stats from screening, keyhole garden, burn those weeds

STATS FROM SCREENING


weve all endured those searches at the airport
we just all grin and take it

the department of homeland security recently released a months
worth of statistics from these searches

terrorists discovered
0

transvestites
133

hernias
1485

hemorrhoid cases
3172

enlarged prostates
8249

breast implants
59350

natural blondes
3

humm

KEYHOLE GARDEN
ive written several times on keyhole gardens
ive got one at my house now using an old 8 ft water trough
im glad to hear ive inspired several people to build them one

here is a photo of one that jim built
pretty dang imressive jim

looks like one that should be on hgtv or some garden magazine

BURN THOSE WEEDS
we have not had rain here at all the last month
april rain total was near zero
so much for april showers bring may flowers huh

this is a good time to burn those weeds as our days get
into the low 90s
just use an organic mixture of
1 gallon of 9% vinegar
1 oz of orange oil
1 oz of dishwashing liquid

mix and spray on your weeds
theyll look like this after a few days

the green weed was included as a control
after the weeds are dead pull them up
sometimes if they come back some just rezap them
with this organic weed killer

caution it is caustic to the skin
burns like heck if you accidentally spray it on yourself

the organicgreen doctor

walking time, weed in yard question

WALKING TIME

the alzheimers association is now starting to prepare for
the walk to end alzheimers for 2012
this is their biggest fundraiser of the year
last year in austin it was an successful year for the local chapter

the alzheimers association provides educational activities
about alzheirmers especially for the caretakers
they are also a good source for whats available in your
communtiy for the support of the alzheimers patient

remember the big a is replacing the big c
more people are worrying about getting the big a than
the big c

if you are affected in someway by alzheimers join or form a
team for the walk to end alzheimers in your area

that would be everyone who reads this
we all are affected in some way
some more than others

go to the walk to end alzheimers site and type in your state
and find what walks are available in your area

get involved
it will affect you if it hasnt already

i will have my team again in austin  the organicgreendoctor.com
my wife and i have made this our charity we donate to each year
as we are so personally affected by this disease

WEED IN YARD QUESTION




amy wants to know what to do as her yard is 90% weeds
patience is the answer

options are
dig up al the yard put down new soil and re sod
thats time consuming and expensive

landscape away all of the grass
(thats what i did and replaced it with native plants walkways
and mulch)
(i do zero watering zero fertilizing zero mowing on my front yard)

start a good organic yard care program
see the natural gardeners site for their program
you can use their lady bug brand or medinas brand or gardenvilles brand
or other good brands
of organic fertilizer for the yard

then keep the yard mowed regularly so the weeds wont seed
hand remove what you can or spray the weeds directly with the
vinegar orange oil liquid soap weed killer i posted yesterday

in the fall and the early spring-oct and feb here in central texas-
apply corn gluten which inhibits seed germination
dont apply it if you are planting any seeds as they wont germinate
corn gluten also acts like a mild fertilizer

many of the weeds you have now germinated in october so treating
it now with corn gluten wont work for these weeds but it
would prevent the spring early summer weeds

spraying your whole yard with this vinegar mixture probably would
not kill all the weeds or the grass
bermuda is almost impossible to kill this way

weed and feed should not be used at all
many countries prohibit it use
can you say frogs with one eye and 6 legs

i got rid of my st augustine by solarization
i put black plastic or you can use clear plastic over all of your yard
when the weather is its hottest in the summer
this will kill everything under the plastic
then you can scrape it off and re seed or re sod

i covered my plastic up with mulch and left it for two years
and gradually planted raised beds with native plants
and added the walkways ponds garden etc

part of the problem around here is there is no good
soil under most peoples grass
bad dead soil was brought in or none at all and
the lawn was seeded or sodded over this
these lawns are doomed to never do well
now in some cities 4 inches of good soil have to be placed
before the grass is planted

i dont have a hoa
well i do its called the country n hoa and i run it
but most people do
so a lot of these things people cant do under hoas rules

amy
i would do a small area of total solarization this summer
then replant it after putting in new soil
even if its only a 4 ft square

over time especially if you plan on staying in your house
you will end up with a good yard

follow the natural gardeners recommendation
basically corn gluten oct and feb
compost fall and spring
probably fertilize just once in april or may after youve
mowed three times

keep the yard mowed to prevent seed formation
hand dig or spot spray with the vinegar spray weeds
that you can

be patient
each year your lawn will look better

also this year is the worst year in awhile for weeds
last year wasnt bad

also a lot of grass died around here last year but
may come back in april and may when the soil warms
up

hope this answered your question

always
the organicgreen doctor

its the way it is, weed resistance

ITS THE WAY IT IS

in a county near us a guys dog and a stray dog got together
and slaughtered the neighbors 12 chickens
the county has an ordinance that dogs that kill livestock have
to be euthanized
so the two dogs were both euthanized

so now the county is rethinking the ordinance

i have lived in three states and there is an unwritten understanding
that if your dog attacks someones livestock the dog will be shot
on site

in the area where i live if your dog did this it would be shot and
probably hung on the fence by the highway along with the coyotes
that have been shot
thats the way it is and we all understand it

if my two dogs went to my neighbors and killed his chickens or
other animals
i understand that they will probably shoot both of them
and i would not say a thing
if their dogs did that to my chickens i would get my old rifle out
if i could find the bullets and shoot the dogs myself
if it even worked
if not my neighbor would do it for me

its just understood that thats the way it is
i keep my dogs inside my property and even though i live in
the country i walk the dogs on a leash always
because i know the rule of the country

and i love animals and love my dogs and cats
but i also love my chickens

WEED RESISTANCE


bam bam
i hit those weeds yesterday morning with my organic mixture
of 10% vinegar, orange oil, and liquid soap
by 500 pm they were wilted and dead
no contamination of the water system with this stuff
and it works well

i sat down yesterday after working outside all day
what a great spring day (even though its winter)
opened my email
there was the weekly newsletter from the texas gardener

in tennesse the bluegrass state? some of the bluegrass seems to
have developed resistance to glycophosphate (roundup)
so that the stuff wont kill the weeds like it is suppose to
so far resistance hasnt been found in other weeds

does that mean they will be using higher concentration of
this stuff now to kill the weeds
more pollution of our rivers lakes and groundwater
we dont have enough water now as it is

maybe we dont have to have perfection in our lawns
or maybe we dont need all those lawns
landscape some of it away with native plants
and you dont have to use that glycophosphate stuff

maybe just maybe this could lead to people not using this stuff
hopefully they wont find some other chemicals to replace it

ill just keep using my organic recipe
1 gallon of pickling vinegar (9-10%)
1-2 oz of orange oil
1 tsp of liquid dishwashing soap

dont spray it on your skin or youll find out why it works so well

no resistance possible to this stuff
stay organic

the organicgreen doctor