Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Thursday Yardening

Today was partly sunny and hot.  I went out and watered plants.  Then I picked part of a bag of serviceberries. 

Some of my basil is blooming.  Basil flowers are tasty.  :D

Earlier today I saw the indigo bunting at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 6/7/18: I went back outside to cut and pull weeds around the forest garden, clearing another small patch of the edge.  Then I sprayed weed killer on the stubs.
Tags: birdfeeding, gardening, illinois, nature, personal, wildlife
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  • 2 comments
cat_sanctuary

cat_sanctuary

June 8 2018, 18:56:00 UTC 3 years ago

The salt and vinegar kind, I hope.

When corporations say a chemical "weed killer" doesn't kill flowers, crops, birds, butterflies, pets, and eventually humans, they mean that it's not been used in enough quantities to work its way up the food chain--yet.

I'm a celiac, gluten-free so long I'm not even tempted to eat the wrong food, except that glyphosate is unlabelled in everything and it affects me exactly like wheat gluten only moreso, so once again I've been a good celiac and I'm having a gruesome celiac reaction anyway. Because some something-or-other believed the advertising for "Roundup."

The other "weed killers" merely affect other people first, rather than me. I could be tempted to say people should switch to atrazine, which sterilizes males, which may be a good thing har har--but it's not.

I spent a pleasant hour yesterday picking up cinnamon-vines, an invasive nuisance, by ones. There'll be more sprigs in the same place this evening; I'll pick up the fresh ones while the dry ones are burning. Bending and stretching in moderation is actually GOOD for an aging back. I can keep doing that, or I can let the vines take over. Poison is not an option.
ysabetwordsmith

Well ...

ysabetwordsmith

June 8 2018, 19:15:52 UTC 3 years ago

When I say weed killer, I mean chemicals that actually make plants die. I can't use salt in a garden because it's too pervasive; it'll leach around and kill everything. Natural methods either don't work or are unfeasible at the scale I have. My grandfather used a blowtorch, which he called his "weedburner," and that worked; but I haven't got the skill for that. I need something I can spot-spray. I don't spread either weed killer or fertilizer all over the yard. But it's either use potent weed killer on individual plants or have my yard overrun by thistles, burdock, poison ivy, etc. I don't like it, but it's less bad than the alternative.