Glyphosate, Good for what ails you

[Bluey]

Originally Posted by geejay

weeded my front garden this afternoon with my dutch hoe(a beauty,sharp as),10 mintutes,now I would have charged $10 to spray a herbicde,no contest for me,cleared the weeds and at the same time areated the soil surface with the backward stroke,soil looks and smells heathly,gotta love that,no chemical smell

Yes mate but that is your own garden. Big question is can you afford to do this all day for your customers.

[BLACK BEAR]

I am starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling from reading this section with geejay and lifestyle
gees I could be turning!

[Bluey]

Originally Posted by BLACK BEAR

I am starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling from reading this section with geejay and lifestyle
gees I could be turning!

Nah.... that's just theside effects of chemicals..

[geejay]

Originally Posted by Bluey

Yes mate but that is your own garden. Big question is can you afford to do this all day for your customers.

its a big grey area which time will tell,its a question of finding the customers that are willing to take on the organic ways.we have one landscape maintenance contract that is organic,it pays well and is a beauty garden,now a referal garden for our organic gardening.we are working on another that will become a oragnic contract,clients need convincing that is works,once they see it work,they are with you all the way.

[Bluey]

Originally Posted by geejay

its a big grey area which time will tell,its a question of finding the customers that are willing to take on the organic ways.we have one landscape maintenance contract that is organic,it pays well and is a beauty garden,now a referal garden for our organic gardening.we are working on another that will become a oragnic contract,clients need convincing that is works,once they see it work,they are with you all the way.

Provided they have the money. But somehow I don,t think these clients will become the main stay of our collective businesses

[geejay]

the first organic garden give us a budget to work and time to work to,which was the same as the last contractor(not organic).9am -1pm=$200 plus extra sprays,ferts ect,we are making a good profit and the garden is beaut,clients happy.i do not think the profit for us would be greater if we used chemicals.

Originally Posted by Bluey

Lifestyle .. you espouse the use of salt and I have read in previous posts on this forum where you say you have to reapply the salt. Mrs HMS has a point. Salt can be as bad as any insecticide.

I find if using small amounts of salt (If i hit the weeds first with the whiper snpper its literally like sprinkling salt on your vegies), it leaches quickly. A reapplication may be necessary.

We are told to gargle salty water if we have a sore throat, or use more salt if we have muscle cramps. We go swimming in the ocean which is salty. We add salt to our cooking then put the scraps in the compost heap. Salt is used for preserving meat and is used in cooking as a preserving agent.

The amount of salt i would use in clients gardens in a week would be around 500g (or less).

Originally Posted by Bluey

I agree that we should manually pull weeds but what is your hourly rate to do this Lifestyle????

I have the same fixed hourly rate for all work.

Originally Posted by Bluey

I do admire your dedication to the path you are following. Good on you for that but I also think people should be allowed the power of choice.

Yes, freedom of choice is good. Freedom itself is good. We are free to have our own businesses, free to have a difference of opinion, free to have all the good things in life. But the same freedom allows us to do things that we probably shouldn't.

Originally Posted by Bluey

Before I joined this game I managed 30 plus people and the one thing I know is you cannot force people to do things. Change has to be embraced slowly and it takes a lot of work.

Yes true, slow and steady does win the race... the tortise did beat the hare because the hare got side tracked. Unfortunately in todays society, since the tortise moves so slowly he would probably die from all the chemical pollution he picked up heading towards the finish line

Originally Posted by Bluey

Lifestyle.... I ask a question....do you use any chemicals at all in your daily life????

Unfortunately, Yes. I have problems with my teeth and i can't use a lot of sugar. I try to avoid sweet things where possible but when i do have sweets i use artificial sweetener (Aspartame). I am aware of the side effects of its use, however i am consuming the product myself. Not spraying it where others can be polluted by it.

We use tank water which is chloride & fluoride free. We avoid buying any vegetables from unknown sources. We prefer to get things from Organic Farmers. We ocassionally use insect sprays but use more safety devices than most would use for glyphosate.

Originally Posted by Bluey

The reason I ask this goes back along way to a run in I had with a Green Group when I was with the state government in Qld. These self appointed warriors of the forest built themselves a headquarters in Cairns made out of.... wait for it..... wood.

Where did they source their wood ? I work on a Lucas Mill and we often cut timber from trees that have blown over in the wind etc, Perhaps the timber was sourced from a similar area.

Originally Posted by Bluey

Biggest bunch of preaching wankers I have ever come across. They would not accept anyone else's point of view but did the worst thing possible themselves. Their justification was it was recycled timber.

Well since it was timber used before they were only "saving it" weren't they ?

Originally Posted by Bluey

I am not saying this is you lifestyle but personally I think we have to be adaptable when it comes to our job and use a whole range of tools to make things work depending on what the customer wants.

If as a Lawnie, you was asked if you could pressure clean the path to the front door, but you didn't have a pressure cleaner you would simply say, sorry i don't currently offer pressure cleaning services. Is there a difference with chemical application. As i have said previously, if i am asked if i can spray the weeds in the vegie pactch, i simply say, sorry i only offer Organic approaches to garden maintenance. I'm sure we have all turned down something a customer has requested. Whether its a Hedge thats too high, or a lawn thats too large and you don't have a ride-on or cleaning gutters when you don't have a ladder.

