Re: Austr. Workshop/ Was there a higher purpose?
To Lloyd Charles , please ask the guys with the foliar sprays to contact me and we may be able to help them in this area - Hunter valley thanks Ross McDonald - Original Message - From: Lloyd Charles [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 8:15 AM Subject: Re: Austr. Workshop/ Was there a higher purpose? Dear James, et. al., . Both are studying their asses off learning all they can as fast as they can. It won't be that much longer and they won't need me any more. It gives me a good feeling. I'll admit I'm not comfortable with the idea of going head to head in the marketplace with the chemical ag boys. They've got hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars worth of muscle to lean on us with, and we are still in the pusilanimous thousands and tens of thousands. So I think we'd better keep our heads down a bit longer and not get them to take us seriously. Dear Hugh - James I have a friend who was a farmer until two years ago when he sold out to go a new direction selling foliar fertiliser. He and I and a couple of other guys started out several years ago using this hotmix trace element foliar and seed treatment brew - I was the first in this area and encouraged the others based on results I'd seen. It was a good first step away from conventional thinking and the company behind it is using Albrecht logic in their approach to fertilising and they are getting good results. Recently these guys have moved into viticulture and have managed to snare a couple of the big names in our area simply by getting better quality grapes - and boy has that annoyed the conventional agronomy people - my mate has had these company guys following him - waiting a couple of hours after he leaves the client farm then going in to badmouth all the information he gave the farmer. One company has devised a contract that they have fooled some farmers into signing - a combination of cheap finance for purchases and low fees for crop monitoring with a sneaky little clause that says that the farmer agrees not to use anything not recommended and sold by that company - my mate has hardly started but he's made the opposition mad as hell already - you can bet they will have a lot of dirty tricks left yet - up to and including direct sabotage of some of his clients crops if thats what it takes. He could not possibly have done them serious damage yet but they see a clear threat and are acting accordingly, this is only LOCAL sales companies yet - not the big boys! I think Hugh is entirely correct to say keep our heads down and not make them take us seriously - there are a lot of receptive people out there - anybody doing cell grazing is a prospect - farmers are turning up in droves to eco farmer seminars, phil wheeler , arden andersen, gary zimmer, we could probably do a repeat of Hugh's tour next year and get the same sort of attendance as recently - they're out there, some of em are ready and some not. Cheers all, Lloyd Charles
Re: Austr. Workshop/ Was there a higher purpose?
Lloyd, I am a grape grower and sell wine under my Macquariedale label both here in Oz and export a little to Canada and USA. I am persuing the BD principles in grape growing at this stage and will then move to the wine making aspects. regards Ross - Original Message - From: Lloyd Charles [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 9:30 AM Subject: Re: Austr. Workshop/ Was there a higher purpose? - Original Message - From: Ross McDonald [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 8:38 AM Subject: Re: Austr. Workshop/ Was there a higher purpose? To Lloyd Charles , please ask the guys with the foliar sprays to contact me and we may be able to help them in this area - Hunter valley thanks Ross McDonald Hi Ross More info please - are you an interested grower - possible reseller - winemaker ? I am happy to pass your message along just need a little direction so I know I am not putting my foot in something warm green and smelly. cheers Lloyd Charles
Re: BD and steam
Christine , thank you for the info I will follow up and let you know the outcome, regards Ross - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 3:18 PM Subject: Re: BD and steam Hi Ross, There is another company in Australia (Adelaide) marketing a steam weeder especially for under vines called 'Vaporjet'. They also have photos of a modified version for [vegetables?] asparagus that a grower made himself. The company's name is 'travohtec', PO Box 2162, Port Adelaide Business Centre, SA 5015; ph 08-8347 7499; fax 08-8347 7599; email [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact person: Chris Travers 0407 976 033. Christiane
Re: BD and steam
to Steve Diver, thanks for your comments on the steam/flame web sites. I would appreciate if you could advise the contact details for Atarus in Australia as I will contact them concerning their applicators. cheers Ross - Original Message - From: Steve Diver [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 11:59 AM Subject: Re: BD and steam Flame, Infra-Red, Steam now you're talking about some hot topics in weed control. See: Flame Weeding for Vegetable Crops http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/flameweedveg.html http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/flameweedveg.pdf This is the NCAT-ATTRA pub with all the suppliers and resources. EcoFarm in California just held a workshop on this topic in January, where I presented a summary of this topic. We featured the Waipuna hot foam equipment from New Zealand and the Infra-Red EcoWeeders from Switzerland, distributed by Forevergreen in British Columbia. Infra-red weeders are Swiss made. In North America, they are available from two suppliers: Forevergreen and Rittenhouse. A market farm scale flame weeder with a flaming hood, on wheels, can be obtained for $300-400. Flame Weeders in West Virginia http://www.flameweeders.cjb.net/ The Lady Punto, also known as EcoWeeder Lady, is an entry level hand-held Infra-Red weeder for $170. This is what you need, Merla, to try it out. A landscaper said they work great around trees and to edge sidwalks, pavements, and borders. Forevergreen EcoWeeders http://www.chemfree-weedcontrol.com/ The Junior 3 is getting into a farm-scale Infra-Red model for about $870. The Agri Infra-Red models on wheels for market farmers are going into the $1,200 and $1,600 range but don't quote me. Ask them. The Infra-Red weeders are therefore more expensive, but still reasonable to a commercial organic farmer or landscaper. When you're looking at 200', 400', and 600' rows of carrots, parsely, beans, onions, corn... well, you get the picture. Pro-rate your cost out over several years. The Waipuna hot foam is another story. The expense to lease these units are more inline with municipal park departments, institutional landscape maintenance, and large-scale orchards, vineyards, and berry operations rather than small farms and market gardens. Yet, steam or hot foam is *very* appealing to an organic farming situation. If you can imagine a 40-80 acre organic blackberry plantation in Oregon, you can understand how it would match this kind of organic farming. If you are talking about 5 acres of market vegetables, it is not in your budget. Waipuna http://www.waipuna.com/ The Atarus steam weeding equipment, from Australia, is now available in the U.S. through Delta Liquid Energy in Paso Robles, California. http://www.deltaliquidenergy.com/thermweedprodpage.html Have not seen what the Atarus costs, but again I am guessing it is more akin to larger-scale vineyards, rather than small farms. It is the nature of equipment costs. Merla, it occurs to me that you can pass along information about the Waipuna and Atarus steam-based weed control equipment to your weed control board. This is technology that works. Keep in mind, however, it is really expensive and not something they are likely to jump on. Over time, they might warm up to the idea. Regards, Steve Diver
BD and steam
As a new convert to to the BD practice can anyone advise if steam is used and method of applicationin managing weeds in the vineyard. We are primarily using a modified cutoff plough and then reforming the soil beneath the vines - I dont like doing this as the soil is turned over too often and the feeder roots of the vines must suffer. we are also using mulch under the vines but the noxious weeds are still about. any comments? Ross McDonald
