ROund-up leads to emergence of new pathogneic organism

[basswipe]

I've never used any type of chemicals in my gardens.Never found a need to.The only thing that goes into my garden is water and an all natural fertilizer made from compost.I manually remove my weeds with a garden weasal,mulches them right up into the soil.

I only wish that I had more room to be able to grow more and sustain myself year-round.But that's where the organic farmers at the local farmer's markets come into the picture,you pay more but you know what you're getting or this case not getting.

Same goes for the fish pond.Doing a lot of research last year I discovered there are many natural products out there for what might ill my fish and for water treatment.Someone here,I believe it might have been you Raven,turned me onto barley for algae control.My pond is a huge attractant to many types of animals including my own dogs!

Same goes for the lawn now.Once I obtained a nice lawn with the traditional 4step fertlilizer I switched to all natural to maintain it.I must admit though that I have yet to find a natural product that effectively controls crabgrass so I do walk around the yard with bottle of Ortho crabgrass killer to spot kill it before it becomes a problem.

[Raven]

the secret to beating crab grass is to change your strategy towards it.. no chemicals needed

think of it as a pesky carrot .... with a top that wants to spread out
in a mat 360 DEGREES... thats its growing M.O>


so in the spring (if you have grab grass ) you grow your grass as tall as you can get away with before the first Cut ,,,,,the base of each individual grass plant tells you when to cut because eventually the base not the blade will stretch out...elongate to grow a traditional tall grass plant 3 feet high

but you use the grass to shade out the crab grass and compete with it for light....(makes it have to grow tall....) at the same time you water and fertilize it so it has a real
easy to grab hold of Bunch...."heathy) to gather up.... then on or just after a big rainy day you stick a four pronged digger in next to it then lift/pry it all out....root and all.

sprinkle grass seed ,,,,on that spot that ya loosened up.

[FishermanTim]

Isn't funny that people would rather pay for a "perfect" lawn, and end up paying more just to maintain it?
Yet, if they spent time actually digging in the soil, they'd see exactly what they have to work with, and what happens when to start applying chemicals.

I am a compost loving gardener. I love to show people just how much they can compast, in a relatively small space, and get beautifully rich soil as a result. (not to mention a boatload of worms and other beneficial inhabitants.)

My parents didn't want a compost pile in their yard because of the smell. Well, I asked them to let me start a compost pile (as an experiment) and I'd show them that they were misstaken.
After the pile was started, I took them out a month later, after turning just once each weekend, and let them see for themselves.
After that, I couldn't keep them from collecting kitchen waste, newspapers and even leaves in the fall. I was able to ammend 3 raised beds with the resulting compost, and was able to do it every year.

Nay to chemicals, and YEAH to compost.

Oh, and when I fillet any fish during the summer, I will use the water I use for rinsing off the finished cuts to water the gardens.
MMMmmmmm.....fish emulsion!!!