To answer your message, our community is getting larger. There are 300 families on this road, but many live on private roads up the hill from Rapid Lighting which is a feeder road. Most people have at least 20 acres. We limited this project to those who have property with frontage on Rapid Lightning. It was very gratifying to have good support at the last road meeting, but it was foul weather which, I'm sure limited our numbers. I got some phone calls that night cancelling because of the icy road and snow. We want to try to have a newsletter on the road about weeds and maybe some reminder signs, "Don't forget to pull knapweed after a rain."
National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, 541-344-5044 (NCAP)
in
Oregon would be an excellent resource to refer you to already
existing
naturally managed roadside projects. What I have found with grant
writing,
etc is that people love 'models'. If you could hold up some succseful
models
of other naturally managed roadsides, I feel this would help gain
support
for your cause, and also give you a little guidance and structure
to what
you are trying to accomplish. No sense in reinventing the wheel.
I belong to NCAP and have all their monographs on the herbicides used by the county which I use in the "Why Organic?" fairbooth. I have tried to find other projects on the Net and have written emails to them, but got no answer. I have written to weed science departments at Universities and gotten encouragement, but no real help. I could shoot off an email to NCAP.
We are slowly overcoming our problems. Having that road meeting and developing the "vision" and "strategies and actions" was a big step. I got an email from my Holistic Management mentor today and he recommends that I send the vision statement out to the road and try to get as much input as I can so that more people will have a stake in what we do. Communication is a problem. So far, I'm not getting any help with networking expenses from the grant, so postage comes out of our pocket. The cost-share guidelines should be adjustable for each group's needs, and I'm working on that. It's cheaper to xerox a letter and go door-to-door or mailbox-to-mailbox. The only trouble is that we're having typical March weather. We have a thaw and then it gets cold and snowy again. Not very good weather to go up steep private roads in a two-wheel drive truck with chains and no working governor on the fuel injection so that the engine tries to race all the time and no heat. We come down the hill with the engine off.
Yes, from a truck. The Shurflo pump plugs into the lighter socket and runs off the alternator.
And then
you take it one step further by using the BD sprays. So don't give
up on
using the sprays, but that little 8 mile eco system is probably
way out of
wack , and most likely needs some organic matter. The rye and oats
that you
mentioned will certainly contribute to that through their root systems,
while also building soil structure. An ideal cover would have at
least 5
different varieties, and you should consider at least incorporating
one
nitrogen fixining legume. Some kind of clover, would really be important
in
this situation. I could talk to my husband, if you really wanted
some
suggestion of what kind of clover, etc...(he is really into cover
crops) I'm
not sure, maybe planting the roadside in a diversified cover with
rye and
oats, plus Pfeiffer spray would be plenty with out additional compost.
This kind of information is just what I'm looking for. I fantasized
about gathering
horse manure (only thing available) and putting BD Preps in a hugh
compost pile
for the road. My husband nixed that idea as entirely impractical.
I need to find out
what the parameters are for good woodland soil in this area.
It's all glacial till. I'm
just not sure exactly what to add. We go to the gravel pit for granite
dust for our garden.
Should I scatter granite dust on the road? It's the tilth that
is so bad. It's just sandy.
The five different variety idea sounds good to me--rye, oats, vetch,
(a combination of red, crimson and white clover?).
But the rye and oats are allelopathic. You see, Christy, we proved
that we can contain the weeds with mowing and weedwhacking, but we must
eliminate the weeds and then seed the plants we do want. We are in
the elimination phase now and we have to keep the seedheads from forming.
Can we plant things we want along with allelopathic plants and just have
the weeds disappear? Especially with well established common tansy,
it's hard to get rid of that woody root. And what about musk thistle
with it's impossibly deep roots, once established? Will we have to
resort to a hypodermic needle with Roundup in the root, perish the thought?
I'd just as soon do the weed peppers to help. I have to work with
the Weed Supervisor and he probably wants red fescue added to the above
because that's the wisdom of the horse's mouth around here. I don't
really know. I've been transplanting clover, sorrel, plantain, orchard
grass, black medic, etc. out of the vegetable garden and onto Rap Ltg rt-of-way
for years.
Sure, ask your husband for his suggestions!
Other organic farmers...There is one other certified organic grower, Diane, who is on the state organic board and gives courses around the area, has a restaurant salad green business and a CSA. She used to be employed with the Forest Service and thought for a long time that I was too radical. I kept going to her local classes and meetings and that went a long way with her. She came to our meeting last Wednesday and planting rye and oats is her idea. Her husband helped Herb with his weedwhacker. There's an 80+ year-old wonderful lady, Lois, who happens to have started the Quaker Meeting and the Native Plant Society. Lois is the one who asked me to send a letter of interest to be on the Weed Committee. My next door neighbors were at the meeting--Steve and Elizabeth from Backwoods Solar. I felt so good about that meeting because I got such good emotional support. I'm hoping for more hands-on support.
Thanks for your input!
Merla
Rural Center for Responsible Living wrote:
Dear Merla,Isn't there a whole community helping you with this project? Would you be
spraying from a truck?National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, 541-344-5044 (NCAP) in
Oregon would be an excellent resource to refer you to already existing
naturally managed roadside projects. What I have found with grant writing,
etc is that people love 'models'. If you could hold up some succseful models
of other naturally managed roadsides, I feel this would help gain support
for your cause, and also give you a little guidance and structure to what
you are trying to accomplish. No sense in reinventing the wheel. And then
you take it one step further by using the BD sprays. So don't give up on
using the sprays, but that little 8 mile eco system is probably way out of
wack , and most likely needs some organic matter. The rye and oats that you
mentioned will certainly contribute to that through their root systems,
while also building soil structure. An ideal cover would have at least 5
different varieties, and you should consider at least incorporating one
nitrogen fixining legume. Some kind of clover, would really be important in
this situation. I could talk to my husband, if you really wanted some
suggestion of what kind of clover, etc...(he is really into cover crops) I'm
not sure, maybe planting the roadside in a diversified cover with rye and
oats, plus Pfeiffer spray would be plenty with out additional compost.Are there any organic farmers in your area? That would be some one else to
turn to for advice on developing a suitable cover and building the soil up.Christy
----- Original Message -----
From: D & S Chamberlain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 5:50 AM
Subject: Re: Official BD in Brazil> Merla: I think you are getting in over your head.
> Anyone: Isn't there someone with US experience who can advise on this? 8
> miles of road is a large area and could cover a lot of different soils and
> weeds, this has the potential of being very embarrassing for Merla and not
> good for BD.
> David C