If we don't offer a service we simply say so. We are still giving the customer what they want.

Originally Posted by Bluey

In parting I ask the question ...why do we now have these chemicals....answer...the "old" ways did not work as well as people liked.

I don't agree with that, Hand weeding or mulching or similar techniques are immediate. They don't leave dead weeds hanging around and chemicals weren't used.

The only difference is, there is more houses to go to and there is pressure placed on lawnies to get in and get the job done the quickest way possible so they can get to the next job.

Originally Posted by Bluey

Remember we people of the earth used to walk everywhere....there were probably people who said the advent of horses was bad for us

Getting there isn't the problem. Getting there safely is.

Unfortunately the old "Two Headed Tasmanian" saying may not be too far from the truth in a few years time. Chemicals are slowly changing cellular structure (evident by things like cancer and birth defects). Sounds like Science Fiction, but its not. Do your own Research. Don't take my word for it... most won't any way...

[glassngrass]

Originally Posted by BLACK BEAR

I am starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling from reading this section with geejay and lifestyle
gees I could be turning!

Turning into what? Perhaps glyphosate causes two headedness? Are you feeling any extra growth beginning to erupt on your shoulder or neck black bear?

Originally Posted by lifestyle

:Unfortunately the old "Two Headed Tasmanian" saying may not be too far from the truth in a few years time. Chemicals are slowly changing cellular structure (evident by things like cancer and birth defects). Sounds like Science Fiction, but its not. Do your own Research...

...my Uncle, who has a learning disabiltiy went to a store here in Tasmania [to buy roundup] and he asked the salesman if it was safe to use ... to which the salesman replied... "Its safe enough to drink".

Hmmm.... Case in point???

Well since our daughter is missing q11 to q13 of the 15th chromosome resulting in her not being able to walk or talk. She's 9 years old and still in nappies. She has severe epilepsy requiring constant monitoring and medication (Angelmans Syndrome). I think i have first hand experience with the results of chemical exposure.

Before my kids were born i was a chemical spraying junkie. Im not assuming it was the only reason but my hundreds of hours of research have concluded that my blindness at the time, of the long term systemic effects of chemical build up in the body played a large part in Bethany's disability.

We have been trying for a third child for 7 years. I could get personal and go into my low sperm count and associated problems but i'll keep that information to myself. Since you'll probably only make a joke of that as well, ass and glass...

[BLACK BEAR]

S..., WE GOT ANOTHER ONE IN ON THE ACT!
ARE YOU GUYS REPUBLICANS ALSO

[glassngrass]

You have a profound and special insight into the tragic effects of chemical overuse - I was unaware how this has touched you personally.

No offense was intended. I sincerely regret my last post caused you pain and apologise.
Please forgive...

assand glass = glass and grass or does it ?

[glassngrass]

Eric

Look mate, I had no desire to bring out the reaction from you that I did. I don't joke about everything. At times I am irreverant, but I never wanted to disrespect you.

In fact I have a new respect for your stand. It is not that I am convinced glyphosate is from 'the wicked one', but I do appreciate that chemical overload of the planet and us individually can, and may if left inadequately addressed, result in significant and irreversable consequences.

With new insight to why you have taken your stand, I see you as someone who wants to prevent others from reaping these consequences - especially your lawnie 'brothers' who should be taking the lead in acting responsibly with regard pesticides and herbicides.

I can't delete that post, and as forum is public I apologise again - in public. I regret having injured and hurt you and am sorry. Please forgive.

Originally Posted by glassngrass

Eric

Look mate, I had no desire to bring out the reaction from you that I did. I don't joke about everything. At times I am irreverant, but I never wanted to disrespect you.

In fact I have a new respect for your stand. It is not that I am convinced glyphosate is from 'the wicked one', but I do appreciate that chemical overload of the planet and us individually can, and may if left inadequately addressed, result in significant and irreversable consequences.

With new insight to why you have taken your stand, I see you as someone who wants to prevent others from reaping these consequences - especially your lawnie 'brothers' who should be taking the lead in acting responsibly with regard pesticides and herbicides.

I can't delete that post, and as forum is public I apologise again - in public. I regret having injured and hurt you and am sorry. Please forgive.

Yes, I know, i caught that in your previous post. I consider this thread to be a debate on the topic so no apology is necessary, though i thank you for it.

If you were referring to my last post, i was pointing out my spelling error in the previous post (and being a little sarcastic in pointing it out).

Although I have mentioned Bethany in one particular thread here before, I didn't want to play on that as a direct issue but rather highlight the problems chemicals have in a neutral way.

Unfortunately your response brought about a reason for me to mention where MY passion for Organics comes from.

Importantly, you are the one who needs to change your approach and attitute towards using chemicals because of your family and their importance to YOU. And NOT because you some how have a new respect for MY reasoning and passion for Organic Methods.

[glassngrass]

I apologised out of respect for you, I feared I had hurt you deeply and wanted to be quick to heal any rift. Acknowledging respect for the reason behind your passion was part of that.

I love my family - and so will use any chemical sparingly and responsibly, as most lawnies do. I am unconvinced my attitude to glyphosate requires adjusting. It's the ignorant, those that won't engage in meaningful discussion on this subject, and thos w ho squirt with wild abandon I worry about.