Non-organic neighbours

[KateG]

We're new to the plot but have found everyone to be really friendly and very generous - one of our neighbours gave us a lots of plants (with slug pellets on but we removed those) and the other neighbour helped fix our shed when the wind blew it off kilter.

But today the first neighbour - slugpellet man- told us he had some weed killer left over so put it on our buttercups for us. Terribley kind of him I suppose but we are *trying* to be organic and I've got 2 young children who play happily on our plot. I will be forever paranoid now incase someone has put something else down with out telling me.

And second neighbour -shed man- arrived this afternoon to spray his weeds. It is so windy - the wind blowing in the direction of our plot too. So I had to come home so that my children didn't get it in their faces.

I don't know what they were using but just how cautious do I need to be with the children around? And with them being directly to the sides of us does it mean we aren't really being organic at all?

[Kristen]

"I don't know what they were using but just how cautious do I need to be with the children around? "

I don't think your neighbour should be spraying at all if it is windy enough to carry.

I don't think that the buttercups that were sprayed pose any threat, but it depends a bit what they were sprayed with. Roundup is safe to drink - although I don't recommend it; Agent Orange is probably not so friendly!

Do your neighbours know you want to be organic? That might be a start. I want to be green, and my gardener keeps having bonfires. Its taking me ages to find ways of getting him to recycle the stuff that we used to burn. He, of course, just thinks I am nuts!

If the farmers round here are spraying we all stay indoors, not just the kids.

Hopefully you have, or can develop, a relationship with your neighbours where if they are spraying on a windy day you can ask them not to. If they only have a few hours here and there to do their garden it may not be that easy to find a suitable time, but usually late evening is best because a) the wind drops and b) children are indoors.

He isn't going to be very popular if his spray kills the plants in your garden!

P.S. He might be spraying flowers with water to help them pollinate

[Cloud]

Most weedkillers ect nowadays are pretty safe for use around pets and children but only when they are dry.

[KateG]

Thanks for your responses.

He was definately using weed killer - he told us

I'm not too worried now I know they are ok when they are dry.

[zazen999]

Most weedkillers ect nowadays are pretty safe for use around pets and children but only when they are dry.

The children, the pets or the weedkiller???

[selfheal]

my village is setting up allotments and we had a meeting tonight!

this issue came up in the meeting and in the end we took a decision to all agree to a spray free allotment. We are only allowed to use organic sprays.

i guess that sort of solves the issue really!aparently they are going to write it into the tenancy agreement!

[Two_Sheds]

Derris is an organic pesticide. It is also very nasty... it kills bees, for instance.
Organic doesn't necessarily mean safe & cuddly

[BrideXIII]

Derris is an organic pesticide. It is also very nasty... it kills bees, for instance.
Organic doesn't necessarily mean safe & cuddly

a very valid point, do not confuse organic with safe.
deadly nightshade is also organic, you wouldn't dream of eating it.

do your research, not all chemicles are dangerous, not everything organic is safe.
never rely on a fashionable label.

[Jenny22Cumbria]

I had a lottie (well...a third of one) straight after I left uni. I was only there a year before I got a job in my home town so I only had it for a season, but I tried my best to be an organic gardener.

My plot was all grass apart from the beds which had been cleared by a previous tennant but my neighbours (who had the other two thirds) had mulched all but their beds with bark chippings. They used to sprinkle slug pellets down the divide, as if to suggest I should keep the slugs from my third over my side! It did worry me a bit as I was trying my very best to keep it in order and I hadn't been there long enough to do anything about the grass.

Now I've got a plot at the bottom of the garden and, although I like the fact that I don't have to worry about non-organic neighbours nearby and what people will think about the weedy bit I never seem to get round to, I do miss the community spirit. I think you're all very lucky and I'm really glad I can ask your advice here now that I don't have friendly allotmenteers popping round!

[kitchengardner]

Derris is an organic pesticide. It is also very nasty... it kills bees, for instance.
Organic doesn't necessarily mean safe & cuddly

It is also no longer supposed to be sold for gardening use and is no longer approved by most organic "authorities"


Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[crichmond]

deadly nightshade is also organic, you wouldn't dream of eating it.

HMMMMMMMM

I once ate about 2lb of deadly night shade berrys as a kid after mistaking them for edible berries, incidentely they tasted very nice hence the amount I ate.

Luckily my mother was a nurse and was at home when I started being sick and saw what I had eaten, I spent a week in hospital being very ill on a drip after having my stomach pumped and having suppositries shoved you know where.

[geoff]

buttercuo and weed killer

You might be trying to be organic, but buttercup is an absolute sod to get rid of, I've been trying for three years. So, it won't do much harm to your principles if you just use weed killer as a once only treatment to start with. Then you'll have less to deal with by hand weeding

If you don't have the time or energy to clear or plant all the ground, try mulching with newspaper and manure or compost

Best of luck with it

[fwuffydragon]

It is also no longer supposed to be sold for gardening use and is no longer approved by most organic "authorities"


Regards

Kitchen Gardener

I thought part of the reason it had been withdrawn from sale is that the company didn't want to / didn't have the funds to get it tested to re-validate its safety for use under the new EU regulations.

I understand that testing something properly under the new regulations is fairly expensive, and is the reason why some products produced by smaller companies are disappearing from the market.

It doesn't necessarily mean it's not safe, just that it hasn't been tested and approved by the latest set of regulators ...