet >cover > >Rainier Seeds, Inc, 1404 Fourth Street, Davenport, WA 99122 ><rainierseeds.com> 1-800-828-8873 >Over 100 varieties of grass seed to chose from for a custom mix. Some >wild flowers. > >6. Record keeping > >� Stakes, cord, notebooks, Digital camera, __________ > >7. Networking and organizing (aren't covered by the guidelines, but are >very necessary for this project. I might send a letter to the >cost-share people to ask that the grant cover this.) > >* * * * * * * * > > An overview of Idaho State Department of Agriculture�s >Noxious Weed Cost-Share Program >May 23, 2000 > > The centerpiece of Idaho's Strategic Plan for Managing Noxious Weeds is >the creation of Cooperative Weed Management Areas to mobilize all >landowners in an area to work together in stopping the spread of >invasive weeds. To accomplish this, the cooperators will use an >integrated approach, through the development of Integrated Weed >Management Plans to bring available resources and effective >weed-fighting techniques to combat the growing invasive weed problem. > > The primary purpose of the Idaho State Department of >Agriculture's (ISDA) noxious weed cost share grant program is to >accelerate the attack on invasive weeds by supplementing local funds and >resources, not replacing them. Cost sharing is also intended to provide >additional incentives for local landowners, officials, and citizens to >work collaboratively to develop a more comprehensive and effective >noxious weed management program. Through strengthening of on-the-ground >management, the major economic and environmental impacts can be more >effectively >mitigated improving the quality of life for all Idahoans. > > The former policy for the use of cost share grants dated 7/12/88 is >hereby rescinded. The new policy follows: > > IDAHO STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE > Noxious Weed Cost Share Grant >Policy > May 2000 > > Cost share grants are not intended to be a substitute or >replacement for county or agency funds nor for costs that should >legitimately borne by landowners consistent with the Idaho Weed Law. >Rather, they are to be used as a supplement to the resources of >landowners, and county, state, and federal partners, particularly where >a true resource crisis exists and for which delaying action for lack of >resources would lead to accelerated resource deterioration and economic >loss. > > Beginning July 1, 2000 (State fiscal year 2001) cost share >grant applications will be considered for funding only for a single >year. The following requirements will be considered minimums which >applicants must meet in order to qualify to receive cost share grants: > > County weed advisory committees or boards, or steering >committees in the case of Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMA) are >designated and approved by the participating county(s) boards of >commissioners. > > Cooperative agreements, which will help ensure an >integrated geographic approach for managing noxious weeds across all >land ownership and jurisdictional boundaries, are approved by the >participating partners who own or manage lands within the designated >area. > > An Integrated Weed Management Plan (IWMP) for the >county or designated area, is completed, or in the process of >completion. > > An Annual Operating Plan (AOP), which addresses the objectives in the >IWMP, is prepared annually and will be the basis for cost-share grants. > > Measurable objectives are included in the AOP and >demonstrate that planned activities are designed to be both effective >and strategic. > > > An Annual Operating Plan (AOP), which outlines the actions >to be implemented for a specific year to meet the goals and objectives >established in either the CWMA or county IWMP, must accompany the >"Noxious Weed Cost Share Requests". The Noxious Weed Cost Share Request >form must identify the estimated funding amounts or value of services to >be contributed by the cooperators and/or partners to accomplish the >planned actions identified in the AOP. The Noxious Weed Cost Share Grant >Application must be signed by the appropriate county commissioner if the >application is for a county. If the cost share application involves a >CWMA, a commissioner from each participating county must sign the >application. > > Consistent with the principles of Integrated Weed >Management, cost share funds may be used for the following purposes: > > � purchase and application of herbicide > � purchase, collection, and distribution of biological agents; > � application of cultural practices such as grubbing, mowing or >chopping; > � restoration practices including the purchase and seeding of >desirable plant species; > � development of educational programs and purchase of educational >materials including pamphlets, visual aids, handbooks and >training aids; > � mapping and surveying including costs of associated hardware and >software; > development of innovative grazing and related management >practices, and demonstration area which highlight an >integrated weed management approach; > � capital equipment purchases, research and development and >tech-transfer, and other unspecified weed-related costs subject >to the approval of the ISDA grant review team. > > Cost share grants must be used by the recipients for the purposes, in >the approximate amounts, and during the time period specified in the >grant application. A report on the status of grant expenditures must be >provided to ISDA by December 31st of the year in which the grant was >awarded. Grant funds may not be used for other purposes or carried over >to the following year without the written approval of the ISDA State >Weed Coordinator. > > Process for receiving, reviewing and approving Cost Share Grant >Applications: > ISDA will receive applications from November 1 until December 31 >annually. Applications will be evaluated by an ISDA "grant review team" >consisting of the Director, Deputy Director, Animal Industries Division >Administrator, Fiscal Officer, and the State Weed Coordinator. Final >Cost Share determinations will be made by March 15th. Visit our website at: www.unionag.org
