Dear Merla, The hydroseeding sounds good. Really the grains pump carbon into the soil in exchange for nitrogen and can be very beneficial. As for your weeds--I haven't heard of most of these being troublesome. Tansy is a sacred, medicinal plant. Thistle is another good one. They might sometimes be troublesome, I guess. I don't know hawkweed and knapweed. But any plant out of place is a weed by definition.
Let me have seeds of the worst weeds you know. Just send me the seeds, 1/4 cup or so. Best, Hugh >Lloyd, > >It's good of you to venture out into this. >We have far more money than I can think of things to do...$2200. >The Weed Supervisor made a deal with someone in Priest >River, another town in this county, who has a hydroseeder and >he says they will come and hydroseed this road for free. > >Lloyd, no one on this road thinks the knapweed, tansy, hawkweed >and thistle are a big problem. We have a goodly amount of these plants >which grow easily in a brittle environment. > >Knapweed is 18-24"tall, has a central tap root and makes lots and lots >of seeds that have at least a 10-year viability in the soil. It has pretty >pink/purple flowers that make good honey. It is allelopathic and will >take over a pasture. That's why it's on the noxious weed list. > > >Common tansy is tall with a 4" whorl of yellow buttonflowers and a woody >root that you have to chop out if you let the plant go for awhile. >The flowers are used in flower arranging. They have an acid smell and can be >used to repel ants. I think they're poisonous to animals. > > >Hawkweed has yellow and orange flowers and goes through its lifecycle >three or four times in a summer getting more and more flowers on the stem with >each >cycle. It has very shallow roots that entwine with sod and it spreads by seed >and by >rhyzome each cycle. It's very pretty, but more invasive than even knapweed, >but not >poisonous. > >Thistle must be universal. It has a very deep root that can't be pulled after >the first year. > > >Few of the native broadleaf plants can compete with these strong invasive >plants. They >come to overgrazed, dry poor land. Our soil is glacial till--sandy with >rocks. The seeds >come in on vehicle tires starting at the head of the road and then spread up >into the >mountains. > >There is no chance to ever get rid of them, but the ag chemical industry >finances the >ag department at the universities and they declare a new noxious weed often. >It's an >unending cycle. The herbicide makes the soil worse and the weeds are >perpetuated. > >If we were proactive about the soil and the environment and came at this >problem >from that perspective, we could keep them under control, maybe, but we >react to > >the symptoms, not the problem. > >I love the road the way it is. I would just like to spray the preps and the >peppers and >mow and weed whack the seedheads every year and call it a day, but the Weed >Board, >who support the chemical industrial agriculture model, require eradication, >whether >it's a myth or not. Our roads are sprayed every third year and they think >they > >haven't done their job if they don't spray. They allow individual families to >declare >their right-of-way "NO SPRAY", but we are the first road every to ask for no >spray >on the whole road. It threatens their paradigm--their whole way of life. >This >state is >heavily behind GWB. Herbicide and chemical fertilizer are part of a whole >religio-political >system. > >I wish I could back out of my Weed Committee post and get away from these >people. It's >anti-life and attracts people with anal personalities...just the opposite of >mine. I >feel that herbicide is ruining the earth. That's why I signed on to this. >The >EPA >is overrun with former ag chemical lobbyists. We are in deep do-do! They >mean >to >have this country their way, like Mao in China. > >Right now, I'm dreading the Weed meeting tomorow night. I'm riding a tiger. > >Steve Driver who is on this list is a Researcher/Writer for ATTRA (Appropriate >Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) and has written a handout "Principles of >Sustainable Weed Management for Croplands" and has also a wonderful handout >on "Biodynamics" which explains a lot of things I didn't know. You can see >them on pdf files on their website www.attra.ncat.org and order them. > >Thanks again for the support. > >Merla > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >. > > > >Lloyd Charles wrote: > >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: Merla <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: BD Now <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Deidre Allen >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 5:03 PM >> Subject: Merla's Road Project Plan--Questions >> >> Hi Merla >> Have you had a look at the dollar cost of your project yet? - you mention >> hydroseeding -does the cost of this come out of your grant money - this is >> an expensive operation and will use up your grant money very fast !! In >> Australia hydroseeding is only used to stabilise steep embankments and areas >> that have been bare cut in major roadbuilding projects, our local council >> (county) roadworks would not be able to afford this. >> > Is this new idea of the allelopathic plants too drastic? Is there >> > anyone who knows about rye, oats, barley and vetch ? >> >> "I have this beautiful western wooded country road, but it has "noxious" >> weeds on it" >> >> Tell us how bad the weed problem is - what grows where - are they all over >> or just growing in certain areas - and what is the soil like - is there a >> problem with low calcium / acid soil. How much ground cover is there in >> normal growing seasons?? >> >> > so now we are going to hydroseed cereal rye, oats, barley, vetch mix to >> > possibly dominate the situation and crowd out the weeds, but I don't >> > know anything about these plants. Is this the right thing to do? Will >> > I also get rid of the native grass that's there now? >> > >> > What happens when the cereal plants all get big and go to seed? I can't >> > plow them under because I don't want to disturb the ground and bring up >> > seeds lurking there. Do we cut them and make mulch or do we cut them >> > and compost them with BC or compost tea? The oats and barley will go >> > away, but the rye is supposed to reseed. Will there be enough minerals >> > and microscopic babies in the soil to grow them at all if I use just the >> > energy from the field spray, 500, 501, BC, 508 with a radionic device? >> > Is the energy enough? Should I just sprinkle the rye in the worst >> > places? We have been offered a straw shredding, blowing, mulching >> > machine. How thick do we spread the straw? I can't even find straw >> > that doesn't have chemicals on it because of the certified hay law. >> > >> > We have a custom reclamation mix waiting in the wings for fall--How will >> > we plant this--in the stubble? Should I put more BC or compost tea on >> > to compost the stubble? What is the best timeline for all this? Will >> > we be moving too fast? Should we take a couple of years getting rid of >> > the weeds and then seed the grass and native wildflowers? If I do that, >> > will I get another cost-share grant next year or the year after? >> Try to keep your approach simple so that you can go forward rather than >> round in circles Cheers >> Lloyd Charles >> > >> > Visit our website at: www.unionag.org
